marine tank Damselfish

[Mike D.]

We set up a new marine aquarium, it is a corner tank of 92 gallons capacity.
I have four damselfish in it, and they have been there seven days now. They
are eating and chasing each other and appearing to be in good health. The
only thing I notice is they seem to become timid when the overhead lamp is
off, and the tank is illuminated by natural light from the room. It
doesn'tmake sense to me that they would be bolder when the light was bright
enough as to impair their vision, but this is what I have . Does anyone know
if damselfish are a timid type of fish?
Also, after a week, is it safe now to introduce a few more fish to the
aquarium? Thanks. Mike.

[miskairal]

When you turn the lights off, stuff outside the tank is more brightly
lit than inside. It would be pretty scary seeing big shapes moving
around. My bala shark is much the same - I turned his light off about
9am one morning and bang crash! He managed to remove a few scales in his
terror. I spent the next few days moving slowly when near his tank (and
my pc) and he's finally settling down. I also rearranged some plants to
give him a hiding area, like a security blanket. He sees me coming and
swims behind his plants and comes out again once he knows it is just me.

I've only just started reading up on saltwater fish but I think you have
to take it slower than that to add more. Aren't damsels aggressive?

[Ray Martini]

That totally normal behaviour for Damsels. When the lights go out they hide.

Good luck adding more fish. Damsels get quite aggressive and I'm guessing
you'll be looking for a way to get them out of there soon. Any new fish you
add should be bigger than your Damsels. I had two Yellow Tails literally
torture a small Royal Psuedo till it died. They also bothered my clowfish.

Blues, Three Stripers, and Dominos are really nasty, Yellow Tails are nasty
but not as bad, and Green Chromis are the mellowist of the group. The LFS
always tells us that Damsels are the best fish for cycling a new tank
because they're inexpensive and hardy. There's tons of hardy fish out there
that are keepers after the tank is done cycling. I really wanted to keep my
Yellow Tails because they looked great in the tank, they were just a$$holes
to everyone else.

When the day comes you'll need a trap to get the Damsels out of there.
They're impossible to catch otherwise.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19247;category_id=2349

"Mike D." <mik...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:StednT2LF8U...@comcast.com...

[Mike D.]

Well, the fish store has a stonefish [Synanceia verrucosa] for $500. Perhaps
if the damsels become too troublesome, I'll add the stonefish to the tank.
"Ray Martini" <keyz...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:zYmdndRNbJa...@comcast.com...