Foxface Rabbitfish Developed Brown/Black Spots

[TashaB98]

Help!! I went down to my tank today and noticed these brown/black, kind of raised spots on my foxface rabbitfish. Parameters are all in check, they’re checked every other day.

He’s eating well and I haven’t noticed any odd or new behaviours. He always has a healthy supply of nori and eats the shrimp that goes into the tank during feeding times.

Tank mates include 7 green chromis, 2 bangaai cardinals, a variety of corals, 3 brittle stars, and a CUC. We haven’t noticed anything with the chromis’, bangaais, or anyone else in the tank. No noticeable rapid breathing. He likes to swim against the current of the powerheads which I read could be an indication of something wrong but he’s done that since we got him, that’s not new behaviour.

We’ve had him for about 3 months now and haven’t introduced any new fish in about 3-4 weeks.

Is this black ich? Coral stings? Something else?

Help!! Thank you in advance everyone

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Help!! I went down to my tank today and noticed these brown/black, kind of raised spots on my foxface rabbitfish. Parameters are all in check, they’re checked every other day.

He’s eating well and I haven’t noticed any odd or new behaviours. He always has a healthy supply of nori and eats the shrimp that goes into the tank during feeding times.

Tank mates include 7 green chromis, 2 bangaai cardinals, a variety of corals, 3 brittle stars, and a CUC. We haven’t noticed anything with the chromis’, bangaais, or anyone else in the tank. No noticeable rapid breathing. He likes to swim against the current of the powerheads which I read could be an indication of something wrong but he’s done that since we got him, that’s not new behaviour.

We’ve had him for about 3 months now and haven’t introduced any new fish in about 3-4 weeks.

Is this black ich? Coral stings? Something else?

Help!! Thank you in advance everyone

Welcome to Reef2Reef,

This could be black ich, but the timeline isn’t quite right, you’d usually see it on newer fish. If it is black ich (turbellarians) it is a very mild case and may not need treatment.

The fish appears a bit thin in the photos, what are you feeding it? You might want to increase the amount and frequency.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Help!! I went down to my tank today and noticed these brown/black, kind of raised spots on my foxface rabbitfish. Parameters are all in check, they’re checked every other day.

He’s eating well and I haven’t noticed any odd or new behaviours. He always has a healthy supply of nori and eats the shrimp that goes into the tank during feeding times.

Tank mates include 7 green chromis, 2 bangaai cardinals, a variety of corals, 3 brittle stars, and a CUC. We haven’t noticed anything with the chromis’, bangaais, or anyone else in the tank. No noticeable rapid breathing. He likes to swim against the current of the powerheads which I read could be an indication of something wrong but he’s done that since we got him, that’s not new behaviour.

We’ve had him for about 3 months now and haven’t introduced any new fish in about 3-4 weeks.

Is this black ich? Coral stings? Something else?

Help!! Thank you in advance everyone

Black ich or sting marks in which neither require treatment but keep an eye on it to confirm stability and becoming more widespread

 

[TashaB98]

Welcome to Reef2Reef,

This could be black ich, but the timeline isn’t quite right, you’d usually see it on newer fish. If it is black ich (turbellarians) it is a very mild case and may not need treatment.

The fish appears a bit thin in the photos, what are you feeding it? You might want to increase the amount and frequency.

Okay well that’s pretty reassuring!

In terms of feeding, he has a clip that is constantly filled with LOTS if nori and there’s we feed them 2-3 times/day a mix of mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and sometimes spirulina brine shrimp. Its good to know that he’s looking a bit thin, we actually cut back on the amount we were feeding because we thought he was eating too much non-herbivorous food. We’ll up our feedings and I’ll monitor these spots closely.

Thank you!!!

 

[TashaB98]

Black ich or sting marks in which neither require treatment but keep an eye on it to confirm stability and becoming more widespread

Okay thank you!! Going to keep a super close eye on him and our other kids!

 

[xzt]

Has this fish been infected with ich recently? I have seen these on foxface fish after treating ich, but no parasites were found in microscopic examination.

 

[TashaB98]

Nope, no history of illness or disease in him (that I know of/since owning him) or anyone else in our tank! But from what I can see the dots have gone away so from what I have deduced I think it may have been a reaction to one of our corals (torch maybe?) as they only lasted a day or two and there were no other overt symptoms or signs of distress or illness :)

Has this fish been infected with ich recently? I have seen these on foxface fish after treating ich, but no parasites were found in microscopic examination.

 

[Chris_from_SoCal]

I wouldn't worry so much. Just do a google search on Foxface Rabbitfish color change.

I am new here so take this with a grain of salt. This is my opinion.

My Foxface changes his color multiple times a day. He is normally a nice yellow. When I drop a frozen brine shrimp block into the feeder all my fish go there. If he feels he isn't getting his fair share he will get more aggressive and turn white. When the other fish move away he will bump the feeder to get any remaining shrimp out of the feeder. He will quickly turn back to yellow but might have some spots that remain for a while.

When the lights go out he will put on his camo pajamas and sleep in the rocks with his fins up. He will turn into a dark brown blotchy color to camouflage himself for the night. The next morning he is back to his normal yellow self.

EDIT: This picture was taken with a flashlight. The tank was not this bright.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Has this fish been infected with ich recently? I have seen these on foxface fish after treating ich, but no parasites were found in microscopic examination.

Yes - that is called granulation tissue. At the site of previous infection, fish lay down repair tissue, and on foxface, those can look dark.

 

[TashaB98]

I wouldn't worry so much. Just do a google search on Foxface Rabbitfish color change.

I am new here so take this with a grain of salt. This is my opinion.

My Foxface changes his color multiple times a day. He is normally a nice yellow. When I drop a frozen brine shrimp block into the feeder all my fish go there. If he feels he isn't getting his fair share he will get more aggressive and turn white. When the other fish move away he will bump the feeder to get any remaining shrimp out of the feeder. He will quickly turn back to yellow but might have some spots that remain for a while.

When the lights go out he will put on his camo pajamas and sleep in the rocks with his fins up. He will turn into a dark brown blotchy color to camouflage himself for the night. The next morning he is back to his normal yellow self.

EDIT: This picture was taken with a flashlight. The tank was not this bright.

Yea it definitely wasnt his camouflage/sleep colours. They dots were very small, random, and raised. His colour changes are full body and tend to come along with behaviour/environment/time of day.