Damsels in Distress

[Phil O'Connor]

Hi,

I have 2 blue damsels in my community tank. One is slightly larger than
the other. And, you guessed it, the bigger one picked on the little one
relentlessly for about a year and a half. The poor little guy hid in the
skimmer surface box most of the time with his little face peeking out
waiting for feeding time. I felt so bad for him.

Then through some strange twist, the little guy became the dominant
damsel!! He now picks on the big guy. I actually feel sorry for the big
guy now, because he gets so little food. He wont even venture near the
feeding station lest he get nipped at. (I think I'm too much of a softie
to have Daktari play out in my living room).

Currently, the little damsel is still the dominant, but they're getting
is some pretty serious brawls now.

So is this normal behavior? Will the power continue to shift back and
forth? Will there possibly be a fishicide? Cant we all just get along?

[Mark Elliott]

It's normal.

Sadly one will die and then the other will probably terrorise you other
fish. That's Damsels for you.

Sorry.

Mark

"Phil O'Connor" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I have 2 blue damsels in my community tank. One is slightly larger than
> the other. And, you guessed it, the bigger one picked on the little one
> relentlessly for about a year and a half. The poor little guy hid in the
> skimmer surface box most of the time with his little face peeking out
> waiting for feeding time. I felt so bad for him.
>
> Then through some strange twist, the little guy became the dominant
> damsel!! He now picks on the big guy. I actually feel sorry for the big
> guy now, because he gets so little food. He wont even venture near the
> feeding station lest he get nipped at. (I think I'm too much of a softie
> to have Daktari play out in my living room).
>
> Currently, the little damsel is still the dominant, but they're getting
> is some pretty serious brawls now.
>
> So is this normal behavior? Will the power continue to shift back and
> forth? Will there possibly be a fishicide? Cant we all just get along?
>
>
>

[Phil]

Hmmm... well, they've been at it for almost 2 years, so I hope a fatality
would have already happened if it will.

But my other 2 fish in the tank are a humu trigger and naso tang. And
they have quite laid down the law that they wont tolerate harrassment :-)

I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Thanks.
Phil


"Mark Elliott" > wrote in news:3fbd43ce$0$28696
:

> It's normal.
>
> Sadly one will die and then the other will probably terrorise you other
> fish. That's Damsels for you.
>
> Sorry.
>
> Mark
>
> "Phil O'Connor" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have 2 blue damsels in my community tank. One is slightly larger
than
>> the other. And, you guessed it, the bigger one picked on the little
one
>> relentlessly for about a year and a half. The poor little guy hid in
the
>> skimmer surface box most of the time with his little face peeking out
>> waiting for feeding time. I felt so bad for him.
>>
>> Then through some strange twist, the little guy became the dominant
>> damsel!! He now picks on the big guy. I actually feel sorry for the
big
>> guy now, because he gets so little food. He wont even venture near the
>> feeding station lest he get nipped at. (I think I'm too much of a
softie
>> to have Daktari play out in my living room).
>>
>> Currently, the little damsel is still the dominant, but they're
getting
>> is some pretty serious brawls now.
>>
>> So is this normal behavior? Will the power continue to shift back and
>> forth? Will there possibly be a fishicide? Cant we all just get
along?
>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Harris]

Phil O'Connor > wrote in message >...
> Hi,
>
> I have 2 blue damsels in my community tank. One is slightly larger than
> the other. And, you guessed it, the bigger one picked on the little one
> relentlessly for about a year and a half. The poor little guy hid in the
> skimmer surface box most of the time with his little face peeking out
> waiting for feeding time. I felt so bad for him.
>
> snip

Get some more.... I bought 2 green Chromis about 3 months ago, they
were fine at the start then after a week the bigger one would pick on
the little one.. the little one would stay in the corner and hide
away, again not getting much food.

I knew they normally live in small schools so after a month of the
bullying, I went and got 2 more, and made sure one of them was bigger.
put them in and the bully just started picking on them... I decided
that I would remove the bully for an hour, put him in a bowl with
water, let the new guys relax then pop him back in. hoping they would
just tell him to get stuffed.. anyway couldn't catch the guy but
scared him, so he went and hide... 2 hours later all 4 of them were
swimming around with out a problem.

now after 2 years I'm not sure adding more would help... but it's
something worth thinking about..