Fighting Damsels

[Smonkey15]

hey, i have 3 yellow tail damsels in my tank now by themselves and there is one really aggressive one that only nips at one of the others. he leaves the little one alone. i am wondering if this tells me that he will definitly nip at a yellow tang and maroon clown once i get them in there? i dont see how it could nip at another damsel when they have 90 gallons between the three of them and not any other fish i will put in there. thanks

 

[steve-s]

Damsels can be a rather belligerant species. Most are quite territorial and aggressive. The size of your new fish will rarely matter to them and will harass them just the same and possibley cause death.. If you are sticking mainly with peaceful to lightly aggressive FO tank, I would suggest returning the damsels.

Cheers
Steve

 

[sokhamik]

well, my yellow tang is aggressive himself, so i can't say if your yellowtail will attack it because my yellowtail definately attacks my maroons though... the larger maroon is twice his size, yet that means nothing to him.. the maroon is like terrified of the damsel, but nothing much happen.. just a little sizing up and everybody backs off.. he tries to pick on my false perky, but the perky is more aggressive towards it than the maroon.. everyone gets along fine just now and then they just test each other's size.. that's it..

 

[Vince_Z]

we started with 2 yellow-tail damsels and there was a lot of agression shown by the bigger one. we bought another smaller damsel to try to even things out. but the medium-sized one kept getting bullied by the smaller and larger of the three!

We've since returned the large and small damsels and kept the medium-sized one. We let him regrow his fins for a couple of weeks - he was nipped quite badly by the other two. Then we added 2 A.Ocellaris clowns who've become a pair - they swim together constantly. The three fish get along great. No aggression whatsoever. It's quite amazing to see such a non-aggressive damsel. They all hang out in the left side of the 38G tank, too.

So maybe give the damsels the benefit of the doubt and just return the more agressive one.

 

[talenzmeier]

Watch Out

Damsels can be ferocious. I had one 3 Spot Damsel that managed to kill off two others. They're very aggressive and if one in particular is getting picked on that could be due to the fact that it might be inujured in some way. Adding Melaflix might help the picked on one recover, if indeed that's the problem. I should point out that I've since added to my tank and the Damsel doesn't seem to be bothering the other fish. Of course they're all bigger than the Damsel at the moment.

 

[loganizzi]

The only thing you can be sure of - is that you can't be sure. I have a yellow-tail damsel that was at the top of the pecking order when it was just him and a blue damsel. Then I got a clarkii clown, perc. clown and a tomato clown. The clarkii immediately assumed top position. It got so bad that I had to get rid of him because he was on the verge of killing my perc. Once he was gone, the tomato moved to the top and continues to be there. However, there is no serious aggression among the group. They swim together, and generally get along very well.

My suggestion is that if you are attached to anyone individual fish and you want to get another that may be borderline compatible, mix them up and keep an eye on them. If one is starts to torment the rest to an extreme - take him out and return him. Unfortunately there are no absolutes and each personality will be unique. You just have to try it out and see if it works.

 

[goldy]

we have a yellow tail and he only fights with oter damsels. all the other fish he leaves alone. it just depends on their personality.