Why Not To Buy A Damsel Fish

[boshank23]

the damselfish, small and often brightly coloured, very hardy and active fish. "the perfect first marine fish" i bet your thinking? well you would be wrong!

mainly found in tropical water of the indo-pacific and atlantic ocean, they make their homes along coral reef areas, often found in shoals or pairs. they CAN be super agressive and will defend their territory at any cost.

it seems many have made it common practice to use damsel fish as a biological stabilizer in new marine setups, spending its time in terrible water conditions to biologically stabilize with benificial bacteria, there are more humane ways to do this.

once you have a damselfish in your tank it will make that tank "their territory" adding anything else after that will be seriously detrimental to the new tank mates health. each individual damsel will claim a group of rocks and its crevices, and will not allow any other fish to enter this area. it will even attack fish much larger than itself.

so to sum it up, sit on your hands and take your time when it comes to maturing your tank, don't subject fish to living in horrid water conditions. use a fishless cycle to obtain the levels of benificial bacteria. thorougly reserch any purchase of livestock to save missery later on, and if you can't have what you wan't TOUGH!

 

[Lynden]

I agree about not cycling a tank with fish, it's easier to do it with live rock anyways.

However I must disagree about the aggression bit; although some Damselfish are very aggressive and will indeed terrorize new additions, many are very docile fish that won't hurt a fly. They have an extremely bad reputation, for I reason I just don't understand; they are wonderful fish for the beginner, since they are hardy, easy to feed, and many are highly coloured. Many will get along with most anything there own size or larger, including Angels, Tangs, Psuedochromids, et cetera, with a notable exception being those of their own species. They will usually not harm small Gobies or Blennies either, except in small systems (those under 30 gallons).

However, those in the genus Dascyllus are best avoided, unless intended for an aggressive community.

-Lynden

 

[Mr.September15]

Urgh! Don't even get me started! It terrorized my tank! That's just my experience just like Lynden said that some might get mad and some others wont. It's the fish that decides what side he wants to stay on.

 

[Betta5]

You cant say that. Thats like saying dont buy oscars because they are aggressive

 

[Mr.September15]

You cant say that. Thats like saying dont buy oscars because they are aggressive

I DO WHAT I WANT!

Yes, your right you can't buy oscars because there not only aggresive there huge.

 

[Lynden]

Oscars are wonderful fish. Not having at least one Oscar in the course of your life is major deprivation.

I think that Damselfish get their undeserved reputation because people will either go entirely by what they "hear", or buy one (like a Domino), then find it to be aggressive and be put off them for good.

-Lynden

 

[boshank23]

i talk from personal experience with damsels, i keep them myself, i love these fish. what i don't like reading is where a newbie has bought 1, found it has been killing crabs and new additions, then flushed it down the toilet!

we all know that they can be agressive and there is potential for them to wreack havock in a tank. if you look at the title i put it as "newbie help" really so they can make an educated desicion about what fish they really want instead of taking LFS advice on buying damselfish because they are hardy.

so what happens to the damsel if it becomes destructive? how many LFS's do you know that will take damsels back? i know none of mine will.

there really is no comparison to oscars, the educated oscar keeper will have enough space for it and know its not wise to put anything in there that it can fit in its mouth. the same can't be said for damselfish, they even attack divers on the reef if they stray into their patch of reef.

 

[Lynden]

Oscars are saints compared to some Damselfish, and they grow very much larger (not counting Sargeant Major, Garibaldi, and Giant Damselfish) than Damselfish, as well as producing far more waste.

I tend to consider myself an 'experienced Oscar keeper', having bred them several times. Them and Damselfish have little similarity to each other. However I don't think Mr.September15 was trying to say that they were. I have also kept many species of Damselfish.

-Lynden

 

[boshank23]

the thing is most new marine keepers will get damsels recomended to them by their LFS, yeah they are great fish for a newbie, but when the newbie gains confidence and buys a fish thats non aggressive, the damselfish will eat it for breakfast.

even if a damselfish is kept in an aggressive community there is a chance it will do some serious damage. damselfish are related to cichlids if i am right in thinking? take a malawi cichlid for instance.

you wouldn't put a malawi cichlid in a tank with anything other than other malawi cichlids, even then some species of malawi are incompatible. i guess what i'm saying is, if you wan't to keep damselfish you should be prepaired to only keep damselfish of the same species, they don't mix and match well. don't flush them down your loo when they have cycled your tank!

 

[rhysiboy]

am i also right that clownfish and damsels are realted?

 

[Mr.September15]

am i also right that clownfish and damsels are realted?

Yes

 

[SkiFletch]

In genetic relationship yeah, in most others, no.

 

[boshank23]

green chromis are also a type of damselfish. but then again staffies and yorkies are both types of terrier, diffrent temprements

 

[Lynden]

Any fish that is in the family Pomacentridae is technically a Damselfish. Then you have confusing subfamilies, such as Amphiprionidae for Clownfish. But then again, Dascyllus Damsels either are, or used to be, in the Amphiprionidae subfamily, making them Clownfish...

-Lynden

 

[Ranger]

Any fish that is in the family Pomacentridae is technically a Damselfish. Then you have confusing subfamilies, such as Amphiprionidae for Clownfish. But then again, Dascyllus Damsels either are, or used to be, in the Amphiprionidae subfamily, making them Clownfish...

-Lynden

Hey Lynden... how do you know so much???