Damsels

So I'm thinking about eventually starting up a SW tank with Damsels. From what i remember about my last SW tank they are super hardy and active so they are interesting to watch. They kind of remind me of chiclids because they are aggressive to simi aggressive and easy to care for. I figured i would get a 55 long with crushed coral and live rock with plenty of places for them to hide, a skimmer, and a Rena canister filter. I just wanted any advice I can get. Last time i tried this a got A LOT of red algae, does anyone know how to keep that down? Also does anyone know any other fish that can be kept with the Damsels? They will be the main fish in the tank but are pretty aggressive and I do want at least a couple other types of fish in there. I REALLY want a Maroon Clown in there if its possible, but I dont want to cause any trouble with the Damsels. What do you guys think?

I do not see any reason why you could not put the maroon clown with the damsels. I have two False Perculas in my tank with a Niger trigger, a yellow tang, bi colored Blinny, chocolate chip starfish, 2 pj cardinals and a three striped damsel, 2 black and yellow tailed damsels, and 2 blue devil damsels. I am always looking for new fish to add As far as the red algae it is all over my tank i have to clean the front and the sides of the tank at least once a week. But it is good algae as well as the pink and purple algae. What type of damsels are you thinking of getting?

PS in your canister filter instead of using bio balls in it use live rock ruble. it will help keep the nitrates lower, and the bacteria living in the filter. The bio balls are bad about creating nitrate( my nitrate levels are higher then i would like due to the bio balls)

Thanks for the tip on the filter I would have never thought of that. I read somewhere that I shouldn't keep clowns with Damsels, but I want more info on the subject. As far as the Damsels I was thinking of keeping

Yellowtails


Blue Sapphire


Ocellate Damselfish


Sergeant Major Damsel


Yellow Damsels


Green Chromis


3 stripe


Chromis vanderbilti


As you can see I just want to keep it colorful and interesting. I want them to be active and show a lot of color. I will pretty much be starting out as a newbie in SW fish keeping so I need all the help i can get. If you know anything about Damsels I would appreciate the info. How many Damsels do you think should be in a 55g?

if you want damsels keep the lemon damsels (the yellow ones in the pic above) they keep their color and do not seem to get agressive with age and size, i have kept a pair of them in with my ocelleris clowns since day one. another thing is clowns are actually in the damsel family and you could seed your tank with a pair of clowns leaving out other damsels. the yellowtail blue damsels will get really agressive in time and i would avoid them as nice looking as they are.

as far as red algae/slime, go slow, use stability when you first start up the tank to aid in biological filtration starting and once the tank is cycled (about 7 days with stability) add no more than 1 or 2 fish a week so your biological filter can catch up.

as far as substrate choice, use pavestone pulverised limestone instead of aragonite as it is MUCH cheaper. also in a 55 gallon tank keep at least 2 maxi-jet 1200 powerheads in it to help aerate teh water and to up flow also it will keep you from having "dead spots" in your tank that will cause algae blooms and possibly cyano bacterial slime build up.

Thanks for the help raptor :)
About the Yellowtails, I know they are aggressive, but aren't all Damsels? If i only have Damsels can I keep the Yellowtails? They look really cool :P

If not can you recommend other colorful fish that will be ok? Most importantly they must be HARDY! I'm new to this

if you only want to keep damsels go ahead with the yellowtails but in time they will even turn on each other (all of mine did). i have a pair of lemon damsels right now and i have seen no agression from them at all and they wtill have the same color now as they did when i got them over a year ago, my lemons are in with a foxface, regal tang, mated pair of ocelleris clowns, flame angel , and a couple of other things and i have no issues. i myself wouldnt have a blue damsel due to my previous experiences with them, they dont have the nickname blue devils for nothing

chicknefoot87 pack them in tight like africans overstock them to reduce aggresion. I have done this and it works like a charm. Just keep up on the water changes.

Terry wrote:

chicknefoot87 pack them in tight like africans overstock them to reduce aggresion. I have done this and it works like a charm. Just keep up on the water changes.

If i giev them a lot of rocks to swim in and hide and stock a lot of them it should be ok?

i dont know about this chicken personally chickenfoot although it is sound in theory. i myself never had luck keeping more htan 3 of any damsel except lemon damsels and green chromis damsels.

chicknefoot87 wrote:

Terry wrote:

chicknefoot87 pack them in tight like africans overstock them to reduce aggresion. I have done this and it works like a charm. Just keep up on the water changes.

If i giev them a lot of rocks to swim in and hide and stock a lot of them it should be ok?

It works quite well with africans. A lot of rock and a lot of fish.

Well I guess when I'm ready I'll just give it a shot and see how it goes. Good thing Damsels are cheap

Do not go with the Sergeant Major Damsel.

They are not attractive at all after reaching sub-adult.

They'll look like something you could catch in a pond.

Clowns are the best looking damsels and they have

a personality like no other fish. They also do great with

Blue/Green Chromis damsels.

the 2 damsels i woudl stay with are the clowns, and teh emon (yellow) they retain their color through life) i think maybe even the green chromis do but i have never kept them so i cannot speak from experieance on them

It just isn't a salt water tank without some kind of clown. That is my pair of False
Perculas in the picture on the left side of the screen. They never leave their nem.

nitty wrote:

It just isn't a salt water tank without some kind of clown. That is my pair of False
Perculas in the picture on the left side of the screen. They never leave their nem.

i see a big red x
LOL

CAN YOU SEE THIS ? ? ? ? ?

damsels are mean... at least in my experience. I have one, He is a blue damsel (well i say he but its probably a she because she is good size, about 2 1/2inches) and he bullies new fish in my 140G tank. I got him from a guy who had him in a 30G,when it turned homicidal

lemon damsels (yellow in op's original post, and green chromis are not agressive, i have 2 lemon damsels and neither of them are agressive)

my first fish is gonna be a blue green chromis

nitty i love your avatar

tim wrote:

nitty i love your avatar

ME TOO. I love every fish in Finding Nemo.

That is what my son wants me to do with my salt tank. Make a nemo themed tank.

Clowns are cheap and very hardy.

Alrighty I think I'll go for the yellow's and some blue or green chromis with a pair of Maroon Clowns. Does anyone know how to tell male from female clowns? If i get a pair will they pair off and get mean?

nitty wrote:

Clowns are cheap and very hardy.

Cheap? I think not! I cant find any for less thn $20!