Fish Personality

[Fastpitch]

No disrespect to the freshwater universe, but in my recent transition from freshwater to saltwater fish, I was unexpectedly stunned by the fascinating diversity of personality that I rarely saw previously. Freshwater fish seemed to have....well....almost no personality. Maybe others have a different experience. But I really find the behavior differences these saltwater fish to be so interesting. The following is how I would describe personalities in my tank by type.

Chromis - Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Interest level 4.
Azure Damsel - Greed. All about getting to the next meal first. Interest level 3.
Royal Gramma - Boring, boring, boring. Might as well be freshwater. Interest level 2.
Fire Fish - Jacqueline Kennedy Grace. Interest level 6.
Coral Beauty - Cowardly Lion with Good Witch beauty. Interest level 5.
Blue Tang - Schizophrenic, Bipolar. Interest level 7.
Diamond Goby. Louie De Palma (Taxi) - Interest level 7.
Clownfish - David Spade and Chris Farley. Interest level 9.

Wonder what you see.........

 

[KrisReef]

All my fish just want to eat.
They look at me whenever I come by the tank, hoping for a morsel. They feed based upon their order of addition into the tank, first-in is the first fed. (They came up with this order all by themselves.) If they show aggression towards each other during feeding time, I put my hand in the tank and start moving small rocks around while they hide wondering if the net will come out and someone will go missing.

They all congregate at the glass whenever a meal-giver walks by, interest level 4-7 depending on how much time I have to look.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

I don't really buy into fish having an actual personality in the actual human sense, however I agree that the variance between behaviors from species to species and even between individual specimen of the same species is much greater than the freshwater fish I used to have. I do think there are some freshwater species that come close to those individual "personalities". Tiger Barbs come to mind for me.

 

[ca1ore]

Look up ‘anthropomorphize’.

 

[Fastpitch]

Look up ‘anthropomorphize’.

anthro what?

OK, I can take a hint. I'm cracked.

 

[Katrina71]

Not cracked. Human. You're only cracked if you make them wear little outfits.

 

[mort]

Natural behaviours do add interest and what your calling "personality" is just the fishes basic instincts kicking in.

Chromis, damsels and clowns build hierarchies so they are constantly squabbling. They also have territories which they defend which makes them interact with the other fish.
Royal gramma are quite secretive as they hunt in the rockwork.
Gobies normally sit with their bum in a hole and head out in case food comes by but always on the look out for danger.
Coral beauties live around the rocks, looking for food and patrolling their area. They are partly secretic but confidence grows in time and they can be more aggressive in their defense (they defend an area naturally where their harem lives and it's food source).
Tangs are mental simply because they need to swim vast differences everyday and this can look a bit manic in a confined space.

So what your seeing is natural behaviour. A lot of freshwater tetra and small fish don't show as much interaction as they aren't as site specific and move about more. We also don't really see their equivalent in the marine hobby, their are small species but nothing that fills the same niche as the sea and rivers are so different and we're more limited to species in the marine trade.
If you had cichlids you will see they are much more interesting with social behaviour, territory defence and breeding. You also need to consider that freshwater fish are often far removed from wild fish as they are many generations of captive breeding old, whereas maring breeding is still in its relative infancy. So for me there is just a much fun to be had with freshwater fish but you need to pick the right comparable species.

 

[Fastpitch]

Natural behaviours do add interest and what your calling "personality" is just the fishes basic instincts kicking in.

Chromis, damsels and clowns build hierarchies so they are constantly squabbling. They also have territories which they defend which makes them interact with the other fish.
Royal gramma are quite secretive as they hunt in the rockwork.
Gobies normally sit with their bum in a hole and head out in case food comes by but always on the look out for danger.
Coral beauties live around the rocks, looking for food and patrolling their area. They are partly secretic but confidence grows in time and they can be more aggressive in their defense (they defend an area naturally where their harem lives and it's food source).
Tangs are mental simply because they need to swim vast differences everyday and this can look a bit manic in a confined space.

So what your seeing is natural behaviour. A lot of freshwater tetra and small fish don't show as much interaction as they aren't as site specific and move about more. We also don't really see their equivalent in the marine hobby, their are small species but nothing that fills the same niche as the sea and rivers are so different and we're more limited to species in the marine trade.
If you had cichlids you will see they are much more interesting with social behaviour, territory defence and breeding. You also need to consider that freshwater fish are often far removed from wild fish as they are many generations of captive breeding old, whereas maring breeding is still in its relative infancy. So for me there is just a much fun to be had with freshwater fish but you need to pick the right comparable species.

Makes far to much sense to me. I can't process it.

But I think you might be right.

 

[Awesome Dennis]

Being an "adult" with the attention span of 3 squirrels, the fish behavior is a major reason I'm into saltwater instead of freshwater.

 

[Ocelaris]

I agree, I have had cichlids in the past, as well as many freshwater fish, but I was always terrified of spooking the fish walking by in my freshwater tanks. With salt water, the fish really are like pets with personalities, so I'm glad others feel the same way. Don't get me wrong, I still baby my saltwater fish, but I'm happy they have a little spunk and I don't feel like I am going to terrify them when I walk up to the tank.

With the new tang gang I've taken the personalities to a new level. (quarantine tank pictured)

 

[ca1ore]

anthro what?

OK, I can take a hint. I'm cracked.

Lol, we ALL are .....

 

[cracker]

Just because us Humans don't have the intelligence to recognize an animal's personality in their way . The deniers call it instinct .

 

[ca1ore]

Whether fish have ‘personalities’ or not I cannot say, though as I implied earlier people do have a tendency to anthropomophize their pets. Clearly fish are individuals, some more aggressive than others; they can also develop quirky behaviors .... whether this qualifies as personality or not is, I suppose, in the eye of the beholder. If you want to believe this is personality, be my guest. We all have our ‘delusions’. Mine is that the NY Mets will win the WS in 2019.

 

[KrisReef]

@ca1ore This thread is starting to remind me of my therapy sessions here at the hospital.

If those fish in the @Ocelaris photo could talk, they would agree that the NYMets are going all the way to the Super Bowl. People just have a hard time sorting out reality, but I'm ok with that.

 

[I_Got_Crabs]

No disrespect to the freshwater universe, but in my recent transition from freshwater to saltwater fish, I was unexpectedly stunned by the fascinating diversity of personality that I rarely saw previously. Freshwater fish seemed to have....well....almost no personality. Maybe others have a different experience. But I really find the behavior differences these saltwater fish to be so interesting. The following is how I would describe personalities in my tank by type.

Chromis - Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Interest level 4.
Azure Damsel - Greed. All about getting to the next meal first. Interest level 3.
Royal Gramma - Boring, boring, boring. Might as well be freshwater. Interest level 2.
Fire Fish - Jacqueline Kennedy Grace. Interest level 6.
Coral Beauty - Cowardly Lion with Good Witch beauty. Interest level 5.
Blue Tang - Schizophrenic, Bipolar. Interest level 7.
Diamond Goby. Louie De Palma (Taxi) - Interest level 7.
Clownfish - David Spade and Chris Farley. Interest level 9.

Wonder what you see.........

If personality is what you're after you seriously have some holes in your stock list.

1) Blennies. Get as many as you can manage. Midas and tailspot are my favourites.

2) Wrasses. Fairys and flashers are fun. Pygmy possum wrasses are calm but awesome to watch. Very deliberate in what they do.

3) Pistol Shrimp + Goby pair.

 

[elisa h]

Just because us Humans don't have the intelligence to recognize an animal's personality in their way . The deniers call it instinct .

I agree. I think sea creatures are just so different from us humans that it’s hard for us to fathom them having relatable qualities. But nobody can tell me my fish don’t have their own personalities. And after watching documentaries like blue planet I have a feeling fish are a lot more intelligent than we think!

 

[Fastpitch]

If personality is what you're after you seriously have some holes in your stock list.

1) Blennies. Get as many as you can manage. Midas and tailspot are my favourites.

2) Wrasses. Fairys and flashers are fun. Pygmy possum wrasses are calm but awesome to watch. Very deliberate in what they do.

3) Pistol Shrimp + Goby pair.

Great input. But I will have to wait until I get my 90 in.

 

[Bmw015]

I recently saw a video of a yellow tang getting petted like it was a dog. So I’m with you.

 

[Fastpitch]

I recently saw a video of a yellow tang getting petted like it was a dog. So I’m with you.

You mean this one?!!!! ;Wacky

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...8B49E430738177C822808B49E4307381&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

[Jesterrace]

No disrespect to the freshwater universe, but in my recent transition from freshwater to saltwater fish, I was unexpectedly stunned by the fascinating diversity of personality that I rarely saw previously. Freshwater fish seemed to have....well....almost no personality. Maybe others have a different experience. But I really find the behavior differences these saltwater fish to be so interesting. The following is how I would describe personalities in my tank by type.

Chromis - Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Interest level 4.
Azure Damsel - Greed. All about getting to the next meal first. Interest level 3.
Royal Gramma - Boring, boring, boring. Might as well be freshwater. Interest level 2.
Fire Fish - Jacqueline Kennedy Grace. Interest level 6.
Coral Beauty - Cowardly Lion with Good Witch beauty. Interest level 5.
Blue Tang - Schizophrenic, Bipolar. Interest level 7.
Diamond Goby. Louie De Palma (Taxi) - Interest level 7.
Clownfish - David Spade and Chris Farley. Interest level 9.

Wonder what you see.........

You are correct about the individual personalities being very different from Freshwater to Saltwater. There are a few exceptions (ie Koi, Parrotfish), but for the most part saltwater fish definitely are more interesting individuals. Here my observations on my tank

One Spot Foxface-The Ultimate Spaz. He will be fine and then something will spook him and he changes color and dashes off and hides for a few minutes. He later comes out slowly poking it's head out with a "Seriously, is the mouse gone yet?" type behavior. He is also a the resident chipper/shredder for seaweed. Everyone is stunned by how it devours it. He also does this goofy slow swim with his snout pointed upwards.

Melanurus Wrasse-Greed, Curiosity and Monkey-See-Monkey-Do. It is definitely Greedy and hates the Leopard Wrasse at feeding time. They tolerate each other for the most part otherwise. It definitely feels entitled to just about anything and will expolore and try just about anything. It's Monkey See, Monkey Do aspect came about with my Coral Beauty and former Yellow Tang chowing down on Seaweed. Prior to that it had little to no interest and now it joins the frenzy on a daily basis as if I were handing it a shrimp buffet. It also does a periodic "Dance for it's Dinner" when I get near the tank from time to time.

Blue Star Leopard Wrasse-The most curious and people friendly fish and opportunistic sneak. Due to the hassle that my Melanurus gives my Leopard Wrasse at feeding time, it has become very opportunistic at feeding time and will dart in and grab food bits and literally lead all my fish on a chase around the tank with large chunks of reef frenzy hanging out of it's mouth. I have even seen it rip food out of my Foxface and Coral Beauty's mouths if they don't get it in all the way. When I go and clean the tank, and have to stick my hands in, all the other fish hide. The Leopard Wrasse actually will swim inches away from me scrubbing my rocks with a toothbrush and is the only one to come out and hang out when I have house parties with lots of people around.

Pajama Cardinal-Probably the most freshwater like fish I have. Not much personality and it just hangs out although it does fit the "little fish with a big mouth" as it can gobble down bits of food that are too big for the other fish.

Coral Beauty Dwarf Angel-Funny and Curious Little Nibbler. Likes to hang out with the rest of the other fish and is the only Dwarf Angel I have seen that is cool with other fish hanging out in it's cave. The Foxface, Melanurus and even occasionally the Blue Star Leopard go through there and it doesn't care much. Occasionally it gets irritated with the PJ Cardinal being in it's way and does an "Outta my way" charge at it but that's the total extent of it's aggression. He also likes trying to give me the fish equivalent of "puppy dog eyes" when it is hungry.

Conversely my Glofish in my Freshwater tank at work occasionally chase each other and will respond if I hold the Flake Food jar up to the tank, but that's about it.