If only somebody would've told me blue damsels are devilfish.

Provate

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I saw these blue damsels at LFS and they looked so pretty and nice. Then I met a guy there. Another customer he told me he has 40 in is 100 gallon tank so I thought I could have four in my 40. Well, here are the results. This fire shrimp didn't last 30 hours. they are also going after my white sand sifter.

IMG_5861.jpeg
Lol, those little monsters.
 

Thumbster

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Mine is a decent citizen. Has tried to bully some new fish but doesn’t seem to do any damage, and the aggression faded and now they all get along. My only damsel in the tank, added for flatworm preventative measures.
Did it eat flatworms? That’s why I’m looking into it.
 

windsor_salt

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I believe Springer Damsels are safe. I would like to get one myself but would like to make sure they aren't aggressive due to past experiences. Damsels are entertaining fish to watch, they are very active swimmers and graze all day.

I had two blue devils to start off my tank, and it was a nightmare. One was very aggressive towards the other. I came home one day and found the passive one stuck in a corner of the tank ready to die. I ran to my LFS and got a breeder box and threw him in it. These are very hardy fish and I was able to nurse him back to full health. Threw him back in the tank and same issue with the aggressor. So I ended up separating the tank with some egg crate in hopes they would figure it out. One day I came home from work and saw both swapped sides. Well, the aggressor would force himself under the sand and the egg crate to wedge himself under to get to the other side. He was determined to kill the other damsel. Tore down my entire tank to catch the little demon, and I rehomed him. I kept the passive one, but he started to attack newcomers, so away he went as well. This time what I did to catch him was put a cube of mysis in the breeder box and he jumped right in lol.

1716007814462.jpeg
 
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Ballyhoo

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I believe Springer Damsels are safe. I would like to get one myself but would like to make sure they aren't aggressive due to past experiences. Damsels are entertaining fish to watch, they are very active swimmers and graze all day.

I had two blue devils to start off my tank, and it was a nightmare. One was very aggressive towards the other. I came home one day and found the passive one stuck in a corner of the tank ready to die. I ran to my LFS and got a breeder box and threw him in it. These are very hardy fish and I was able to nurse him back to full health. Threw him back in the tank and same issue with the aggressor. So I ended up separating the tank with some egg crate in hopes they would figure it out. One day I came home from work and saw both swapped sides. Well, the aggressor would force himself under the sand and the egg crate to wedge himself under to get to the other side. He was determined to kill the other damsel. Tore down my entire tank to catch the little demon, and I rehomed him. I kept the passive one, but he started to attack newcomers, so away he went as well. This time what I did to catch him was put a cube of mysis in the breeder box and he jumped right in lol.

1716007814462.jpeg

great story. you using those damsals to cycle your tank?
 

CKW

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I saw these blue damsels at LFS and they looked so pretty and nice. Then I met a guy there. Another customer he told me he has 40 in is 100 gallon tank so I thought I could have four in my 40. Well, here are the results. This fire shrimp didn't last 30 hours. they are also going after my white sand sifter.

IMG_5861.jpeg
Yup, they are hell in a small package!!
 

NanoNana

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I saw these blue damsels at LFS and they looked so pretty and nice. Then I met a guy there. Another customer he told me he has 40 in is 100 gallon tank so I thought I could have four in my 40. Well, here are the results. This fire shrimp didn't last 30 hours. they are also going after my white sand sifter.

IMG_5861.jpeg
There are probably 1000 threads on here discussing damsel aggression. The yellow tails you have are known demons. Springerii and Starcks not so much. Larger tanks curb aggression to an extent because fish can carve out territory. Many species will be peaceful in a 150 that won’t in a 40. Long vs cube can affect this as well.
You’re gonna have a devil of a time catching the devil fish. Once again, research on your own and stop listening to your LFS. K ow what COULD go wrong with any additions and decide if it’s something you want to deal with if it happens.
 

Pod_01

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Springeri Damse the one in this / not the best picture:
1716034599267.jpeg

He/she is very passive in my tank, but it does state in some books they are aggressive.

I did observe over the years that if fish are fed well they tend to mellow out. I tend to feed them 4 times a day.
When I tried reduced feeding to control NO3/PO4 I had lot more aggression.
 

Tavero

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I believe Springer Damsels are safe. I would like to get one myself but would like to make sure they aren't aggressive due to past experiences. Damsels are entertaining fish to watch, they are very active swimmers and graze all day.

I had two blue devils to start off my tank, and it was a nightmare. One was very aggressive towards the other. I came home one day and found the passive one stuck in a corner of the tank ready to die. I ran to my LFS and got a breeder box and threw him in it. These are very hardy fish and I was able to nurse him back to full health. Threw him back in the tank and same issue with the aggressor. So I ended up separating the tank with some egg crate in hopes they would figure it out. One day I came home from work and saw both swapped sides. Well, the aggressor would force himself under the sand and the egg crate to wedge himself under to get to the other side. He was determined to kill the other damsel. Tore down my entire tank to catch the little demon, and I rehomed him. I kept the passive one, but he started to attack newcomers, so away he went as well. This time what I did to catch him was put a cube of mysis in the breeder box and he jumped right in lol.

1716007814462.jpeg
They are not safe. I had a springerii damsel a few years ago and then tried to put a few saltwater Mollys into the tank. Damsel absolutely destroyed the mollys. After one day only 3 of 5 were alive and I had to remove them. I couldn't catch the damsel though, so the mollys had to go.
 

windsor_salt

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great story. you using those damsals to cycle your tank?
I was going to keep them cause I thought they were so beautiful. Shame they are just little terrors. I had to rehome both, they both went to very large tanks. So I’m sure they are fine now.
 

exnisstech

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I've had a yellow tail and a yellow belly for years and they bother nothing. The yellow tail and hippo used to swim around together when the hippo was smaller than the damsel. It was pretty cute. The same two damsels are now in their third tank with me along with 3 talbot damsels but all have been 6ft tanks except the new one which is 7ft. I believe much of the fish aggresion talked about is because of fish being cramped in smaller tanks. I'm not saying damsels can't be demons (had a domino once) but I think a lot of aggresion can be avoided by not placing them in smaller tanks. Sixlines are another I read a lot about being aggressive but another I keep with no aggresion, but again in larger tanks. JMO
 
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