Feeding Fish

[gerh]

I got fish!

The countdown begins on how long they will survive until I kill them. I got 3 yellowtail blue damsels and within 20 minutes, they had allready set up territories and begun digging in my sand bed.

I've got a 55 gallon tank, and the two bigger ones have taken each half of the bottom of the tank. The smaller one must stay at the top of the tank or he gets chased away.

I've been feeding them some Formula Two, and the majority of it sinks to the bottom. If the little guy up top keeps getting chased away, whats the best thing I can do to make sure he gets food?

Also, one of the guys occasionally turns to his side and shakes his body like a wet dog. Any ideas on what he is doing?

Thanks!

[DEdwards]

...I got 3 yellowtail blue damsels

My condolences...that's all i can say :D

[graveyardworm]

Turning and shaking is possibly some sort of submission dance. Unfortunaetly the fish will most likely squabble until only one is left, and when you attempt to add a new fish it will likely be bullied as well. The best thing to do would probably be to return them.

[lReef lKeeper]

Turning and shaking is possibly some sort of submission dance. Unfortunaetly the fish will most likely squabble until only one is left, and when you attempt to add a new fish it will likely be bullied as well. The best thing to do would probably be to return them.


Agreed ... hence the name, DAMNsels !!

[DEdwards]

Damnsels are the sw equivalent of the piranha without the sharp teeth. :D

[gwen_o_lyn]

Are the damsels just an experiment to see if you can keep them alive??

What plans do you have for the tank? If you are planning on other fish, then be sure to take the damsels back to the fish store.

[Ocelot199]

Don't be deterred from the damsels by these guys. I got the same guff when I told everyone that I'd chosen some blues for my starter fish. They are pretty... uh... territorial (lol), but they calm down after a while. Every time I've added anything new thats smaller than them, they bully it for about a day and then forget about it. Every time I've added something bigger than them, I don't see them for about a week. They're bullies, but sissies at heart. Now I've got my two living in my 75 with a tang, flame angel and lawnmower blenny.... and everything gets along just fine. They all have their little places that they've claimed for themselves, but nothing ever gets injured or seems to upset. Just make sure you monitor them whenever you add something new.

About the feeding thing. Try getting some freezedried spirulina or something similar to that. I put a half a block of it into one of those little net feeders that has a sucktion cup attached to it and put it at the bottom of the tank. That way all the fish who live near it can go right up to it and eat from the net, and the stuff they miss ends up floating to the top for the smaller guys who get pushed away. Everybody's happy.

My fish do the wiggly dancy thing too. I think its a way of trying to scare off other fish. I just added 6 peppermints and a coral branded shrimp to my tank, and all of my fish (minus the blenny) went over and did that to them. Doesn't seem to really actually do anything other than amuse me, though.

[gerh]

I think my tank may have done a small cycle when I added live sand. I just popped in my skimmer and some live rock and am waiting to see if another cycle starts. I got these guys just to help the cycle out a bit and plan on returning them here in a month or so (if I can get them out of my tank). Right now, I just got them basically to appease my wife so she can see I am making progress ;)

So yeah, its basically an experiment to see if I can keep them alive. That and a practice run to learn fish husbandry.

[Seahorsedreams]

There are SOOOO many better ways to help your cycle than using live fish.

[gwen_o_lyn]

Not very nice to cycle with fish.

Making progress in a marine tank means having lots of patience. Please put the wife aside and do what's best for the inhabitants of your system. Simply explaining how a tank is properly run should help her understand.

[Danamck]

I agree with Gwen and Renee regarding using fish to cycle.

On another note, while all damsels are very territorial, I've found that when I had multiple Yellow Tail Blue Damsels, they did seen to work out a pecking order and then were only occassionally aggressive. Of course, the larger the tank, the better the chances of success. I would agree that in a 55g tank, 1 Damsel is enough.

[gerh]

This is the first I have heard about cycling with fish being bad. What do I need to be concerned with?

I've had them in and it appears that my levels are doing nothing but dropping. I think it may have cycled before, as I suspected.

[DEdwards]

generally, if you have any levels then your tank isn't cycled. the point about not using fish is that they suffer through the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate spikes. this is overwhelming to most fish and stresses them badly, many fish won't survive the process.

[poppin_fresh]

Cycling with fish is bad because you are subjecting the fish to a toxic environment. This can kill them outright, or shorten their life if the ammonia concentration climbs. Nitrite and nitrate are not so much of a concern for the fish.

Even though its bad, most of us have started a tank the same way. Its an unfortunate part of learning, but now you've found talking reef so it will never happen again! :D

[iglowce]

its prolly up to the fish but in general they are quite aggressive. my ex-halfmoon damsel and blue devil are all examples of that

[Danamck]

iglowcw -

I agree about the two damsels you mention. But I have found the Yellow Tail, Blue Chromis, and Green Chromis to be quite a bit more peaceful.