fish will not come out of hidding

[pabloescobar]

Ok so i just bought fish to start off. 4 damsels. 2 blue with yellow tail and 2 black with with dots. its been almost a week and the 2 blue ones are fine and simming about and eating. One of the black ones died the 2 day. The other black one is hidding in the same hole for a while. he doesn't leave his hidding place. i put some food in there but i can't see if he ate. What can i do to get him out of there? will he come out or is he likely sick and going to die like his brother?

 

[Bifferwine]

It's hard to say. If it's been a week and the fish has still not come out, that's not normal, especially for damsels. There isn't much you can do to get him out if he's in a hole. He is probably eating something, or he's coming out when the lights are off and you're not looking.

Are the other two fish bullying him at all? Or are they keeping to themselves?

 

[BL1]

Damsels are extremely aggressive fish. I've read some instances where damsels have killed fish 2-3 times bigger then they were. There's a good chance that your 2 blue damsels killed the black one, and that they are bullying the other one. That's probably why he's hiding in the cave, to get away from the other two.

 

[dcantucson]

I would agree with Brian. Chances are you'll lose the fish.

 

[Smitty]

I agree also, he's probably being bullied.

 

[yote]

No doubt he's being bullied.Thats what damsels do.They are hands down THE most aggressive fish in the oceans.

 

[pabloescobar]

so now the one bully damsel kill the other yellow tail. and he is the only fish left in the aquarium. I want to buy a clown fish. should i pull the damsel out or is the clown fish strong enough to handle him?

 

[BL1]

Honestly your best bet is to pull the damsel out. Even IF the clown might make it, better safe then sorry. I can't remember who it was, might have been Yote, said that he's seen a damsel kill a trigger before.

Sorry to hear about your losses though.

 

[123nsb456]

you should take out the damsel before you put in any other fish damsels are good starter fish but not for a tank with other fish. I had a jewel fish one time which is a type of damsel about the size of my pinky nail torcher a french angel about ten times his size to where i had to separate them.

 

[yote]

+1 Brian
I watched a Damsel kill a Trigger,stressed a grouper till it was on deaths door step.
Damsels are the bastards of the seas and they let EVERYBODY know it.