New 40g..2 damselfish vs 2 clowns?

[4play]

I currently have two small little damsels(1 domino, 1 striped)..I want to add 2 clowns to my tank but wondering if I should remove the damsels before putting the clowns in? I hear damsels are not good community fish..or should I be okay with both in the tank? It's a fowlr tank with about 40-50lbs of live rock..no corals yet..TIA

[jt_milstead]

Yes take out the damsels. Once the clowns and damsels are more mature they will fight. Damsels and clowns are closely related.

[jasonp87]

as jt mentioned, clowns and damsels are related so there will be aggression once they get larger. Plus you have two of the more aggresive types of damsel fish to begin with and they may have trouble getting along with anyone down the road since they are established and in charge of the tank. I kept a couple blue and yellow dansels with a pair of clowns in a 50 once and they did ok but they also claimed oppisite sides of the tank. There was some reminding of whos side was whos from time to time by the damsels when a clown wandered too far.

[4play]

Dang..gonna be a pain getting them out..I have lots of hiding spots I think

[4play]

So do many fishes not get along with their own kind often? Unless mated pairs? I want to build a nice variety of community fish..how do yellow or blue tangs work with clowns?

[scubasteve]

Tangs are fine with clowns.... Just the damsel species tend to be aggressive.

[4play]

looks like my domino damsel has gone missing..all day today i have not seen him..not even during feeding time..i wonder if one of my hermits caught him? should i be worried about finding the dead fish remains? id hate to have to remove all my rocks to look for it

[RickSee]

put some Nassarius Snails in there. I have like 15 and they eat the dead fish

[scubasteve]

It's best to try and find the dead one if you can.... Try using a powerhead to move debris from under rocks.

[SDguy]

Sounds like maybe a few too many fish in there, especially if you actually have something planned for dead bodies ;) Might want to thin the herd...

[pinoyreef]

I would worry about taking the hermit out first if you considering add a pair of clownfish. It seems that your hermit is more agresive than your damsel... jk.
But yah you should take it out before it killed the rest of your fish in your tank. They mostly attact at night when your fish on sleep.

[4play]

Haha I only have two fish..or I guess one now..still haven't seen him yet..I got some regular snails..dunno what they're called..but do those nassarius snails really eat the dead fish? Anyone else doing this? I was thinking there was some kind of additive I can use..thanks for the replies

Right now I should have(if some havent mysteriously died): 2 small damsels 12 blue legged hermits n 12 snails

[scubasteve]

The nassarius will slowly eat a dead fish (slowly) its good to have a few in tank to stir up sanbed. I would try to find the body and remove.... if you can't find it- do at least a 20% water change to keep nitrates down.

[SDguy]

I have no idea what I read this morning to lead me to believe you had a lot of fish in this tank :confused: :crazy:

[scubasteve]

Thats what happens at 6am peter! lol :lol:

[socalaly]

LOL Peter I had to go back and reread it because I thought where in the heck did Peter see that he has alot of fish??? haha

I have no idea what I read this morning to lead me to believe you had a lot of fish in this tank :confused: :crazy:

[Yolo]

Now this is a funny thread...LOL

I personally don't see one fish (especially if you can't find him) impacting your tank that much. Them crabs and snails have to do their job and will enjoy the snack. Just do a water change. I doubt that a hermit crab can overtake a damsel unless something was wrong with Mr. D. But I have seen stranger things.

My advice is to go through the pain and pull the fish you don't want and add the fish you do want (clowns). That way you won't think about it every time you see that damsel and they can get big and dominate fast. If you are going to drop Tangs in a 40 get the smallest, strongest ones you can find. (Read post on this site about ICK).

I just tore apart a tank to get a fish out that should not have been there. Glad I did.

Your post says "NEW" so I am wondering how long you cycled your tank, if you have live rock, where you got the sand and live rock. A lot of people use damsels to cycle tanks. One that has passed on could be an indicator of something else like maybe a tank that is not ready...

Good luck!

[4play]

Yea I did a water change earlier today n lifted up some pieces and no signs of him

[4play]

Also it's been a good month now..I bought Fiji pink live sand and rocks that were cured and pre-mixed SW from the local fish store..had it checked after two weeks at the store and was told I was good to go..added hermits n snails for a week then added the damsels the week after..I've had them for a week this week will be my second week wit them