Are there any damsel fish that are peaceful?

[Moe_K]

Sure, Scott Michaels some damsels are less aggressive, but I'm wondering about people's real tank experiences.

Are any damsels sociable?

I'm wondering because they're usually a pretty fish, and they're almost always reef safe.

 

[naturebatslast]

My yellowtail is on the bottom of the social standing in my tank, huge wuss and socialable.
What about an Allen's damsel?

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Dead ones?

I've had:

White/black stripe - very agressive
blue damsels - seemed OK, above fish terrorized them
Yellow tail, OK except with fish that looked like it - small Hippo
...funny thing, my bi-color blennie chased the YT

Tomatoes - very agressive
Gold bar - very agressive

Percs - peaceful, unless other fish get too close to anemone

 

[Moe_K]

Awesome, you both reminded me of a second question I have...
Is the all electric blue damsel known as Allen's damsel?

 

[JohnK]

I have a yellow damsel that is causing no problems whatsoever! (since it was banished to the inside of an overflow box )

 

[JayM]

in my mixed tank, I have 2 blue damsels, 2 yellow damsels, and a yellow tail damsel (1st fish in the tank)
2 false percs too.

No real strife in the tank at all. No nipped fins, no long term chasing around. The percs hang in 1 of the 3 BTA's and all is well.

 

[Moe_K]

I looked through Wet Web Media.
People have lots of problems even with the "less aggressive" yellow tailed damsels. Dang.
Maybe I'll look into chromis.

 

[NateHanson]

I always had trouble keeping chromis. They'd disappear regularly. Not sure if they were jumping or feeding the anemone or what.

 

[JohnK]

Why damsels? looking for tank starters or schooling fish?

Either way go with chromis. If your looking for cycling fish, jsut cycle with LR and skip the starter fish altogether. Even dead rock with a tiny seeding of LR will do the trick this way.

.02

 

[naturebatslast]

Awesome, you both reminded me of a second question I have...
Is the all electric blue damsel known as Allen's damsel?

I've never heard it referred to as that, and knew more by the Genus species name of Pomacentrus alleni

There's is something like 56 species, here's a partial list
"Pomacentrus [N: 53] [FB: 57]
|-- P. adelus Allen, 1991 (Obscure damsel)
|-- P. agassizi Bliss, 1883 (Creole damsel)
|-- P. albicaudatus Baschieri-Salvadori, 1955 (Whitefin damsel)
|-- P. albimaculus Allen, 1975 (Whitespot damsel)
|-- P. alexanderae Evermann & Seale, 1907 (Alexander's damsel)
|-- P. alleni Burgess, 1981 (Andaman damsel)
|-- P. amboinensis Bleeker, 1868 (Ambon damsel)
|-- P. aquilus Allen & Randall, 1980 (Dark damsel)
|-- P. arabicus Allen, 1991 (Arabian damsel)
|-- P. armillatus Allen, 1993
|-- P. auriventris Allen, 1991 (Goldbelly damsel)
|-- P. australis Allen & Robertson, 1974 (Australian damsel)
|-- P. azuremaculatus Allen, 1991 (Bluespotted damsel)
|-- P. baenschi Allen, 1991 (Baensch's damsel)
|-- P. bankanensis Bleeker, 1853 (Speckled damselfish)
|-- P. brachialis Cuvier, 1830 (Charcoal damsel)
|-- P. burroughi Fowler, 1918 (Burrough's damsel)
|-- P. caeruleus Quoy & Gaimard, 1825 (Caerulean damsel)
|-- P. chrysurus Cuvier, 1830 (Whitetail damsel)
|-- P. coelestis Jordan & Starks, 1901 (Neon damselfish)
|-- P. colini Allen, 1991 (Colin's damsel)
|-- P. cuneatus Allen, 1991 (Wedgespot damsel)
|-- P. emarginatus Cuvier, 1829 (Outer-reef damsel)
|-- P. geminospilus Allen, 1993
|-- P. grammorhynchus Fowler, 1918 (Bluespot damsel)
|-- P. imitator (Whitley, 1964) (Imitator damsel)
|-- P. indicus Allen, 1991 (Indian damsel)
|-- P. javanicus Allen, 1991 (Java damsel)
|-- P. lepidogenys Fowler & Bean, 1928 (Scaly damsel)
|-- P. leptus Allen & Randall, 1980 (Slender damsel)
|-- P. littoralis Cuvier, 1830 (Smoky damsel)
|-- P. melanochir Bleeker, 1877 (Indonesian damsel)
|-- P. milleri Taylor, 1964
|-- P. moluccensis Bleeker, 1853 (Lemon damsel)
|-- P. nagasakiensis Tanaka, 1917 (Nagasaki damsel)
|-- P. nigromanus Weber, 1913 (Goldback damsel)
|-- P. nigromarginatus Allen, 1973 (Blackmargined damsel)
|-- P. opisthostigma Fowler, 1918 (Brown damsel)
|-- P. pavo (Bloch, 1787) (Sapphire damsel)
|-- P. philippinus Evermann & Seale, 1907 (Philippine damsel)
|-- P. pikei Bliss, 1883 (Blacklip damsel)
|-- P. polyspinus Allen, 1991 (Thai damsel)
|-- P. proteus Allen, 1991 (Colombo damsel)
|-- P. reidi Fowler & Bean, 1928 (Reid's damsel)
|-- P. saksonoi Allen, 1995
|-- P. similis Allen, 1991 (Similar damsel)
|-- P. simsiang Bleeker, 1856 (Blueback damsel)
|-- P. smithi Fowler & Bean, 1928 (Smith's damsel)
|-- P. stigma Fowler & Bean, 1928 (Blackspot damsel)
|-- P. sulfureus Klunzinger, 1871 (Sulphur damsel)
|-- P. taeniometopon Bleeker, 1852 (Brackish damsel)
|-- P. trichourus G?nther, 1867 (Paletail damsel)
|-- P. trilineatus Cuvier, 1830 (Threeline damsel)
|-- P. tripunctatus Cuvier, 1830 (Threespot damsel)
|-- P. vaiuli Jordan & Seale, 1906 (Ocellate damselfish)
|-- P. wardi Whitley, 1927 (Ward's damsel)
`-- P. xanthosternus Allen, 1991 (Yellowbreasted damsel)"

 

[testhead1313]

I once had a bluefin damsel whose name was "Wimpy". Great fish with personality and quite docile. Not as colorful as most, but pretty in its own regard.

EDIT: Just saw this, "often associated with soft corals on which it feeds"

 

[PenMan]

Clowns are in the damsel family aren't they? But some of they get very mean.

 

[Greg Hiller]

Moe,

The one in Natureblast's post is the one to get, IMO. I have one in my tank and it is not very agressive, and really, the most beautiful damsel I've ever seen, people often remark on it when they see it. They are tricky to purchase. I was trying to get a mate for mine a while back at a shop in the area and there was as least one in the tank. Problem was, there were other, very similar species also in the tank. When the LFS guy went hunting with his net, all the fish transiently lost their color. It was essentially impossible to tell which was which. Of course I got the ugly one. It terrorized my beautiful one for about 1 year until when I moved the fish from my 110 to my 400 G I was able to send the ugly one packing to my frag tank.

I tried ordering this fish mail order as well, and one time got the right fish, another time the wrong fish.

I've also had good luck with Yellowtail Damselfish (Chrysiptera parasema), and Talbot's Damselfish (Chrysiptera talboti). The amount of aggression also depends on the size of the tank, and how many fish you put in. I currently have one of each of the ones I've mentioned in my tank. When possible I recommend a pair of damsels of the same species. If you can get them small, they will morph into a pair, just like clownfish do. I've had several breeding pairs over the years. Impossible to raise the larva (just too small to take rotifers), but fun nontheless.

Be careful when purchasing damsels you don't know. There are some species that area really pretty as juveniles, but grow into really mean, really large gray, or black adults!!

Oh...I also have a pair of Ternate Damsels (Amblyglyphidodon ternatensis). I purchased one about 6 years ago from PJ's in Saugus. They look a lot like green chromis, but have a different body shape. They also don't 'whig' quite as much as the green chromis. It's actually pretty rare to find them for sale. Often times you will see them in the same tank as green chromis as the shops don't realize they are different fish (they will typically swim apart from the chromis, and in a different way). I'd been looking for many years (causually) for a mate for mine when I saw several of them for sale at Tropic Isle. The one I purchased was smaller than my old one. They seemed to pair up right away.

I found this photo of them, but it's pretty poor. They are not gorgeous, but the color really is similar to green chromis. Mine like to hang out around the big M. Accardi Acro staghorn colony in my 400 G. Oh...and they are also peaceful.

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/showphoto.php?photo=2631

 

[Liam]

i have several allens damsel Moe.No problems,they only time they are aggressive is when i put my arm in the tank

 

[~Flighty~]

I like my chromis. Cheep enough that you aren't upset if they become tank food.

 

[Moe_K]

Interesting, guys, thanks for the news.

Jimmy/John: nah, not for cycling. Just some nice colorful fish to give the 125 some action.

Other fish on the stocking list:
1 Powder blue tang (will be last fish)
1 Reef-safe trigger
2-4 fairy or flasher wrasses
Then, a few of small fish with color

 

[OceanGuy]

Is there a site with pictures of these damsels? I have a domino damsel that is somewhat sociable. He is small and doesn't bother anyone. A lot of the fish in my tank are territorial and just chase when their territory has been infringed upon. The chromis dart around the tank. They don't school, but chase each other. I have a blue damsel that is small and very peaceful. I think a lot depends on the size of the tank and the amount of swimming room. If they can swim distances, they seem to be less aggressive.

 

[Moe_K]

Yeah, Tom.
The site is a great resource: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/part2.htm

 

[Jocko]

Also have not had trouble with my yellow tail. He might spike up his fin when a new fish comes in, but he settles down quickly. If the other fish are hanging out together he usually goes over and tries to join in. This is in a 20H with 3 other small fish. He was the first fish in the tank.

 

[RayD]

I looked through Wet Web Media.
People have lots of problems even with the "less aggressive" yellow tailed damsels. Dang.
Maybe I'll look into chromis.

Chromis are very socialable. I've had the same six for well over a year now. When I started I put in two YT Damsels. One was so nasty it killed a bi-color psuedochromis no problem. Those two duked it out to the death! I eventually had to trap the two YTD's and give them to AA.

I read in last month's TFH that the small Yellow Bellied Damsels are supposed to be the most peaceful. Easy to get them confused with the Tazmanian Damsels which look the same. Really pretty.