This thread will be dedicated to fish that serve a purpose!
We all love to pick our fish based on their appearance. I am guilty of this myself. I have lots of wrasses that I fell in love with at first sight and had to have. There is nothing wrong with this at all.
Some fish, however, should be added to fit a specific purpose (as well as the aesthetic appeal that they provide)!
Please post your experience with additions that you made to serve a purpose. I want to hear your EXPERIENCE, not just what you read somewhere. If the experience was contrary to popular opinion (i.e. that fish was supposed to eat bristleworms but also ate my acans) please post that as well.
I will start with one of my more successful purposeful additions. I added a Matted filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus). He has been in my tank since mid January 2010 (or somewhere around there). I had a large aiptasia outbreak and these guys are known to have a gastronomic affinity for them. Unfortunately they also have a bit of a reputation for turning on some corals as well.
This, I am very happy to report, has not been my experience. He took a few days to settle in but within two weeks all of the evil little nems that were previously brazen enough to stretch out in the water column under full daylight were either devoured or showed their true cowardice by receding back into the crevices of the rockwork. There were several aiptasia on the shell of a 3.5" Maxima clam that he surgically removed without ever nipping any of the clam's mantle.
I cannot say that my tank is aiptasia free but it is free of outwardly visible aiptasia for certain. They don't have the opportunity to bother my corals anymore as they don't get to poke out for long before they disappear or lose a large chunk of their flesh.
Additionally it turns out that this fish has lots of personality. He is often described as "so ugly he's cute!" I have seen him early in the morning, before lights on, cruising the rockwork looking for the unwary aiptasia poking out. He also does an excellent job of camouflaging himself. He can alter his coloration and patterning in a very short time (less than a couple of seconds) to better blend into his surroundings. He spent most of his day hovering near my powerhead until recently he was displaced by the ditzy tang that swims loops around it! Now he hangs out under the enge of monti caps or a rock ledge and doesn't show any signs of aggression to any of the wrasses, cardinals, chromis, mandarins, or the tang.
Here is a pic of my little guy:
Please take the lead provided here to inform our fellow reefers of your purposeful additions. After all, sharing our experiences is certainly one of the best ways for others to gain knowledge in this hobby! I look forward to any and all additions that you guys make.
We all love to pick our fish based on their appearance. I am guilty of this myself. I have lots of wrasses that I fell in love with at first sight and had to have. There is nothing wrong with this at all.
Some fish, however, should be added to fit a specific purpose (as well as the aesthetic appeal that they provide)!
Please post your experience with additions that you made to serve a purpose. I want to hear your EXPERIENCE, not just what you read somewhere. If the experience was contrary to popular opinion (i.e. that fish was supposed to eat bristleworms but also ate my acans) please post that as well.
I will start with one of my more successful purposeful additions. I added a Matted filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus). He has been in my tank since mid January 2010 (or somewhere around there). I had a large aiptasia outbreak and these guys are known to have a gastronomic affinity for them. Unfortunately they also have a bit of a reputation for turning on some corals as well.
This, I am very happy to report, has not been my experience. He took a few days to settle in but within two weeks all of the evil little nems that were previously brazen enough to stretch out in the water column under full daylight were either devoured or showed their true cowardice by receding back into the crevices of the rockwork. There were several aiptasia on the shell of a 3.5" Maxima clam that he surgically removed without ever nipping any of the clam's mantle.
I cannot say that my tank is aiptasia free but it is free of outwardly visible aiptasia for certain. They don't have the opportunity to bother my corals anymore as they don't get to poke out for long before they disappear or lose a large chunk of their flesh.
Additionally it turns out that this fish has lots of personality. He is often described as "so ugly he's cute!" I have seen him early in the morning, before lights on, cruising the rockwork looking for the unwary aiptasia poking out. He also does an excellent job of camouflaging himself. He can alter his coloration and patterning in a very short time (less than a couple of seconds) to better blend into his surroundings. He spent most of his day hovering near my powerhead until recently he was displaced by the ditzy tang that swims loops around it! Now he hangs out under the enge of monti caps or a rock ledge and doesn't show any signs of aggression to any of the wrasses, cardinals, chromis, mandarins, or the tang.
Here is a pic of my little guy:
Please take the lead provided here to inform our fellow reefers of your purposeful additions. After all, sharing our experiences is certainly one of the best ways for others to gain knowledge in this hobby! I look forward to any and all additions that you guys make.
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). I had one for just shy of four years, unfortunately she jumped out of a tiny space in the top on my frag tank last summer 
