Damsel won't leave new yellow tang alone!

Tuscaquatics

Tuscaquatics

Member
I just added a small (3 inch) yellow tang to my 55-gallon reef. I have a striped damsel in there that has been there all along. The damsel gets along with my LM blenny and cinnamon clown just fine. But since I added the tang a couple hours ago, the damsel won't leave him alone. He's chasing him and lunging at him. Oddly enough, the tang doesn't seem all that upset by it, but you know it has to be stressing him out.

I've tried catching the damsel to maybe put him in my 10-gallon, but you all know how hard they are to catch. I really don't wanna tear apart my rocks because I just got them set up how I want them.

What do you guys think? Is there a chance the damsel might chill out? Do I need to tear stuff apart and catch the mean little baysterd?

I will never buy another damsel again.
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

Razorback
PREMIUM
I don't know, never really kept damsels.

I have a theory. Some fish species react aggressively to certain fish shapes. Some butterfly species eat anemones. Clowns can be extremely aggressive to any fish the shape of a butterfly.

Some damsel species grow algae in the wild - they are little gardeners. They clear a patch of rock so algae can grow on it. It would make complete sense that these species which are naturally aggressive to start with would take a dislike to tangs. Clowns are in the damsel family, never heard of it but it would be consistent.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Not to bust your theory, but I had a Racoon Butterfly for a while (to eat Majanos) and my pair of clowns never gave the butterfly a second look. But, I have no anemone, and tank raised clowns. I could guess if I had an anemone hosting the clowns, or wild caught clowns, it may have been a different story, but maybe not totally due to body shape.
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

Razorback
PREMIUM
Clowns reacting to butterflys is not a theory - that's documented. Some clowns go absolutely ballistic at certain fish shapes that prey on nems. Scott Michaels writes about that. Clowns defend nems as much as nems defend clowns.

Damsels is a theory
 
mempho reefer

mempho reefer

Member
Damsels are VERY territorial and agressive. Tangs are passive so it won't fight back. No need to tear down the tank but you should rearrange the rock work. That will make all the fish think they are in a new environment and put everyone on equal ground. A good feeding will help too. A new pecking order will begin and the damsels should lay off the tang since it is a bigger fish. Should they start to attack the tang again you should consider removing the damsels. You'll never catch them with a net but you can put a trap in your tank to catch them. You can do a search on this site for some good DIY traps.
 
Tuscaquatics

Tuscaquatics

Member
mempho reefer said:
Damsels are VERY territorial and agressive. Tangs are passive so it won't fight back. No need to tear down the tank but you should rearrange the rock work. That will make all the fish think they are in a new environment and put everyone on equal ground. A good feeding will help too. A new pecking order will begin and the damsels should lay off the tang since it is a bigger fish. Should they start to attack the tang again you should consider removing the damsels. You'll never catch them with a net but you can put a trap in your tank to catch them. You can do a search on this site for some good DIY traps.
Click to expand...

Sounds like good advice. I was thinking of trying this before I tore it all down. Do you think I need to literally rearrange it, or could I get by just picking some big rocks up and moving them around then putting them back? Every other time I've done anything like that they all act terrorized.
 
N

NateDogg1955

Member
Hi Tuscaquatics, how did your situation turn out? Just curious because I once had two black/white damsels (note - once had) that killed a $35 angel in about 4 minutes. Not a good day.
 
smoothie

smoothie

Member
Those get big too. Get up about 3am and turn the lights on. He'll stumble out "drunk " and you can net him out.
 
J

johnmaloney

Well-Known Member
i got a yellow tang that wont leave my damsels alone...inverted soda bottle trick will catch that damsel. (cut the top half of the soda bottle off, flip it inside the other half but backwards, glue seems. If the original hole isn't wide enough, cut out more).
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Tuscaquatics said:
I just added a small (3 inch) yellow tang to my 55-gallon reef. I have a striped damsel in there that has been there all along. ..., the damsel won't leave him alone. ...
Click to expand...

Get rid of the damsel.

Yes, if you can't otherwise catch it, you'll need to "tear the tank down", but usually one of the tricks mentioned above work.

Damsels tend to get a "bad rap" today because people get them because they are inexpensive, and they don't realize that these are aggressive fish. If you have all aggressive fish there is no problem, but they can be expected to beat up on many of the more docile fish we want in reef systems today
 
jnohs

jnohs

Member
mempho reefer said:
Damsels are VERY territorial and agressive. Tangs are passive so it won't fight back. No need to tear down the tank but you should rearrange the rock work. That will make all the fish think they are in a new environment and put everyone on equal ground. A good feeding will help too. A new pecking order will begin and the damsels should lay off the tang since it is a bigger fish. Should they start to attack the tang again you should consider removing the damsels. You'll never catch them with a net but you can put a trap in your tank to catch them. You can do a search on this site for some good DIY traps.
Click to expand...

I think that is good advice and I also have done this and \forgot about it. once i read the word "pecking order" synapses started going off and a bell rang. I belive that you only need to move a few key rocks. just enough to make it differsent. In my tank that would be a pain. But I guess I could add a rock to change it up.
 
N

NateDogg1955

Member
NateDogg1955 said:
Hi Tuscaquatics, how did your situation turn out? Just curious because I once had two black/white damsels (note - once had) that killed a $35 angel in about 4 minutes. Not a good day.
Click to expand...

Didn't have time to add to the story when I originally posted, but to continue, I now have two yellow tail damsels in my tank that came at the same time as 6 other fish. I feel pecking order does make a difference. When I added the angel, it joined the two black/white damsels - they did not like the new tank mate! Put these little devils in a tank where they are outnumbered and they seem to simmer down a bit.
 
Cloudburst2000

Cloudburst2000

Member
You might just need to give it time. When we added the tomato clown to our tank, out yellow tail blue damsel wouldn't leave it alone for several days. But after about a week, they were fine together.
 
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