2 Damsels in my 210g Reef. Help!

[mkarston]

Hi all,

My 210g reef tank has been up for about a month now. While it was cycling I had 2 blue damsels in the tank, and about 200lbs of live rock curing in buckets. The buckets I was curing the rocks in sprung a leak which forced me to add them to the tank after only 2.5 weeks of good curing.

Anyways, my problem is this, in the commotion of preventing a flood, cleaning off the live rock, and stacking the rock in my tank I forgot to first remove the 2 damsels. They have been in there, along with my Hippo tang, which took a ride out of water in a large piece of live rock I took from my other tank, for a couple weeks now.

I would like to get your opinion on removing these damsels before I start to add other fish. I really like my rock stack, and really don’t want to tear it down to catch these fish. I don’t really mind the fish in there, but from experience know they are not as cute and innocent as they look. And will only cause me and the fish I add headache in the future.

Do you think I am over-reacting and that they will be fine, in such a large tank, or should I trap then? What is the best method to trap/catch them? Help!!

Thanks,
Craig

[ACBlinky]

I think it depends on what else you want to keep in the tank. I have a few damsels and really like them - they're beautiful fish with interesting personalities. They can be agressive, but if you're planning on keeping tangs, angels, clowns, wrasses etc. I wouldn't worry; these fish can hold their own. If, OTOH you want a peaceful tank with firefish and gobies, you might want to remove the damsels.

[johnnybravo234]

Id get those little F@(#ers out of there while you still can. You dont want to have compatability problems 2 years down the road when your tank is full of delicate fish and inverts... plus try using a trap when you've got tangs in the tank. Good luck