Fish with jobs/past times

[ahud]

I was watching Planet Earth II with the episode that shows the interesting life of Garibaldi damselfish. The fish basically farm algae and keep it from grazers. I wish we had the space and money to recreate something like that in our home.

I know we have goby/pistol shrimp that maintain burrows. I suppose Mantis shrimp could be included to have a job as well.

Are there any other small fish that have interesting behavior such as the above?

[alton]

Jawfish. My bluespot spends all day cleaning and re-organizing. In her new tank she built three homes until she found the perfect spot where all the food flows right by, keeping her from having to leave her borrow to eat.

[Cliving1]

Agree with the above . Triggers are known to pick up rocks and move them around. Clowns often feed the anemone hosting them. Not sure if they are as awesome as that part in the show though

[ca1ore]

Dusky wrasse is my tank's pest exterminator - though he and I don't always agree on the definition of 'pest'. Cleaner wrasse follows the big tangs around hoping for a meal.

[Cliving1]

This wrasse moves rocks? Seen it before.

https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/314/?pcatid=314

[humaguy]

cleaner fish, not just the wrasses and gobies but baby angels

[Tripod1404]

Most smaller damsels also farm algae. That is why they are extremely territorial and attack anything that comes close. They dont want some other fish to eat their patch of algea.

This is also true for some tangs (like powder blue tangs and sahol tangs), but they control a larger patch of area.

[ahud]

Originally Posted by Tripod1404

Most smaller damsels also farm algae. That is why they are extremely territorial and attack anything that comes close. They dont want some other fish to eat their patch of algea.

This is also true for some tangs (like powder blue tangs and sahol tangs), but they control a larger patch of area.

Do you know which smaller damsels in particular?

Would this be something that could be recreated? I wonder if it is a specific type of algae.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by humaguy

cleaner fish, not just the wrasses and gobies but baby angels

I used to love watching my little neon blue goby cleaning it's tank mates. It had two favorite rocks that it would perch on and wait for the clowns to come by for a cleaning.

Also skunk cleaner shrimp, they also set up cleaning stations in the tank.

[humaguy]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

I used to love watching my little neon blue goby cleaning it's tank mates. It had two favorite rocks that it would perch on and wait for the clowns to come by for a cleaning.

Also skunk cleaner shrimp, they also set up cleaning stations in the tank.

Same here, I love watching that stuff. Seeing a cleaner shrimp going inside the mouths and gills of aggressive fish, like a trigger, is an incredible sight.

[Tripod1404]

Originally Posted by ahud

Do you know which smaller damsels in particular?

Would this be something that could be recreated? I wonder if it is a specific type of algae.

I would say the most aggressive damsels, like blue devil. It would be hard to create in tank, area these fish claim in nature is bigger than most tanks and they are not confined with other fish. Plus they dont grow algae at a scale to that of garibaldi, it would probably be film algae crowing or rocks.

[MMacro]

Originally Posted by ahud

Do you know which smaller damsels in particular?

Would this be something that could be recreated? I wonder if it is a specific type of algae.

My talbots does that, especially when I haven’t fed them in a day or two.