Blue Velvet Damselfish

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Easy   • Temperament: Aggressive   • Maximum Size: 6"
• Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons   • Water Conditions: 72-80° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
• Diet: Omnivore   • Origin: Western Pacific, Indonesia, Fiji
• Family: Pomacentridae   • Species: Damselfish   • Aquarium Type: Fish Only

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The Blue Velvet Damselfish is one of the larger and more aggressive species of Damselfish commonly seen within the marine aquarium hobby. Their aggressive nature within the aquarium has led to a variety of common names that include the word "devil" in them, like the Javanese Devil Damsel & Blue Streak Devil. The aggressiveness of the Blue Velvet Damselfish makes them a risky addition for peaceful community aquariums, but they do make good additions to semi-aggressive to aggressive FOWLR or predatory aquarium setups.

Their strong personality makes the Blue Velvet Damselfish able to coexist with larger and more aggressive fish species like Triggerfish, Large Angelfish and Larger Tang species. It is best to keep adult Blue Velvet Damselfish in larger aquariums (larger than 55 gallons) with other boisterous fish species that will not be intimidated by the Blue Velvet Damsel.

While they will not harm corals or sessile invertebrates, they are not generally recommended for reef aquariums as they will harass the typically more peaceful reef fish species. As the Blue Velvet Damselfish matures, they become more aggressive in nature and tend to lose some of their vibrant coloration as they tend to become more solid black to dark brown in color.

Successfully keeping the Blue Velvet Damselfish revolves heavily on providing them with adequate territory within the aquarium. Larger aquariums with plenty of live rock will allow the Blue Velvet Damselfish to establish it's own territory, which will lower it's aggression towards tank mates and provide it a sense of security knowing that it has an area of the reef to retreat to when needed. While they are considered easy to keep in the aquarium environment, the Blue Velvet Damselfish does require stable and quality water parameters in order to maintain proper health.

They are susceptible to ich when kept in newly established aquariums or aquariums with unstable water parameters. The Blue Velvet Damselfish is able to hold it's own with much larger or more aggressive fish species, thus makes a good addition to larger FOWLR or predatory aquariums where other Damselfish or Chromis species would not be able to be kept. Blue Velvet Damselfish are often kept in large predatory aquariums in order to eat leftover food particles from messy eaters like Triggerfish and Sharks.

Blue Velvet Damselfish are an omnivorous species that will readily consume a mix of meaty foods, vegetable based foods and marine algae in their diet. They should be fed a varied diet of both meaty and vegetable based foods in order to provide them with all the vitamins and minerals they need to maintain a healthy immune system. Blue Velvet Damselfish are aggressive feeders, that will consume a wide variety of commercial foods including: flake, freeze-dried, frozen, crisp and small pellet based foods. Some popular commercial foods commonly available on the market that in combination would provide the Blue Velvet Damselfish a complete nutritional diet include: spirulina brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, cyclop-eeze, Forumla I & II, Prime Reef and other similar preparations. It is best to feed them multiple times throughout the day an amount of food that they will consume within a few minutes.