cichlidlover

Ok, so I have just set up my first SW tank(55 gallons). and I whent to petland to look at fish so I can plan. the guy there told me that damsel fish,if introduced first, will take over the whole tank and not let any other fish, introduced later, in the tank. aparently they will band together and form a damselfish "army" and harass all new fish. But, if you introduce them last, they will be peacful to other fish. I thought damselfish were peaceful? Am I wrong?

morganrules

no damsel fish are nicknamed devils of the sea just because of that they are aggresive little things.

Hypnox

Damsels are evil little buggers. Avoid them like you would avoid mixing cichlids with tetras.

cichlidlover

Ok so I guess you guys are telling me they are too aggressive in general. Are there species that are more peaceful than others?

Hypnox

Clownfish are technically damsels but tend to be more peaceful. I've heard stories of other breeds like the yellow-tail blue damsels and convict damsels chasing even much larger fish around in a tank as well as knocking over corals and covering them with sand.

morganrules

go with gobies. like the clown goby cuz they is to cute lol. you could do firefish. although you need a lid cuz they jump when they get startled

cichlidlover

Ok so I guess I'm not getting damsels. I was also thinking about getting a coral beauty angel later. It'll be like the star of the tank. do you have any advice on those? And yes, I do have a hood. I also heard that firefish can be a bit picky about their water quality.(except I also heard that damsels were peaceful)lol Is that true about the firefish?

morganrules

i dont know about the firefish witht he pickyness but the coral beauty needs places to hide and stuff

nemo addict

coral beauty s are very prone to ick so a small uv filter would help with this ,,
make sure when you purchase there are no white spots or white looking scales , have been known to knip corals so not totally reef safe and its 50/50 on agression some are some are not ,again when purchaseing look for one that is fine with tank mates watch for a few days in LFS ,, and add last to your tank

nemo addict

3/4 striped aka humbug damsels are ok along with blue/green chromis and also mentioned clownfish all these damsels in one tank would normally mix and be ok ,,, on the 3/4 stripe one or the other not both ,,

ones to avoid are domino s , yellow tailed ,black damsel, black tailed/mouth damsel and the sgt major

cichlidlover

that's better with the damsels. I was geting disapointed because I really wanted some green chromis. and I guess I wil have to observe the coral beauty. how about copperband butterflies?

nemo addict

copperbands need a larger tank 80g+ and can be hard to get feeding , also very prone to ICH so putting in a smaller tank would cause problems ,, needs a mature tank and can eat corals ,

morganrules

cichlid are you a beginner in The sw world. if so i would start off with Beginner fish

cichlidlover

yeah, I am. I guess i might wait. I like the Idea of a golby tank though. I might have to look into that. Thanks guys. you are all a big help

Mike19

some people fall in the trap of buying damsels first as they are considered hardy, but not knowing that latter on new additions will be bullied. I saw an interesting video on youtube about the things you have mentioned if only i could find it.

morganrules

gobies look cool to and are really cool

cichlidlover

do the burrowing ones need ultra fine sand?