# Territorial Damsel



## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

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?


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

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.


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## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

small fry said:


> 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.


 
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


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

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.


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## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

bigrift said:


> 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.


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


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

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.


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

alysalouise said:


> 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


keep in mind you will eventually lose fish from mistakes or natural death and then when you try to add a new fish to the 55 gallon the damsel will no doubt, chase and kill them. They are like heat seeking missiles that will nip any new fish until death. also keep in mind that as you get more successful you will want to add new fish to the tank even if no other fish dies and the same results will occur with the damsel.


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## trukgirl (Jan 28, 2010)

reefsahoy said:


> ... then when you try to add a new fish to the 55 gallon the damsel will no doubt, chase and kill them. They are like heat seeking missiles that will nip any new fish until death...


I completely agree with this, I have an agressive tank with a Blue Velvet, Fiji Blue and a 3 Stripe damsels, and a Tomato Clown. The Velvet is a complete bully and the only one he does not intimidate is the Tomato. The Tomato is slightly bigger than he is. If you are going to make the tank a peaceful reef (which it sounds like is the way you are heading...) I would consider selling him or trading him. I do know how you feel, the only reason I have this agressive tank is because the Fiji Blue is the first saltwater fish I ever had, and I want to keep her, but please do keep this in mind. Velvets and Domino Damsels are the WORST.


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

if you dont wana get rid of him set up a 10 or even 20g tank for him. its cheap for a tank that size and they dont need much to be happy.


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## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

bigrift said:


> if you dont wana get rid of him set up a 10 or even 20g tank for him. its cheap for a tank that size and they dont need much to be happy.


 
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


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## reefsahoy (Jul 16, 2010)

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


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## trukgirl (Jan 28, 2010)

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.


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## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

trukgirl said:


> 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.


 
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


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