Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Territorial Damsel

6K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  alysalouise 
#1 ·
So i have a Black Velvet Damsel. and he was the first fish i put in my tank, but i cant get him to stop bulling my other fish. i have caught all the fish and put them in one big bag and him in his own and put all new decorations in the tank and put all the fish except him in and gave them like 45 minutes to claim their places, then i added the Damsel and he pushed them all out of their places and wont let them come near it
So what should i do?
 
#2 ·
Unfortunately, Damselfish are amoung the most aggressive, territorial species in the Saltwater hobby. Velvets are amoung the most aggressive. Even if your Damselfish "adjust" to new fish, there will still be bullying. Damsels are certainly not for the peaceful saltwater setup.
 
#3 ·
well i got him because i was told damsels are the easiest to take care of, the most hardy, and that i should start with one, so i got the only one in the pet store, and they havent had any more of the same kind in since i got him, but he was given to them because he was eatint the fish in the previous tank he was in, luckily i havent had that problem. but he is fine with my two baby clown fish and my blennie, just not my yellow tank and hippo tang and my much larger maroon clown

but i have my 55 gallon set up, just need to fix the lights and filter and slowly ill add them all to that tank, and make sure that i put my damsel in last
 
#4 ·
yes damsels are very hardy and easy to care for and make great starter fish. your best bet would be to rehome the fish. get him his own tank or give it away. they are evil even to thier own kind. and a lil offtopic but my 2 cents i would consider a much larger tank for the tangs and maroon more like a 200g tank rather than a 55g... but good luck to ya.
 
#5 ·
defently not going to get rid of him, he is my first fish, cant just throw him out because he is a bully
and i dont have the room or the money for any more tanks or even a bigger one, i think they will do just fine in my 55, and most of my fish are babies right now, besides the maroon clownfish, yellow tang, and my damsel
 
#6 ·
usually local fish stores will allow you to trade him back in for another fish. if i read you thread right you have a hippo and a yellow tang in a 28Gallon tank? if thats true, the tank is way too SMALL. Those fish are grazers and need a bigger tank. The minimum should be a 75 gallon with lots of rock as they pick all day at the rocks looking for food. They also need lots of open space for swimming. They [rpbably wont last long in that tank and you may want to consider returning both to the local store for another fish or credit for when you finally set up the bigger tank.
 
#10 ·
Well i have my 55 gallon set up and so far what i have moved in there is my big maroon clown fish, yellow tang, and my baby hippo tang. and i did a bit of trading, the rest of my salt water fish are in my 14 gallon, and my fresh are in my 29, and after i get the rest of my fish from my smaller tank into my 55 EXCEPT my Damsel i am going to keep him in there until i finish buying all the fish i want for salt water, and maybe a couple months after that happens, I will be transfering him in there, and hopefully by that time my babies (tomato clown, "nemo" clown, and blue hippo) will be as big if not bigger than him and hopefully things wont be as bad, BUT I AM still keeping him..... he reminds me that he is a big bad shark (in his head)


My goal is to have the full 'Finding Nemo' set in my tank discluding the squid, turtle, birds, and the jelly fish... I will consider my Damsel as the Shark lol just cause he is so big and mean
And ill have my few misolanious fish in there too
 
#11 ·
the maroone clown is also very agressive! doesn't all 3 clowns fight now? if not they will eventually. clowns are typically agressive to other clowns. maroones are probably the most agressive of the bunch. maroone clowns, and damsels are like TERMINATORS! they will seek you out and they will not stop until you die! I put that in as a joke but seriously they will attack especially if you add new fish, and create havoc in the tank sometimes causing ick. if this happens you'll lose all the fish in the tank. just my .01 cents
 
#12 ·
Also if you're planning a tank like the one in Nemo, you might want to do a lot more research before you decide that...most of the fish in the movie are not compatible in a tank in real life. I've read an article somewhere on this exact thing and now I cant find it.
 
#13 ·
I know they arent, ill keep some in a different tank, like the sea horses will have their very own tank, cause they take alot more time getting to the food, so if they were in a big tank with a bunch of other fish they wouldnt get to the food in time before it was all gone
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top