my first loss :cry:

got home from work yesterday ran up to my tank to take a look and it was havoc! my yellow tale blue damsels were hiding behind my power heads and one of them had its side half eaten, i promptly removed the damaged fish put it in isolation (died over night) as i observed my tank i noticed that my 6 liner was the one chasing the damsels down however i had 3 damsels in my 180l tank so im not sure if the wrasser is really the guilty one or if its another damsel that attacked it. when i first put the 3 damsels the wrasser chased them abit left and right but after a week they had established their territory and things seemed to be going smoothly one damsel was on the far right of my tank one in the middle and one on the far left with the 6 liner swimming about minding his own issues. could it be that this burst of violence is due to a lack of food for the 6 liner? i have been feeding them less to avoid having food rotting at the bottom of my tank. or is it a sudden territorial dispute, i did not rearrange my rocks so i dont understand. i have read that damsels should be kept alone or in groups of 3 if the space allows it. anyway i feel really bad having lost this fish and hope its going to be the last one.

 

I believe a group of 3 is a bad idea with any fish; 6 or more is better for schools. With less than that, they may go through a 'pecking order' in which the weakest gets picked on until it dies, then the next weakest... until you only have one left. In some cases, 2 may decide to get along. I certainly wouldn't blame the wrasse without any evidence.

 

+1 to this