Animal Stories - Anemonefish - Damsels


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Latest Animal Stories on Anemonefish - Damsels (119)

glmory - 2008-11-27
I have kept several of these over the years, and am not sure I ever will again. They are fine with invertebrates or larger fish such as tangs that do not prey on damsels; however they will however make it almost impossible to add any more small fish to your aquarium. If you really are set on putting this fish with anything less than twice their size I would add the damsel last. This will make it more likely he will accept the other fish. Also seriously consider getting a yellowtail damsel instead, these are more peaceful fish.

Also, do not put them in aquariums with lionfish, or grouper. This is almost certain death for a damselfish. The real problem with damsels is not how mean they are, it is that they are too small to place in an aggressive tank, and too mean to put in a more calm tank.

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Bill Vasalofsky - 2012-07-24
Generally you will be safe if you put fish of different shapes and colors. Blue devils might be curious and check a new fish out, but generally don't bother them if they are different shapes or colors. With that said I think a couple of blue devils killed a new French Angel that was alot bigger than they were. As far as aggressive, my Maroon Clown beats all of the other fish in my tank (Niger Trigger, Toby, File)

leslie [spud] - 2008-06-29
i have two damsels [two years old]. they have gotten on fine with each other and all of the other fish. one seems to be turning grey [almost see-through] or silver at times. seems healthy. any feedback would be appreciated.

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Brenda - 2010-05-10
Mine is turning grey also. I thought something was wrong with him. Maybe not?
Rebecca - 2010-12-06
I have two and one of mine has been turning grey and was swimming in front of the other one funny, then i read somewhere that they could be a pair, making the one that turns grey the male. . . . They might be trying to breed. .

GARF lover - 2006-09-28
My chromis fishes have very unique personalities. The larger green one seems to pick on the smaller blue one. The green chromis has gone to the point in which he's bitten the top part of the fin of the blue chromis. They also hide behind the coral whenever I walk by my tank. Ive seen chromis adults 8in long in my local petstore.

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Anonymous - 2010-02-25
No, not 8 inches
Anonymous - 2012-07-14
Were they the same species of chromis?

Veronica - 2012-03-23
I think my Domino Damsel just had a heart attack! One of my other fish just died so I was going in with the net to get it out when I noticed my Domino started freaking out and moving its fins rapidly then it sunk to the bottom and laid there. It turned really pale like a silver color. After about 30 sec it started swimming again and slowly turned back to black. He is wimming like nothing happened now....

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Jeremy Roche - 2012-03-24
Check ammonia level.

Kimberly - 2003-07-29
From my experience..my damsels are only aggressive with their kind. My domino damsels dont' attack the Sgt. Maj. and vice versa, but they will attack each other.

Danny - 2006-01-18
Don't just pick the first one you see. They range from banana yellow to almost yellow. You definitely want to choose the darkest yellow. They grow up to look confusingly close to the lemon angel from afar. I love the colors they add. They are mostly passive and work well in small groups. They swim around a lot too.

Kieffer - 2007-09-16
Do not buy this fish unless you wanna see action ... Like FISH GONE WILD kind of action! This fish has a Mike Tyson/Muhammad Ali complex and will kill anyone in his way. They become especially rabbid after a hearty meal, I guess they're mad at the other fish for eating too! They killed two of my fish, I learned the hard way, dont make the same mistake.

roxy - 2012-05-10
yea we need help what kind of food do these fish eat were in 8th grade doing a project lol!!!!

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Jeremy Roche - 2012-05-10
In the tank setting these fish will eat flake but will take a variety of things. If you click on the fish and go under feeding, it is all there.

neil - 2012-04-06
Oh dear, just bought a 4 stripe damsel. Pet shop said it would be ok with other fish. I have not seen any aggresion as yet, but will keep a close eye on it and see how things develop. All comments on this fish are conflicting.

jordan - 2011-11-05
We have a love hate relationship with these fish. We started out our tank with one domino damsel and one 3 striped damsel. We quickly learned who the dominant fish was and that was the domino damsel, always picking and pushing 'pizza' around but hasn't killed him yet. About 3 weeks later we got 'sunny' which is our yellow tailed damsel....I thought the other 2 fish were going to murder poor sunny BUT sunny has survived, barely. Domino and pizza bullied him for a very long time, isolating him to the far corner of the tank, never allowing him to come near the coral,ha! They truly are devil fish!
We've had the 3 fish for about 6 months now,the terrorizing behavior between them has settled somewhat however it's still very easy to tick Dominooff. The other thing about our domino damsel, he has grown substantially larger then our 3 stipe and yellow tail. They all eat but clearly Domino is dominant behavior and territorial characteristics has allowed him to grow larger than the other fish. Today we are adding the neon velvet damsel, so far domino and pizza have hasseled him but sunny has left him alone. We'll have to see how the turn out is with this living situation.
We really do like our damsels but they truly are little devil fish :)

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Gytha - 2012-01-22
I'm so glad that the internet allows free info like this!
Alex Burleson - 2012-02-12
Damselfish are known for this type of behavior, and it is why many aquartists do not add them to their aquariums. Do note, that if the fish is not allowed to eat, he will die of starvation. Additionally, the fish could die of stress. I wish you the best of luck!

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