Fighting

[fish4brains]

Please help, I am very green, from knowing zero to my first 45 Gallon marine tank. I waited as long as I could to cycle my tank, after a month got a yellow tail damsel. It didn't die! 3 weeks later I got a gold stripe clown, the yellow tail is very protective of her home. My clown has spent all his time in the back corner hiding behind the heater, if he dare come out the yellow tail will attack. Not bitting of his fins yet, but not letting him out of the corner. He even sleeps there! I thought I would try to take the heat off by buying another, I got a atlantic sturgeon, now both of them are sharing the corner.

I have tried turning the lights off 4 hours before their bed time moving the rocks around to make new territory and it worked! All three fish slept somewhere I could not see them. The next morning, I was there when the lights came on and within 20 minutes the yellow tail chased the other two into the corner again. All my fish are about 3-5" the atlantic may be the biggest but not by much. Any help would be great, please.

 

[*Fishkies*]

If you don't get many posts here you may also try posting down in the saltwater topics. You will most certainly get some type of help there too! Best of luck

 

[Danno]

The saltwater forums becon you!

Anyways...

Damsels are super territorial and will think that the whole tank is theres. Mine thinks the whole tank is his. I would say one fish or the other.

Personally im just keeping my damsel to make sure everything is kosher in my tank.

 

[sianeds]

Hiya and welcome to the salty side

OK.....I'm assuming you have the usual setup of live rock and protein skimmer. If so then waiting a month to add your first fish should be absolutely fine, well done for your patience.

A yellow tail damsel is a good beginner fish but as you have found, they can be nasty little buggers. I have one who is an absolute angel so it sounds like you were unlucky and got a little terror. There's little you can do except rearranging the rockwork to disturb the territory. Hopefully this will gve the other fish a chance to establish themselves aswell.

When you say a gold stripe clown I guess you mean a maroon and gold clown Premnas biaculeatus. These are beautiful fish and in my opinion one of the most beautiful clowns. They differ from the other clownfish Amphiprion sp. as they are the only clowns that have cheek spines so be careful if you have to catch her as she will get stuck in a net. The other notable thing with maroon clowns is that the are the biggest and most aggressive of thier type. Yours should be more than capable of defending itself against a damsel.

Now then....You say you bought an Atlantic Sturgeon..... I am pretty sure this is a typing error. Atlantic Sturgeons are temperate for one thing and are not sold in the LFS...they also grow to 11ft ++ and can weigh 700lbs. I assume you meant an Atlantic Surgeonfish Acanthurus coeruleus better known as the Atlantic Blue Tang. These grow up to 23cm and need a minimum tank of 75gallons.

I would definately move the rocks again. Make sure you give all the fish somewhere to hide. The more hiding places you can make the better. If you have trouble it might be worth getting some non live ocean rock to help you make more caves etc. Your only other option is to remove the damsel. If it's this nasty now then it's probably going to get worse as it matures.

Also start saving for the bigger tank you are going to need for your Tang. You will be amazed at how fast it grows.

 

[SkiFletch]

If it's this nasty now then it's probably going to get worse as it matures.

I agree. Adding damsels commonly leads to just this situation. Sorry you had to find out the hard way

 

[wflash3]

theres really only one option in my opinion, take out the damsel. The damsel will remain aggressive for a long time and can maybe kill your fish with stress. taking him out will make everything there OK. Besides like they say, there is more fish in the sea!

flash

 

[fish4brains]

Wow TY for taking the time to write such a lengthy response, its people like u that make the internet such a wonderful tool. I will continue to move my rocks around to try to get the boys out of the corner. As long as the yellow is not biting into my fish taking pieces of his fins and such he will not die in the corner will he. He has been venturing out a little more and more each day but the yellow will bang into him after a few minutes of freedom, I have a 150 GPH pump so there is lots of current for exercise. Again Thx.

Hiya and welcome to the salty side

OK.....I'm assuming you have the usual setup of live rock and protein skimmer. If so then waiting a month to add your first fish should be absolutely fine, well done for your patience.

A yellow tail damsel is a good beginner fish but as you have found, they can be nasty little buggers. I have one who is an absolute angel so it sounds like you were unlucky and got a little terror. There's little you can do except rearranging the rockwork to disturb the territory. Hopefully this will gve the other fish a chance to establish themselves aswell.

When you say a gold stripe clown I guess you mean a maroon and gold clown Premnas biaculeatus. These are beautiful fish and in my opinion one of the most beautiful clowns. They differ from the other clownfish Amphiprion sp. as they are the only clowns that have cheek spines so be careful if you have to catch her as she will get stuck in a net. The other notable thing with maroon clowns is that the are the biggest and most aggressive of thier type. Yours should be more than capable of defending itself against a damsel.

Now then....You say you bought an Atlantic Sturgeon..... I am pretty sure this is a typing error. Atlantic Sturgeons are temperate for one thing and are not sold in the LFS...they also grow to 11ft ++ and can weigh 700lbs. I assume you meant an Atlantic Surgeonfish Acanthurus coeruleus better known as the Atlantic Blue Tang. These grow up to 23cm and need a minimum tank of 75gallons.

I would definately move the rocks again. Make sure you give all the fish somewhere to hide. The more hiding places you can make the better. If you have trouble it might be worth getting some non live ocean rock to help you make more caves etc. Your only other option is to remove the damsel. If it's this nasty now then it's probably going to get worse as it matures.

Also start saving for the bigger tank you are going to need for your Tang. You will be amazed at how fast it grows.

 

[leecara]

if you like the damsel how about selling that back to the lfs then add all fish you planned then add another yellow tail last this way it wont be as terroital as this one is now hopefully
( as alot of people add them first beacuse they are hardy but you are suppost to add the most terriotol fish last)

 

[SkiFletch]

if you like the damsel how about selling that back to the lfs then add all fish you planned then add another yellow tail last this way it wont be as terroital as this one is now hopefully
( as alot of people add them first beacuse they are hardy but you are suppost to add the most terriotol fish last)

Also some good advice.

 

[fish4brains]

TY all for yer help, I have taken sixty (my yellow tail) back to the lfs and bought a cleaner shrip of some sort. Boring but practical! again thanks 4 the help.