Two Pajama Cardinals I believe are scared of little Blue Yellow Damsel

[Amadeus_25]

I have a 20 Gal. water box. The Cardinals stay near the top and move around slowly.
My damsel fish pesters them but so far they are surviving and look ok. Would it
make sense to add 2 larger fish, like Clowns or? exchange them. My wife loves this damsel
so I don't want her to be sad. The alternative might be to exchange the Cards since
it's only a 20G I thought 4 fish would be max. I just bought the Cards yesterday.
I don't trust damsels. Thanks!!!

 

[Formulator]

Those damsels are extremely agressive fish. They are pure evil! If it was up to me, they wouldn’t even be sold in the hobby. They are colorful and attractively priced so new reefers often pick them up and realize the hard way that they just are not compatible with a peaceful aquarium.

I totally understand the concept of “happy wife, happy life”, but if you can explain to her that it is really a demon fish in disguise and you won’t be able to put any other fish in your tank with it, maybe she will come around. I would get it out of there if you can. They have no concept of size and will bully ANY fish you put in there.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Damsels are very mean. And no you should not add more fish, it will make the damsel more defensive of more fish invading its territory. A damsel will claim a 20 gallon to itself, mean little buggers.

 

[BristolEVO]

I had to get rid of my yellow tail damsel. Constantly bullying my clowns. They always had to hide near the surface by the return flow. I'd never see them. Once the damsel was gone it took a couple weeks for the clowns to start swimming lower in the tank.

Good luck catching the little ****, I had to buy a trap.

 

[jabberwock]

Clowns are Damsels.

 

[Paul B]

Even I'm afraid of blue devils.

 

[Mark Goode]

I would exchange the cardinals. They're nocturnal, so they never do much when the lights are on, and as they get older the bright red colours fade and they become a drab grey- brown.

Mine are coming up to three years old, and I wish they would hurry up and die. They won't though, they look disgustingly healthy.

 

[14 foot reef]

I have a 20 Gal. water box. The Cardinals stay near the top and move around slowly.
My damsel fish pesters them but so far they are surviving and look ok. Would it
make sense to add 2 larger fish, like Clowns or? exchange them. My wife loves this damsel
so I don't want her to be sad. The alternative might be to exchange the Cards since
it's only a 20G I thought 4 fish would be max. I just bought the Cards yesterday.
I don't trust damsels. Thanks!!!

They should be scared, those damsels are devils