Fox-faced Rabbitfish Sick

[Pook316]

Hello all,

I came home from work today to notice that my fox face rabbitfish is sick. I know they are a generally hardy breed, so I am worried. He looks like all of the dark areas of his face are bleached out and pale. No unusual spots but he is now very lethargic, and pale. I can't seem to find any articles on this particular condition. My parameters are generally good. Ph 8.1 Alk 8.5 phos .10 nitrate 18 calcium 410 magn 1260 sal 1.026. temp 78.5. I don't have a quarantine tank as i'm only 7 months in but i am worried. Any advice would be so appreciated. thanks

 

[Wallace11]

I'm not an expert on this so will defer to others.
In the meantime I would mark this as an "emergency" and try to post a video if you can.
How long have you had the FoxFace? Any other new additions to the tank recently?
HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

#fishmedic

 

[helmsreef]

They can be really moody, my foxface will darken and lighten up often but he is about 7" and fat. What do you feed, how often and what other tank mates are in your tank? Is your salinity checker calibrated correctly?

 

[Pook316]

I have just recently calibrated my salinity meter, so I know that can't be the issue. I've had him for about 2 months. It didn't occur to me until this evening that I have been noticing him get paler over the past week, but he's always been alert and hungry. it's just he was almost completely washed out tonight. I feed him Reef Frenzy frozen food daily. He has a Royal Gramma and a cardinalfish as tankmates along with many different corals, none of which are new.

thank you

#fishmedic

 

[helmsreef]

I would highly highly suggest feeding him nori, their diet in the wild consists of algae and zooplankton. You will hardly ever see them in the wild eat proteins like fish. They will eat it however but algae contains a lot of vitamins that they require

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have just recently calibrated my salinity meter, so I know that can't be the issue. I've had him for about 2 months. It didn't occur to me until this evening that I have been noticing him get paler over the past week, but he's always been alert and hungry. it's just he was almost completely washed out tonight. I feed him Reef Frenzy frozen food daily. He has a Royal Gramma and a cardinalfish as tankmates along with many different corals, none of which are new.

thank you

#fishmedic

Is the fish still eating?
Can you post a short video of the fish? Linking to YouTube often works well. I just want to get a sense of its respiration rate in order to rule out some issues.

Jay

 

[Pook316]

Hi Everyone.
Sadly I lost my Fox-Face this week. I'd originally purchased him to remediate an algae issue, which he did very well. What I didn't anticipate was what a personality he developed and how much I really liked him. I was told by my LFS that he would only need to eat what I was feeding my other fish (reef frenzy nano) and never thought to question or look deeper into this. I'm devastated to think that I may have unintentionally starved him to death and it breaks my heart (and my wallet). After talking to the LFS, they were kind enough to give me half credit, but it's been a devastating learn that will never be repeated. I'm going to hold off on any new critters for the time-being, but wanted to thank everyone for their kind and helpful advice.

 

[TurboTang]

Sorry for your loss. Your LFS should have informed you of their dietary needs. This hobby has a steep learning curve but the flow of information is slowly getting better. I recommend looking up the care of all new animals you get and search out multiple opinions. I also recommend getting another foxface in near future - they do best when established early before you add more aggressive fish such as tangs. And you will enjoy giving them seaweed on a clip everyday. Cool to have the fish eating at the glass all day. Get another and provide him the ultimate reef with unlimited nori, spirulina flakes/pellets, and occasionally macro algae as treats.