Yellowtail Blue Damsel behavior

So I have 2 Yellowtail Blue Damsels in my tank. One is very shy and hides in the reef/live rock the other is a little more active and swims about often. The more active one however likes to brush up and swim through my pulsating xenia. Do you think he needs an anemone? The last things I was going to add to my tank were a rose anemone and a clown, but now I'm concerned that the damsel and the clown will fight over the rose.

What to do???

 

Umm, I am not trying to be mean spirited, but, there is NO WAY you would be likley to keep 2 damsels and a clownfish in a 6 gallon tank!!! They are both very aggresive fish! Sorry
I am actually surprised you are not having problems with the 2 damsels.

No fish in captivity "needs" an anemone. It is our desire to keep one that drives anemone keeping in the aquarium. Fish are just fine with or without

Fish are the heaviest burden on a captive system as far as adding waste. Perhaps you can choose one fish and go for more inverts...or get a symbiotic shrimp/goby pair.
just a thought...

 

Clowns are part of the damsel family.  Damsels like yours have been known to be hosted by corals/anemones.

BirdLady is right on in that you can't keep three fish in a 6 gallon tank.  One fish is plenty and two is alraedy pushing the limit.  Damsels are very territorial and the cowering response from the "shier" damsel  is probably alraedy being brought out by the tight quarters.

 

Got it! So that explains the behavior. I will probably give away or return the damsels at some point. I like the idea of the gobi/shrimp pair. Any more info on that?

 

Here is a link with just some Nano Fish...

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=20&pCatId=2124&TopCatId=2124

And here is a link to Shrimp Gobies

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=20&pCatId=1852&TopCatId=1852

with some links to more info

I have never ordered form this place...but the site is full of info ;D

 

To bad much of it is bogus

 

[quote author=Gresham link=board=Newbie;num=1104110757;start=0#5 date=12/26/04 at 20:35:26]To bad much of it is bogus [/quote]

I second that! eejjr...also, one percula or ocellaris clown (both sold as perculas in fish stores usually) would thrive in an eclipse 6 if properly maintained and monitored ....i had one set up and running for over a year @ my old job. If you were to add another fish (not recomended unless you choose tankmate very cautiously) i would go with a bottom dweller (goby or bleeny) as it would conflict with the clown less by not competing for mid water territory. In my experience both the gobies and small clowns can be kept with minimal feeding which is the key to keeping a micro-tank stable.

 

LiveAquaria has good information, although as Gresham pointed out, some goes against traditional knowledge.

 

You've just got to ask yourself, why don't they properly label the origins of their fish?  You won't find a single mention of the Philippines (70% of the entire MO fish trade) on their site, but Cebu (an island that is part of PI) coral sea and a few other made up names are sure on the site.  They don't buy from the ocean, they buy from a country.  I know the exporter thats flogging fish to them thru 104st in LA, IMO she's the head of the cyanide cartel thats run Manila for the last few decades.  Certain fish on that site come only from her divers (from areas that they've completely wiped out and are now focussing on the last few real small fish, ie. Trimma sp. goby).  That place (the "good" doctors) makes my blood boil.

 

Didn't know about the cyanide.  Maybe that's why my one and only shipment of fish from them, when I first started 2 1/2 years ago, had such a high mortality rate.

They do have some good information and scientific names.  Can't throw the baby out with the bath water.