Agressive Damsels

[DaGoldenChild]

ok, I've had two yellow tail damsels for about three months now and they been living peaceful until today, i came in and one of the damsels was all beatin up and i saw them fighting i guess they must have been fighting all night because one was beaten up pretty bad, i know damsels can be agressive but is it normal for them to become agressive after a few months?

 

[Anonymous]

Damsels are a crapshoot - usually snake eyes. Some have had good luck with some of the Chrysiptera genus as being less aggressive. If the damsel in your tank is what I think it may be then it's in this genus and obviously that rule doesn't apply.

It's too bad. My all time favorite damsels are in the ubiquitous Dascyllus genus (Domino, humbugs etc) and they are among the meanest things you can put in your tank with the exception of a Undulate trigger IMO.

 

[DaGoldenChild]

i have heard that they can get aggressive but i always thought if they existed peacefully for this long there wouldnt be any problems

 

[DaGoldenChild]

i also have another question the one damsel is beat up pretty bad but he seems fairly healthy, swimming normally and breathing normally but its definately has some deep wounds is there anything i can do or buy to help? ill try to get a picture

 

[Anonymous]

i also have another question the one damsel is beat up pretty bad but he seems fairly healthy, swimming normally and breathing normally but its definately has some deep wounds is there anything i can do or buy to help? ill try to get a picture

Damsels are tough but leaving him in that tank subject to further beatings by the alpha fish is not good. Even if he could heal his wounds on his own the stress can weaken him badly to where a secondary infection would set in.

Stress is the #1 precursor to most diseases in fish and you need to get him out and isolated or partition off the tank so he can rest and heal up. In a 55 I would imagine they should be able to establish a pecking order within a reasonable amount of time however that may be too late for the wounded fish. Pull him out or get a divider to sectiont he tank off so that he is free of harassment. Alternately you can remove the problem fish and prior to reintroducing him rearrange the rockwork perhaps so they can start over on terriory and maybe not have so many incidents.

If you do leave him in the tank just keep an eye out of for seconday infection or parasitic infestations that may crop up due to the beaten fishes weakend state. If that happens you must remove him to a hospital tank and treat him - don't try to treat him in the display it usually causes more problems than it solves!

 

[DaGoldenChild]

i isolated him as soon as i discovered they were fighting so that is not a problem i just want to make sure he doesnt contract any infections or diseases because his wounds are very deep

here is the best picture i could get

 

[Anonymous]

Just don't pester him, feed him a little vitamin soaked food once in a while and make sure his water stays clean - he should bounce back with aplomb. Damsels are tough with a capital T.

 

[ChrisRD]

He should have something to hide in. If he's got places to hide, nobody is beating-up on him anymore, water quality is good (ie. he's not induring physical stress) and he's eating well he'll heal-up just fine on his own.

 

[ChrisRD]

BTW, something as simple as a small piece of PVC pipe works for a hideout...

 

[DaGoldenChild]

well he's all alone in my qt so noone pestering except me(i guess we all get a little over concerned when something happens to our pets)

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO, even in a tank by himself it's useful to give him somewhere to hide to keep stress levels as low as possible.

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, something as simple as a small piece of PVC pipe works for a hideout...

Good point - I wish more local fish stores would follow this. I see tons of fish in a barebottom tank hiding in the corner - give them a place to chill out and they will be much happier.

 

[DaGoldenChild]

ok thanks