Foxface Rabbitfish in a 45 gallon?

That1guy07

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So I know I will probably get a lot of hate for this but I was recently at my LFS. They had this beautiful One Spot Foxface Rabbitfish for sale and I couldn't help myself. It is my favorite fish and I have done lots of research on it. I am currently in college and I still live with my parents. The biggest tank they'd let me get is a 45 gallon (their house, their rules). When I do get my own place, however, I am planning on upgrading to a much larger system, possibly a 150 or 200 g. But for the next few years I am stuck here. The Rabbit fish is 5 inches long. Will he be ok living in a 45 gallon reef tank? It's the best I can do for him for now. I read that they get to be about 8" but rarely get above 5" or 6".
 
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That1guy07

That1guy07

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2-3 inches, sure. But 5 inches? It would be inhumane to keep it in anything below 90-120 gallons. Trade it in for a smaller one
Thats what I would do but my LFS doesn't allow returns on fish. It's dumb
 

JumboShrimp

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My Foxface grew from 4” to almost 8” in about a year. Ate like a pig. But he mostly hid and stayed a muted yellow color in a 6-foot long tank where all other fish had vibrant colors. My least favorite fish that took up a lot of real estate (and bio load), so I traded him in at my LFS. Just sharing my perspective.
 

Jesterrace

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Definitely wouldn't keep one in a 45 for anything but a holding tank. My One Spot makes full use of my 90 gallon and still has quite a ways to grow.
 

Squeaky McMurdo

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My Foxface Lo lived in a 60 gallon tank (4ft long and 12 inches wide) for 12+ years of his life. He was NOT stunted and the lady that had him finally decided to do what was best for him. When I went to pick him up he could not turn around in that tank anymore. Imagine a football swimming around your tank. They only stay smaller if you don’t feed them enough (and of course won’t live long either) I sadly lost my boy Spike last month. I measured him at 11 inches before his funeral.

I upgraded from my own 60 gallon to a 125 specifically to house a Foxface. I loved them enough to wait until I had the proper tank. Please be a good steward to the animals you keep. There are plenty of fish that can be happy in a 45 and would be thrilled with an eventual upgrade.
 

OrionN

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Foxface grow very fast in my experience. Mine grew from 2 to 7+ inches in 18 months or so. He was the second largest in my 320 DT. The largest fish was a Cheveron Tang at about 8 inches. Got there quickly too.
Your information that they rarely get above 5-6 inches is very wrong.

BTW, hurricane Harvey crashed my tank. Somebody shut down my generator when we were evacuated 600 miles away. I reset up my tank but refrain from adding Fox Face and Chevron to my system. Only have three tangs now, My Powder Blue, 7 inches, Purple at 5.5 and Yellow at about 4.5 inches. All of these were started at less than 2 inches about 2 years ago. Tangs and Fox Face grew very quickly if you feed them right.
 
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AZMSGT

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All you are doing is satisfying your desires. You're not being kind to the animal you are keeping. Imagine keeping a Great dane in a 8X8 foot room and never letting it out.
 
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I am not going to fall into the should you, shouldn't you, trap. However, I will second and third and say my personal experience is that they grow fast due to their end state size. To complicate things a bit more is their spines and how they use them for defense. While they are calm they can be a bit skittish and shy. Size of tank, water, rock, and corals start blurring the lines if that makes any sense.

Owning one I do not see how you could properly care for it in the environment you described short or long term. Isolation tang. QT tank. Medical emergency. Those are fine. But when we start talking about its living quarters no. Not a option.

I'll close with this. I have a 210 gallon tank 54" W x 30" T x 30"D and my Foxface is pushing 8". I believe my tank is too small for it. True story. I look at it and say wow, time to upgrade (and I'm only 20 months into my upgrade)...best of luck.
 

OrionN

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How much is good feeding for tang and foxface?
Here are a few image
I often take a rock full of algae from my refugium and put it into my DT.
Day 1
AlgaeRockDay1.jpg


Day 3
AlgaeRockDay3.jpg


Here are my three tangs. The Chevron is no longer with us, but the other two are in my tank right now. They are full like that all the time. Poop a lot. especially in AM.
Chevron2016051101.jpg

PBT2019071801FatFish.jpg

YellowTang2019062402.jpg
 

Fishfinder

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How much is good feeding for tang and foxface?
Here are a few image
I often take a rock full of algae from my refugium and put it into my DT.
Day 1
AlgaeRockDay1.jpg


Day 3
AlgaeRockDay3.jpg


Here are my three tangs. The Chevron is no longer with us, but the other two are in my tank right now. They are full like that all the time. Poop a lot. especially in AM.
Chevron2016051101.jpg

PBT2019071801FatFish.jpg

YellowTang2019062402.jpg

I love seeing fat tangs. Mine are almost round
 

monstdog

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How much is good feeding for tang and foxface?
Here are a few image
I often take a rock full of algae from my refugium and put it into my DT.
Day 1
AlgaeRockDay1.jpg


Day 3
AlgaeRockDay3.jpg


Here are my three tangs. The Chevron is no longer with us, but the other two are in my tank right now. They are full like that all the time. Poop a lot. especially in AM.
Chevron2016051101.jpg

PBT2019071801FatFish.jpg

YellowTang2019062402.jpg
That's a great idea...I don't know if mine will take to it. I always feed them Nori.
 

OrionN

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That's a great idea...I don't know if mine will take to it. I always feed them Nori.
I feed them Nori too. The algae rock are just treats once in a while. I cultivate the algae on these rock to bring it up. Right after I took the picture above, I would remove the rock and bring it back to the refugium so the algae recover. If I let them completely demolish the algae on the rock, it will take me much longer to get a rock full of algae again.
 

ScottR

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How much is good feeding for tang and foxface?
Here are a few image
I often take a rock full of algae from my refugium and put it into my DT.
Day 1
AlgaeRockDay1.jpg


Day 3
AlgaeRockDay3.jpg


Here are my three tangs. The Chevron is no longer with us, but the other two are in my tank right now. They are full like that all the time. Poop a lot. especially in AM.
Chevron2016051101.jpg

PBT2019071801FatFish.jpg

YellowTang2019062402.jpg
@OrionN ~ do tangs eat caulerpa in your experience? I’m almost afraid to keep it in my tank.
 
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User1

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I feed them Nori too. The algae rock are just treats once in a while. I cultivate the algae on these rock to bring it up. Right after I took the picture above, I would remove the rock and bring it back to the refugium so the algae recover. If I let them completely demolish the algae on the rock, it will take me much longer to get a rock full of algae again.

This is something I had tried later and my tangs really enjoyed it. I have a Scopas and Lavender tang and recently ordered some Macro Algae from IPSF. Threw it in a bucket, DIY led, and connected it to the sump. Grew pretty well. I ended up taking some of the red algae out and the tangs and rabbit fish went crazy for the stuff. Once the initial curiosity of what it was or floating slowed down it is impossible to keep.

It grows pretty well within the month so going to plumb in a 20 gallon refugium into my system and grow this stuff. I think mixing Nori with natural algae is a win win and I noticed a deeper color on the tangs in about 2 weeks oddly enough. Not sure if that is factual or just me being wishful thinking. But I saw a more pronounced blue dots on the Lavender.
 

OrionN

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They will eat them if you feed them fresh Caulerpa that are not prey on my tangs. They don't often eat Caulerpa that grow in DT.
It is very possible that as Caulerpa being eaten by fish, they start to form chemical that deter fish from browsing on them. When this pressure is remove, the algae no longer produce this bad tasting chemical and make it a lot more palatable to the fish.
I have nothing to back this up, other than it is just my hunch and this is a fairy common strategy of plants use to deter grazing.
 

lolmatt

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One thing to consider with foxfaces is how thick they are. Go out to your lfs and try to find a fully grown one spot. My buddy was thinking about putting one in his 90 and went with a yellow tang instead due to the sheer girth of those guys.
 
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