Explain this behavior

H@rry · May 20, 2017

Why do Rabbit fish and Foxface gulp air at the surface of the water?

Brew12 · May 20, 2017

No idea. My Foxface has never done that.

Zack K · May 20, 2017

This is great question! I wandered myself if their wasn't enough O2 in the tank

H@rry · May 20, 2017

Zack Klabunde said:
This is great question! I wandered myself if their wasn't enough O2 in the tank

None of the other fish do this. I got a Foxface from another person who had a rimless tank and he would spit water over the side. I have euro bracing so that was not an issue for me.

Zack K · May 21, 2017

H@rry said:
None of the other fish do this. I got a Foxface from another person who had a rimless tank and he would spit water over the side. I have euro bracing so that was not an issue for me.

Mine used to do it. It was weird but what I thought normal behavior.

eatbreakfast · May 22, 2017

Does it only do it when you are around the tank? I have seen rabbits and foxfaces do that as a way of begging for food when someone is near the tank.

SashimiTurtle · May 22, 2017

I don't have a foxface, but my dwarf golden moray will sometimes poke his head out the water at feeding time to make sure I don't forget him...

H@rry · May 22, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Does it only do it when you are around the tank? I have seen rabbits and foxfaces do that as a way of begging for food when someone is near the tank.

No, they do this when I'm across the room and they're not aware that I'm looking at the tank. I have 3 Rabbit Fish and 2 of them do this. I had a Foxface in the past and it did it too.

Zack K · May 22, 2017

Mine would occasionally spit water like a hey look at me kinda thing. But no not always when I was around the tank.

eatbreakfast · May 22, 2017

If you can see them, they can see you.

jgvergo · May 22, 2017

Mine does this too. One explanation I read is that they are "grazing" on a thin film of algae that is contained on the surface due to surface tension.

H@rry · May 22, 2017

jgvergo said:
Mine does this too. One explanation I read is that they are "grazing" on a thin film of algae that is contained on the surface due to surface tension.

That probably makes as much sense as any other explanation I've heard.