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My tank is cycled. As for now, I have 1 four striped and 3 blue sapphire damsel.

My radiata is about 6 inches not counting his tail, and he won't go after anything of any size. He "checks out" the mollies like he is going to, but has yet to eat one, and usually just swims away after a few minutes of cornering one. Now my fuzzy dwarf loves the little mollies. And, my radiata will also not take in large krill. He will devour the small pieces, but leaves the large ones alone. The radiata is the only lion in that tank that will take frozen krill.

No matter the size of their mouths, some fish just like smaller critters. Many fish have large mouths, but will only eat crustacea too. For this reason, you can keep these kinds of fish with smaller fish, as the smaller fish are usually not their usual diet, so they don't bother them.

Another point, if you keep your fish fed well on a specific diet, they will usually not go after anything in the tank, that is different than what is now their usual diet.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Around here I would say Damsels are the feeder fish of choice for people with Lionfish, because the Damsels are almost always juvinals.

That surprises me ... especially as I've seen the gape these things have when they decide to open up and swallow. I've seen a Pterois radiata (8 inch specimen) with a mouth gape big enough to take my fist ... as for a 14 inch volitans, I'd have thought that would make short work of even an adult damsel, let alone the little juveniles that crop up in my nearest marine supplier on a fairly regular basis ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Calilasseia, actually they do fine together, no real worries, after all, most damsels reach 5-8 inches, and about 4-6 inches tall. Not any lionfish I know of that can take one of these in, lol. As well, there are many lionfish available in the hobby. And only the Volitan (of those available in the hobby) get larger than about 8 inches. And the Volitan actually gets over 14+ inches. This guy, over all length, was 18 inches when he died;


The other available lionfish, like the Radiata, Miles, Fuzzy Dwarf, Antenae, ect. all only reach 5-8 inches when fully grown.

Lions and damsels will do fine with each other. [/font]

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There is always a bigger fish...

Lionfish???? With Damsels???

I can picture it now ...

Mr Lionfish : Hey, I'm 8 inches long all of a sudden ... and I'm hungry ... oh, what's that over there? Nice shiny blue snack methinks ...

* 30 seconds later, cue swallowed damsels ... *

They might coexist while the Lionfish is a baby, but once it grows up, the damsels are history.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Actually, when those fish you currently have, become full grown, you will be at your stock limits. As for what fish you can keep with them, well there are many. Lionfish do very well with damsels, even the dwarfs. Certain wrasses of the larger size have no problems with the damsels. The maroon clowns would be an even match, and I would say would do nicely together, especially if they had an anemone to guard.

If you tank was larger, I would suggest many different fish. Damsels are very hardy fish, and can become very aggressive when they grow up. My suggestion though, is that you may want to take some of them back, as those you have, will become intolerant of each other when they grow larger. Then they will not get along.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Maroon clowns get very large, and can be very aggressive. You will need a large tank to keep a maroon.



Dan

When I started researching the marine tank i want to have in the future, I decided I want to have Damsels and Royal Grammas, I have heard these are compatible as the Grammas have a semi-aggressive nature as well. Clowns would likely be acceptable as well. Something like the Marroon Clown or the Tomato Clown would do well in there.


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in my experience, once they have established a set home, and ample rockwork, they will be compatible with larger clowns, larger tangs, chromis, some wrasses, and all inverts and mollusks.

Due to my inexperience, these are the only things i have tested them with.

Also, as i have seen in a few tanks, putting them in first as you did will greatly reduce their aggressiveness.

Its not that Damsels are unattractive or boring, its that more often than not, they become a terror in the tank and will harass almost any fish you put in with them. Damsels will bother fish 4 times their size, sometimes to the point of death due to constant stress.

When a fish can and sometimes will bully anything, it makes it difficult to choose tankmates for them.

can you guys name all the fish that are compatible with damsel. I'm new to amrine fish so i dont know much.

The problem is, there really isn't much compatible with damsels, they are bullys. Clowns are also hardy fish, very active, and compatible with far mroe fish. The only plus for damsels are they are cheep. If you wish to keep damsles, I suggest domino and yellow tail. Another one was blue devel, they all look nice.



Dan

What my concern here is, when this person comes on here and asks for compatible fish, why are you people telling him to remove the damsels? While these may be "simple" or "boring" fish to some, Damsels are a hardy fish to cycle a tank with, and in my opinion are gorgeous fish.
I would try helping him find compatible fish first, rather than telling him to get rid of his fish. What a welcome.

To NTSKingz, Have you cycled your tank yet? I think this is an important first question to ask.
Second question, which kind of damsel fish did you get?
After you respond, I can mention a couple of fish I have heard are compatible with Damsels and Live Rock.


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What damsels do you have in that 55gal?? Depending on their type, the advice can go alot of different directions..

For a nice compatibility chart, visit:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

Getting the damsels out will be VERY hard. They are fast and really good at hidding.



Dan

Id remove the Damsels, and then stock it

yeah, for now because its easy. I'm new to marine fish so i dont know much. anyways, here's my setup. 55gal with live rocks and 4 damsel. Any suggestion what i should stock it with?

Last edited by ntskingz at 17-Jan-2005 20:43

The problem with damsles are they are aggressive and don't do well with many fish. They will push around fish larger then them. Are you thinking about getting damsles because they are easy? Or is there another reason?



Dan