centerpiece fish for a 4ft tank

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Is this reef safe?
Far from reef safe and will remove all polyps then go after softies.
See pyramid butterfly, lamark angel and midas blenny
I had a Midas blenny in my previous tank. Had him for maybe 18 months & then one day he vanished. I looked everywhere inside and outside the tank. Never found any remains. I do think I may like another in my new tank.
 
does he pick at algae in the tank or just nori on the clip my tangs would not touch algae in the tank just nori lol
Little bit of both. I wouldn’t call him a workhorse but he doesn’t turn down a free meal.
That's very possible. The ones I've seen that were faded were larger, probably 5-7" fish
Huh, mine’s 5-6” so it’ll be interesting to see how he goes over the next year or two!
I'm with you. I see adult specimens every once in awhile and the ones I see are jet or velvety black. I do find that people who feed mostly pellets and brine can end up with fish that have less than spectacular color.
Mine gets 24/7 TLF green/purple/red seaweed + frozen twice per day so that could be a factor.
I think a One-spot Foxface is fine. It will max out around 6" to 7". Just be careful of crowding with a Foxface. I've had one that frequently spined other fish that were overly active, and it leaves sores on the body of the injured fish.
Mine is a magnificent but up to 8” after 4 years or so. They get big, fast’
Is this reef safe?
I have a tank bred regal in a nano with a few softie / LPS frags. It has little interest in them but he’s barely an inch long. “Reef safe” angels tend to be pretty hit or miss in my experience. Even my flame goes through phases of chomping on meat corals but then leaves them alone for months at a time _shrug_
 
Ok, so if I were to choose one of these for my 4’ 115 gallon tank, with the hope that it will pick algae off my ricks and realizing I may need to rehome it in the future, which is the better option?

One spot foxface
White tail bristletooth tang
 
According to fishbase, the one spot foxface, Siganus unimaculatus, reaches a max length of 20cm, just shy of 8in, while the typical foxface (Lo), Siganus vulpinus, reaches 25cm, just shy of 10in. If these numbers are to be trusted, you would be better off with the one spot FF, although if it reaches max length, it might be cramped in a 4ft tank.
 
Ok, so if I were to choose one of these for my 4’ 115 gallon tank, with the hope that it will pick algae off my ricks and realizing I may need to rehome it in the future, which is the better option?

One spot foxface
White tail bristletooth tang
White tail, foxface will look so cramped in that tank, they are huge! Ill get a picture of my new foxface in my tank to show you. Plus bristletooths are always in the rocks scraping algae. Best algae eaters ever! When I had my white tail all I ever saw of her was the white tail sticking out of the rocks as she was picking 😂
 
According to fishbase, the one spot foxface, Siganus unimaculatus, reaches a max length of 20cm, just shy of 8in, while the typical foxface (Lo), Siganus vulpinus, reaches 25cm, just shy of 10in. If these numbers are to be trusted, you would be better off with the one spot FF, although if it reaches max length, it might be cramped in a 4ft tank.
Youre saying the regular foxfaces are about 8 inches??? Wonder if mine will get any bigger, its 8 inches or so now!
 
Youre saying the regular foxfaces are about 8 inches??? Wonder if mine will get any bigger, its 8 inches or so now!
The regular ones are meant to get 10 inches (vulpinus), the one spots (unimaculatus) about 8in. But those are max measurements in the wild, from a Swedish database. No idea how updated it is or if captivity results in more or less growth, although I would tend to believe equal to or less--I've seen some FAT fish on the reefs, so they must be eating well!
 
The regular ones are meant to get 10 inches (vulpinus), the one spots (unimaculatus) about 8in. But those are max measurements in the wild, from a Swedish database. No idea how updated it is or if captivity results in more or less growth, although I would tend to believe equal to or less--I've seen some FAT fish on the reefs, so they must be eating well!
Interesting! Ill have to see if the one I just picked up grows more, he is pretty big!
 
Purple Tangs are my favorite Zebramosa too. They are always the tang I add to a new tank.
Yeah! They are super pretty. This purple is a cave monster though, he likes to swim in the rocks and only swims in the open for food. He likes to dive bomb fish from inside the rocks. Never had a purple that wasnt constantly out and about so he is just odd! Had him since he was like an inch!
 

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Ugh. So maybe I’ll pass on the foxface. Now I’m in the same boat as the OP. Not sure what to add to this list:

2 clowns
Lawnmower blenny
Pictus blenny
Pajama cardinal
Scissortail dartfish
Royal gramma

I had a copperbsnd for 18 days, but just lost him. He had started eating frozen brine shrimp and did pick at some frozen mysis. He was good yesterday. Dead today. No idea if he starved or not, but I am not going down that road again - especially since I am not sure if it was my fault or not.

I guess it’s a few wrasses and a midas blenny for me. Maybe a firefish. I was really counting on a bristletooth to help keep my rocks clean, but perhaps that should be out, too.
regal angel?
Is this reef safe?
I would not use the term “Reef Safe” for any angel other than the Genicanthus. I put Regals in the same tier of reef safe as pygmy angels. Clams tend to be the thing they nip at. I’d put the reef safe success rate of Regals at 65% to 75%. Where Genicanthus are 98% and pygmy angels are 75% to 90%.

I’ve seen people have success with Emperors and Majestics in a reef but I would never do that.
 
Purple Tangs are my favorite Zebramosa too. They are always the tang I add to a new tank.
Yeah! They are super pretty. This purple is a cave monster though, he likes to swim in the rocks and only swims in the open for food. He likes to dive bomb fish from inside the rocks. Never had a purple that wasnt constantly out and about so he is just odd! Had him since he was like an inch!
That is rare behavior. I love how my Tang Gang swim in the front of my tank where the flow is the highest. It reminds me of the turtles in Finding Nemo.
 
Interesting! Ill have to see if the one I just picked up grows more, he is pretty big!
Mine went from 3in to 5in very fast (and from flat skinny to round!). I don't know if their growth rate starts to slow down after a certain length. @i cant think might know better. I think @Slocke has a brave Siganus vulpinus as well.
 
Interesting! Ill have to see if the one I just picked up grows more, he is pretty big!
Mine also might force another upgrade (oh no!!) if it maxes out, although its swimming tendencies are hang out behind rocks, come out when food time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Mine went from 3in to 5in very fast (and from flat skinny to round!). I don't know if their growth rate starts to slow down after a certain length. @i cant think might know better. I think @Slocke has a brave Siganus vulpinus as well.
Oh yeah they grow so fast!!!
 
Mine also might force another upgrade (oh no!!) if it maxes out, although its swimming tendencies are hang out behind rocks, come out when food time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Mine is actually aggressive. He hasnt hid at all or gone stress coloring. My sailfin has been bothering him since he was put in the tank but he will chase her off and flare his spines at her. First foxface Ive seen that doesnt act like the sky is falling when I fish swims by 😂
 
Youre saying the regular foxfaces are about 8 inches??? Wonder if mine will get any bigger, its 8 inches or so now!
One thing I find people don't realize is that the Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus) and the One-Spot Foxface (Siganus unimaculatus) are actually two different fish, with the former growing to be about 15% larger than the latter.
 
Mine went from 3in to 5in very fast (and from flat skinny to round!). I don't know if their growth rate starts to slow down after a certain length. @i cant think might know better. I think @Slocke has a brave Siganus vulpinus as well.
Mine eats from my hand. Has hardly grown though in the 3.5 years I've had it. Maybe an inch or two
 

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