Why do people HATE Damsels?

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:29 PM

I am not sure why people seem to hate this breed of fish. I heard they are hard to catch but that cant be it? Are they incompatible with lots of other fish?

I have a few in my tank and they seem like fine fish?

Andrew · 08/08/2006, 12:32 PM

Damels and clownfish are in the same family but the damsels are mean and just a pain in the butt.

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:33 PM

Mean? Like they call other fish names? Or more just chasing them around the tank?

spoiledcats · 08/08/2006, 12:34 PM

Yeah, they are just plain mean, and torture other fish.

Andrew · 08/08/2006, 12:35 PM

Damsels can get very territorial when they get older. But so can some clownfish, which are also in the damsel family.

spoiledcats · 08/08/2006, 12:36 PM

How about very aggressive? If you have more timid fish in your tank, they will probably kill them.

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:38 PM

Ive noticed that one of this fish has a favorite rock and if any other fish get near it he chases it away. Is this just going to get worse as time passes?

Andrew · 08/08/2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ericwebster
Ive noticed that one of this fish has a favorite rock and if any other fish get near it he chases it away. Is this just going to get worse as time passes?

What tpye of fish is it? When was he added to the tank. When you add a new fish to the tank, they can become territorial for awhile. While other times when you add a new fish to the tank, the other fish in the tank will become territorial. My Royal gramma use to chase my scopas tang around but after a week or so of the tang being in the tank, he got use to him.

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:44 PM

no, I only have damsels (5) and they were all added at the same time.

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:45 PM

I should mention they have been in the tank about 15 days and all doing very well. There is plenty of room for them all (lots of rocks and caves).

Andrew · 08/08/2006, 12:46 PM

Chances are they will all become territorial and just start to kill each other off.

PUGroyale · 08/08/2006, 12:48 PM

they're evil little devil fish who grow up to be slightly bigger ugly devil fish

I know a guy who has two grown sargeant majors that rule a predator tank with big triggers in it. My GSM is territorial around it's anemone but not near as bad as the damsels were. Key word "were"

They've "moved on"...

Ti · 08/08/2006, 12:49 PM

they r mean little fish

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:52 PM

Well the guy at the LFS said I can return them if I keep them well and I no longer want them.

Andrew · 08/08/2006, 12:53 PM

I would get rid of them but they may be hard to catch if you have alot of rock in the tank.

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 12:56 PM

I also had a few(3) baby snails (TINY) hitchikers that were in my tank from my LR, do you think the Damsels could have eaten them because I have not seen them in a while?

snowman5373 · 08/08/2006, 12:57 PM

When I had my 55 gallon a few years ago, I ripped it apart just to catch a Blue Damsel that became very territorial. Never again will I buy a Damsel even though they look pretty sweet under Actinic lighting.

sir_dudeguy · 08/08/2006, 01:09 PM

heres why i hate them.

I was suggested to use them to cycle my 55 (which i now know not to do ever again) and then bring them back once my cycle was over....well, that proved way harder than i would have thought.

They're extremely fast, and they're chickens, so when they see a net, they just take off lol. But they would hid in the rock and stuff, and you cant really move a net around too much w/rock in there, you know? so i tried a few traps, rented one from the lfs, made a couple, even tried putting flake on the surface and when they would come to get it dive in w/the net..but they could still see it coming lol.

eventually i just said forget this, and i took all the rock out (which was a pain) caught the fish w/an open shot (this is much easier) put them in a bucket, took a couple hours to get my rock right again, and then ran them back to the lfs.

But also, while i had them, they were very aggressive. Every time i would put a new coral in, they would move it how they wanted (but then never touch it once it started growing lol...which was never where i wanted cuz they would move it haha). They also lost me a couple mushrooms that i never found again so ya.

Unless you truely would like to keep this fish, i wouldnt get them. Its not good for the fish to cycle a tank w/them..ther's better ways than w/fish...so imo, why bother getting them unless you're only gonna have this fish in your tank???

and i will never buy any damsels again either

ericwebster · 08/08/2006, 01:44 PM

The smallest one I have is the 3 Stripe Damsel and he is supposedly the most aggressive but he isin't causing any problems. Do you think I can just remove the one problem fish? Or will they all become jerks?

sir_dudeguy · 08/08/2006, 01:52 PM

they all will lol. especially if you add other fish. Mine also took out a shrimp.

kass03 · 08/08/2006, 02:36 PM

Some are worse than others.
Ive had some all blues that I never had a problem with but if you plan on keeping other fish with them you will most likely have problems especially 5 of them in a 75.

I have a jewel damsel in my 150 with no problems but it's with larger fish such as a kole tang, flame angel, large tomato clown etc.
I used to have a little blue yellowtail in there though (came with the tank) that would even bite my hand.

They will defend their territorry which is usually the whole tank lol.

Clowns can be bad also I had a killer tomato for about 13 years that killed 100's of dollars worth of fish like small blue tangs.
Ive seen it bite them and kill them on the spot or I had a green dragon wrasse with it for a yr and a half and one day it threw it in it's anemone. I rescued it but it was stung too bad and died.
I was glad when that fish died lol.
When I got my 150 11 yrs ago it came with a large tomato and I never had a problem with it.

People are against damsels because they are known to be territorial and mean and once you add them they are a PITA to get out.

I would suggest doing some reasearch here on the next fish you buy before you get them to save you some headaches.
The LFS does'nt always have good advice lol.

kass

sir_dudeguy · 08/08/2006, 02:41 PM

yes my zebra/3-stripe ones would always pull the hairs on my arms lol. didnt hurt or anything really, but it wasnt a comfortable fealing haha.

archie1709 · 08/08/2006, 11:06 PM

I had to remove all of my LRs back in the days on my 55G setup because of three yellowtail damsels I had to catch. They took over all of my rock work. It drove most of my other fish at that time to corners, and even killed a white spotted puffer. They're the wolves of the closed system hobby.

Now, I turned that 55G FOWLR to a reef tank. It doesn't have damsels and I am happy. I do not like yellow tail damsels. They're mean buggers. But they definitely cycled my tank. hehehe.

Drakis · 08/08/2006, 11:52 PM

I don't hate them, but I dislike them.

I started out with 4 damsels, 2 three stripes and 2 yellow tails, about 5 years ago. One of the three striped damsels killed all of the others with in a year. I still have the killer damsel, he's in my 75 fowlr, I keep him as a reminder to research before I buy.

He won't mess with my dwarf lion or snowflake eel.

Jayded · 08/09/2006, 12:13 AM

I have 2 yellow tails. We were told to get them by the LFS once we had cycled the tank just to "test the water" so to speak. They said leave them in for 2 weeks if everything is still ok then get more fish but we are now stuck with these damsels. The yellow tails look nice with their bright colour but theyre not a fish we would have picked. They dont seem to be aggressive (weve had them for about 6 weeks now? or there abouts) but we have a blenny in there who is bigger than them and just headbutts anything that is in his way so they seem to know theyre not the "boss" The clowns have also made it pretty clear they own the place in there too. Id still like to get rid of them though to make room for something we actually want.

08/08/2006, 12:29 PM	#1
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	Why do people HATE Damsels? I am not sure why people seem to hate this breed of fish. I heard they are hard to catch but that cant be it? Are they incompatible with lots of other fish? I have a few in my tank and they seem like fine fish? __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:33 PM	#3
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	Mean? Like they call other fish names? Or more just chasing them around the tank? __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:38 PM	#7
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	Ive noticed that one of this fish has a favorite rock and if any other fish get near it he chases it away. Is this just going to get worse as time passes? __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:44 PM	#9
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	no, I only have damsels (5) and they were all added at the same time. __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:45 PM	#10
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	I should mention they have been in the tank about 15 days and all doing very well. There is plenty of room for them all (lots of rocks and caves). __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:32 PM	#2
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	Damels and clownfish are in the same family but the damsels are mean and just a pain in the butt.

08/08/2006, 12:34 PM	#4
spoiledcats Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Lehigh Valley Posts: 622	Yeah, they are just plain mean, and torture other fish.

08/08/2006, 12:35 PM	#5
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	Damsels can get very territorial when they get older. But so can some clownfish, which are also in the damsel family.

08/08/2006, 12:36 PM	#6
spoiledcats Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Lehigh Valley Posts: 622	How about very aggressive? If you have more timid fish in your tank, they will probably kill them.

08/08/2006, 12:46 PM	#11
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	Chances are they will all become territorial and just start to kill each other off.

08/08/2006, 12:48 PM	#12
PUGroyale Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,711	they're evil little devil fish who grow up to be slightly bigger ugly devil fish I know a guy who has two grown sargeant majors that rule a predator tank with big triggers in it. My GSM is territorial around it's anemone but not near as bad as the damsels were. Key word "were" They've "moved on"... __________________ Dave :~)

08/08/2006, 12:49 PM	#13
Ti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 7,927	they r mean little fish __________________ Hair algae is my Macro algae.

08/08/2006, 12:52 PM	#14
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	Well the guy at the LFS said I can return them if I keep them well and I no longer want them. __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:53 PM	#15
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	I would get rid of them but they may be hard to catch if you have alot of rock in the tank.

08/08/2006, 12:56 PM	#16
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	I also had a few(3) baby snails (TINY) hitchikers that were in my tank from my LR, do you think the Damsels could have eaten them because I have not seen them in a while? __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 12:57 PM	#17
snowman5373 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Canandaigua, NY Posts: 90	When I had my 55 gallon a few years ago, I ripped it apart just to catch a Blue Damsel that became very territorial. Never again will I buy a Damsel even though they look pretty sweet under Actinic lighting.

08/08/2006, 01:09 PM	#18
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	heres why i hate them. I was suggested to use them to cycle my 55 (which i now know not to do ever again) and then bring them back once my cycle was over....well, that proved way harder than i would have thought. They're extremely fast, and they're chickens, so when they see a net, they just take off lol. But they would hid in the rock and stuff, and you cant really move a net around too much w/rock in there, you know? so i tried a few traps, rented one from the lfs, made a couple, even tried putting flake on the surface and when they would come to get it dive in w/the net..but they could still see it coming lol. eventually i just said forget this, and i took all the rock out (which was a pain) caught the fish w/an open shot (this is much easier) put them in a bucket, took a couple hours to get my rock right again, and then ran them back to the lfs. But also, while i had them, they were very aggressive. Every time i would put a new coral in, they would move it how they wanted (but then never touch it once it started growing lol...which was never where i wanted cuz they would move it haha). They also lost me a couple mushrooms that i never found again so ya. Unless you truely would like to keep this fish, i wouldnt get them. Its not good for the fish to cycle a tank w/them..ther's better ways than w/fish...so imo, why bother getting them unless you're only gonna have this fish in your tank??? and i will never buy any damsels again either __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

08/08/2006, 01:44 PM	#19
ericwebster Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Boston MA Posts: 375	The smallest one I have is the 3 Stripe Damsel and he is supposedly the most aggressive but he isin't causing any problems. Do you think I can just remove the one problem fish? Or will they all become jerks? __________________ "Nobody tried to sell me the most used piece of equipment I own .. my mop." 72G Tank LTA, Pulsing Xenia, Blue Tang, Mated Maroons, 2 Damsels, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Algae Blenny, Peppermint Shrimp (3), CBS (1), Cleaner Shrimp Current Tank Info: 100G bow front corner. Yellow Tank, Coral Beauty, Clownfish, some SPS, LPS and Soft Corals

08/08/2006, 01:52 PM	#20
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	they all will lol. especially if you add other fish. Mine also took out a shrimp. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

08/08/2006, 02:36 PM	#21
kass03 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Kaukauna, Wi Posts: 2,937	Some are worse than others. Ive had some all blues that I never had a problem with but if you plan on keeping other fish with them you will most likely have problems especially 5 of them in a 75. I have a jewel damsel in my 150 with no problems but it's with larger fish such as a kole tang, flame angel, large tomato clown etc. I used to have a little blue yellowtail in there though (came with the tank) that would even bite my hand. They will defend their territorry which is usually the whole tank lol. Clowns can be bad also I had a killer tomato for about 13 years that killed 100's of dollars worth of fish like small blue tangs. Ive seen it bite them and kill them on the spot or I had a green dragon wrasse with it for a yr and a half and one day it threw it in it's anemone. I rescued it but it was stung too bad and died. I was glad when that fish died lol. When I got my 150 11 yrs ago it came with a large tomato and I never had a problem with it. People are against damsels because they are known to be territorial and mean and once you add them they are a PITA to get out. I would suggest doing some reasearch here on the next fish you buy before you get them to save you some headaches. The LFS does'nt always have good advice lol. kass

08/08/2006, 02:41 PM	#22
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	yes my zebra/3-stripe ones would always pull the hairs on my arms lol. didnt hurt or anything really, but it wasnt a comfortable fealing haha. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

08/08/2006, 11:06 PM	#23
archie1709 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 401	I had to remove all of my LRs back in the days on my 55G setup because of three yellowtail damsels I had to catch. They took over all of my rock work. It drove most of my other fish at that time to corners, and even killed a white spotted puffer. They're the wolves of the closed system hobby. Now, I turned that 55G FOWLR to a reef tank. It doesn't have damsels and I am happy. I do not like yellow tail damsels. They're mean buggers. But they definitely cycled my tank. hehehe.

08/08/2006, 11:52 PM	#24
Drakis Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Vancouver, WA (the Couve) Posts: 241	I don't hate them, but I dislike them. I started out with 4 damsels, 2 three stripes and 2 yellow tails, about 5 years ago. One of the three striped damsels killed all of the others with in a year. I still have the killer damsel, he's in my 75 fowlr, I keep him as a reminder to research before I buy. He won't mess with my dwarf lion or snowflake eel.

08/09/2006, 12:13 AM	#25
Jayded Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 158	I have 2 yellow tails. We were told to get them by the LFS once we had cycled the tank just to "test the water" so to speak. They said leave them in for 2 weeks if everything is still ok then get more fish but we are now stuck with these damsels. The yellow tails look nice with their bright colour but theyre not a fish we would have picked. They dont seem to be aggressive (weve had them for about 6 weeks now? or there abouts) but we have a blenny in there who is bigger than them and just headbutts anything that is in his way so they seem to know theyre not the "boss" The clowns have also made it pretty clear they own the place in there too. Id still like to get rid of them though to make room for something we actually want.