Well, I guess it serves me right for not asking the opinion of the experienced reefers here first.... but yesterday I added a Bluefin Damsel (Neoglyphidodon melas) to my 12g nano, under the long-held but apparently false impression that all damselfish are reef safe. I'dB always thought they were all utilitarian omnivores of small crustaceans and algae. I've watched numerous different species farming their algae patches on the reefs when diving. So yesterday, after acclimating the little 3/4 inch fellow to the nano and setting him free, he seemed stable and content... then I made the mistake of leaving the new fish unattended for a few hours while I ran errands. Turns out it felt so comfortable that it immediately set to work decimating a sizable colony of Blue Snowflake polyp (Sarcothelia edmondsoni, I think?). It also took several nips out of some larger Clavularia and nipped on a few other buttons. The little gorgonian figured out pretty quickly that it needed to retract, but now today seems mostly unharmed. Needless to say, the rockwork had to be dismantled last night to catch the little bugger... and it is now swimming in the large tank where the lionfish and the striated angler dwell. My guess is that it'll end up inside one of them eventually. Bogus. After the fact (of course) I did find one online fish store that said this damsel might be nippy with soft corals. But the majority of them still say it is reef safe -- which in my disappointing experience (N=1) is clearly not true. Darn. They are cute, though, when little.
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Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/DSC_0501.jpg