Damsel 'fighting' New fish

[julie-annep]

Hi There,

I have recently bought a fish only tank that was already set up! Unfortunately, my filter broke whilst I was on holiday and a couple of fish died, leaving me with a teo toned damsel and 2 B&W clowns.

I have just bought a Regal Tang and the Damsel keeps attcking it. I know that Damsels can be territorial, but will this settle down??

Any advice appreciated!!

Thanks

Julie

[MalHavoc]

How big is your tank?

Damsels are highly agressive, especially if they are one of the first fish introduced in your tank. My suspicion is that the damsel will keep attacking your tang.

[julie-annep]

Thanks for the quick reply!

The tank is about 3 ft.

Is there anything I can do to stop it attacking the Tang or will I have to get rid of one of them?

Thanks

Julie

[MalHavoc]

you'll have to get rid of one of them. Probably the tang, since it won't do very well in a 3 foot tank once it gets larger.

[cich1]

a trick we use with aggresive cichlids is to remove the aggressor for acouple of days and rearrange the tank this breaks up established territorys and when the fish is reintroduced to the tank he is now the "new" guy

[julie-annep]

Thanks both for your advice!

I have removed most of the rocks in an effort to catch the Damsel (which I was struggling to do, it is too quick!!) and it seems to have settled down and is not attacking the Tang. I will leave it a little longer and gradually add the rocks back and see if the Damsel still backs off.

If not, does this mean I will never be able to add any new fish with this Damsel.

Thanks

Julie

[BigStun]

you could try adding a lionfish, trigger, or eel that could eat the damsel :p

[cich1]

when i had to remove 200+ baby Jack Dempseys from a 220g tank i had the best luck using 2 nets, i would use a small net to chase the fish into the larger net, thats worked many times with hard to catch fish