Yellow Damsel Harassing Fish

Ok guys I have a yellow damsel. Yes a newbie fish. He has been with me for 2+ years now. In fact he is one of the first fishes I ever introduced into my saltwater aquarium and he survived the cycle. Now 2 aquarium upgrades latter and he is still alive in my 65g. The only problem is that he is harassing my smaller clown and fire fish goby. He chases them in the tank until the goby hides or clown goes into a corner.

What should I do? The logical decision to get rid of him, but the psychological is completely diff. He has been with me since the beginning of saltwater ;(

 

I nearly lost a clown due to a yellowtail damsel. I know you don't want to get rid of it but its in the best interest of your clown and other fish to do so. depending on how big it is, most LFS will give you credit for the fish, so your not signing a death certificate for it. really it is up to you and what fish you really want more? if its the damsel then you might want to think of an alternate home for the clown. just my opinion.

 

It sounds like he is either displaying dominance or territorial issues. Try rearranging your rocks. This can often confuse the fish and may help promote peace in the tank.

 

I had the same issue with a maroon clown.

I could not part with her, so I finally caught her and put her in the sump.

At some point I will probably put her in a dedicated tank for her with some BTA's.

 

Well no need to get rid of the demsel now. Stupid ass clown went up to my power head and got sucked around the protective grill. I quickly turned everything off and he swem away and started swimming up side down and such, 5 min. latter he died. That was a fun 15$ spent for a fish for 8 hrs in my tank...

 

I'm sorry man, but in my experience, damsels are ******s. I had too many problems with them attacking other fish out the blue, and it caused me to rip up my tank twice. I'll never put another in my tank.

 

They are the devils spawn.....was he the first fish in the 65? sometimes its better to put them in last,lets the other fish claim their spot first..

 

I have a damsel and generally he's a very nice tank mate. I do find that he gets mean when he is hungry. I normally feed twice a day, and the past several days I've cut back to once a day. I've noticed more aggression with him and a couple fish with nipped tail fins (I know he's the culprit). So I'm upping feeding back up to two times a day. When he's full, he is happy.

 

That sucks.

Too bad the damsel wasn't the one that got turned into prop bait.