Best damsels for your reef aquarium

Ahh Chrysiptera; a group (genus) of fish that is both incredibly maligned, and also intensely beautiful, hardy and useful. There are few fish available to the home hobbyist that are as pretty, size appropriate, reef safe and known pest control (as most will consume the dreaded Red Planaria, a topic we've recently covered in some depth.) Their hardiness is legend, in fact on average they are so indestructible that they were once commonly sold to new aquarists as a way to cycle new aquariums. They can live, seemingly unbothered, through the spikes of ammonia and nitrite that accompany any new aquarium. In addition, the genus has an incredibly fast population doubling time, so they are very sustainably collected, and are sometimes available both ranched and aquacultured.

They're a tough group to draw lines about, some of them deserve their reputation for evil-mindedness, and others tend toward a militant peacefulness. It is often hypothesized that this group should be reclassified into a at least two and maybe three genera to better describe their differences. The ugliest spirited of them are uncommon in the aquariums and Local Fish Stores of North America; Chrysiptera brownriggi or the Surge Damselfish, is an absolute beaut on the outside, but has some demons to deal with on the inside. Even so, they have a place in the right aquarium, if for nothing more than their looks. Another fish you may want to avoid unless you have other fish that are very aggressive is the Chrysiptera unimaculata usually called the One Spot Demoiselle, these are almost never available, and though they start life out as a beautiful yellow fish with iridescent blue highlights and two prominent eyespots, they fade into a forgettable grey, which they are mad about even before it happens. 

Most of these fish are predominantly electric blue, with some yellow highlights. The cornerstone of this group is probably the Blue Devil (Chrysiptera cyanea) for its prototypical shape and coloration and somewhat well-deserved common name. They're stunning and mind bendingly hardy but want to be the boss and shouldn't be kept in groups, or with peaceful fish that can't hang. Keep them in large displays and add them close to last so they can't lay claim to the whole tank. There's another fish in this genus called the Blue Devil because we all love to confuse you, Chrysiptera tapou. These are usually called the Fiji Blue Devil, or the South Seas Blue Devil. It should also be kept with other fish that can stand up for themselves and only in large aquariums. If you see the common name “Devil” make sure the rest of your aquarium inhabitants are up to the task.

For some more peaceful fish that very closely related and have a similar appearance, maybe think about the Springer's Damselfish (Chrysiptera springeri) also frequently called the Sapphire Damselfish. These fish have the same electric blue, but it is mottled with black. They're one of the best for eating Red Planaria and are just as hardy as everything else in the genus, while being among the most peaceful of all Chrysiptera.

Almost all the rest of the Blue Chrysiptera lie in between these two fish on the aggression scale. Fish like the Azure Damsel (Chrysiptera hemicyanea), the Yellow Tail Damsel (Chrysiptera parasema) and the Starcki Damsel (Chrysiptera starcki) all share the shocking blue coloration with yellow portions that vary by species. They're all peaceful enough to keep in groups, but might get aggressive in smaller tanks when they get older and start to claim territories to nest in.

One of the prettiest, though less seen Chrysiptera is the Canary Damsel (Chrysiptera galba) which is a fully, and brilliantly yellow that verges on shimmering gold. These might be the most peaceful of them all and shouldn't be added to tanks with super aggressive fish. You can keep Canaries in groups. They're very hardy and make a perfect splash of yellow in reef tanks. When they get old enough to start thinking about reproduction, they might get territorial with other Canary Damsels, which is especially prevalent in smaller aquariums. These are likely the rarest of the Chrysiptera and generally the most expensive as they come from much deeper water than usual; most fish in this genus are collected in very shallow water.

Looking for a little black and white? Chrysiptera has some species for you there too. The Black Cap Damsel (Chrysiptera rollandi) are incredibly beautiful, with little yellow caps above a black bar and a gorgeous white body. They are very peaceful while young but can grow out of this when kept in small tanks. If you're hoping for zebra stripes, there's the footballer Damsel (Chrysiptera annulata) which also gets called the Footballer Chromis and the Tuxedo Damsel (Chrysiptera tricincta) which both stand out with their vertical black and white bars. These two are quite peaceful while young, but will need to be kept in bigger tanks, with more aggressive fish when they hit maturity. They're great in tanks with bigger, fast-moving fish that are unlikely to get picked on.

Lastly, we'd be remiss if we didn't touch on the pinkies. Talbot's Damsel (Chrysiptera talboti) and Tracey's Damsel (Chrysiptera traceyi) are very similar in that they are both predominantly pinkish purple, but Talblot's has a yellow head, and Tracy's has a yellow tail. Both have a black eyespot on their backs, just at the base of their dorsal fin. These fish stand out among all damsels for coloration that just isn't seen much. They stay very small and are very active. These are perfect for those of you looking for a small, but “different” looking fish. Both are the middle of the road aggression wise. They're omnivores and so will sometimes start to defend an area of the tank to “farm” for algae but can coexist with other fish given enough space and lots of rocks to break up sight lines. They can be aggressive with other small algae eaters like Lawnmower Blennies but will often ignore fish (especially bigger ones) that are more active.

No matter which one you choose, these fish are the picture of easy to keep. They aren't picky about water chemistry or even water quality within reason, though they will show their best colors in aquariums that are well kept. They'll eat just about anything, and in house we feed them the Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots as well as a mix of frozen foods from Gamma. As long as they can fit it in their little mouths, they'll try to eat it. You can feed them once a day, but in house we feed them twice because they are so active, and this also seems to help with aggression.

 In the end, hobbyists are too afraid of Chrysiptera. You've heard horror stories about damsels, and some of them are true, but this genus is full of gorgeous fish for the reef aquarium and the FOWLR display alike. They all stay small and most stay gorgeous. As long as you make good decisions your display and what tank mates you choose, this group of fish shouldn't be overlooked. If you want to keep a group of them, shoot for as many as you can in the aquarium size you have. Like African Cichlids, the more you have, the more any aggression that crops up gets spread out. You could keep a single Blue Devil in a ten-gallon tank which would look great on your desktop, but you could keep a dozen black caps in a 55, and that would both look amazing, and have unrivaled activity! Don't be scared of Crysiptera. Head to your LFS and ask them about getting you the right one (or group) for your tank today! As always, insist on the best and tell them you want only Quality Marine fish and inverts.