Friend for my Foxface

[Over_Engineered]

A buddy gave me his one-spot foxface and now I'd like to get a friend for him. I understand that multiple foxfaces can pair up, but will it work if the other fish isn't exactly the one-spot variety? Such as a foxface lo or a magnificent foxface?

I don't want to introduce any aggression to this tank

 

[nereefpat]

Multiple rabbitfish

I know you cant have multiple fox faces, but rabbitfish are definitely some of my favorite fish. Anyone have FIRST HAND experience of golden rabbit fish, virgate rabbit fish, blue line rabbit fish, orange spot rabbit fish, etc with other rabbitfish? Thanks!

www.reef2reef.com

Sounds like it's best to just have 1 foxface per tank. What is the tank size?

 

[Over_Engineered]

I have a 180g tank with intentionally open swim spaces. Right now I have 2 clown fish, a sailfin tang, a tomini tang, and this one -spot foxface.

 

[Jesterrace]

I would just keep one foxface in there and then get another type of fish.

 

[Over_Engineered]

ok thank you both for the advice.

The local fish store put the idea in my head of picking up another foxface in place of the fish I wanted (Yellow Tang). She said the foxface might pair with the yellow tang and then mirror it, so if the tang was aggressive the foxface would pile on adding considerable force to the bullying. I ended up getting the sailfin in place of the yellow tang. Thus far we like our sailfin.

 

[southerntnreefer]

I have an orange spot rabbitfish and a one spot foxface in my 220. they could literally care less of each other,and eat from same nori clip.

 

[windemerejack]

I have a foxface and a yellow tang and its like they are joined at the hip, they eat together, swim together, and sleep in the same 'cave' together, inseperable.

 

[southerntnreefer]

I have a foxface and a yellow tang and its like they are joined at the hip, they eat together, swim together, and sleep in the same 'cave' together, inseperable.

Mine too. Odd how that all works.

 

[windemerejack]

Yeah its odd but its nice to see them interact with each other.
The strange thing is I had the foxface about 6 months before I introduced the yellow tang and for a few hours the tang made sure the foxface kept its distance from him, then I replaced my nori clip with some fresh and they both went together to eat from it and inseperable since I put the nori clip in.

 

[ReeferSteve]

I know a fox face and yellow tang pairing up is common. But, the OP was instructed that it could add aggression towards other inhabitants when they pair. Is that true?

 

[windemerejack]

I know a fox face and yellow tang pairing up is common. But, the OP was instructed that it could add aggression towards other inhabitants when they pair. Is that true?

Not in my case, they just do things together and leave everything else to get on with their business

 

[ReeferSteve]

Not in my case, they just do things together and leave everything else to get on with their business

That’s what I was thinking would be the case but I don’t have any hands on experience with it so I was curious.

 

[windemerejack]

That's how we all learn my friend, by asking :)

 

[windemerejack]

I understand that multiple foxfaces can pair up

I just noticed this in your original post, unless you have a massive tank then do not put another foxface in your tank, one will kill the other, at least that is my experience. I tried it once and although they left each other at first, after about a month one of them went on the attack to the other, it was brutal, it just attacked it all the time and was relentless and vicious, it was not pleasant to witness, I tried to get it out but no luck, after 3 days the other foxface was dead.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

I would recommend watching to see if it makes friends with your tangs, that’s what mine and several others have done. Putting another rabbitfish in would be risky and you’d better be prepared to remove one quickly if they fight. I also don’t think it needs a friend, they do fine alone.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

Mine follows my Powder Brown Tang around like a little buddy, even though he's bigger. I would also wait and see if he hangs around one or more of the tangs.

 

[Over_Engineered]

I hope the foxface teams up with my little tomini tang. Presently, the tomini is impressively cowardly. He pops out of a cave now and again to say hello until a grain of sand spooks him. Little tomini could use a big brother.

Mine follows my Powder Brown Tang around like a little buddy, even though he's bigger. I would also wait and see if he hangs around one or more of the tangs.

A powder brown tang is on my short list of new livestock. My buddy wanted me to wait a bit longer for the tank to establish before adding the powder brown. How do you like him so far? It is likely a powder brown or blue unless i'm talked out of both.

I know a fox face and yellow tang pairing up is common. But, the OP was instructed that it could add aggression towards other inhabitants when they pair. Is that true?

So let me give some more information from my conversation with the fish store guru. She basically hard talked me out of the yellow tang. Said they are way more aggressive than other equally helpful and less expensive tangs (such as the sailfin tang I ended up with). She said the yellow tang isn't a problem by itself if other fish are more established or larger unless the large foxface bonds to him. Then the foxface will basically become the yellow tang's henchman. So i suppose the 2 conditions are that the foxface has to bond to some tang AND the tang needs to be a bully.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

My powder brown is one of my favorite fish in the tank. My understanding is they're not as susceptible to ich as the powder blues, but I haven't had a blue so can't speak to that. He eats anything I put in the tank and goes straight to the aqua gadget whenever someone walks in front of the tank as if he were starving, but he's pretty fat. Also eats nori. I would highly recommend a powder brown tang if you have the room for it, but he is my only tang so I don't know how well he'll get along with your other tangs.

 

[najer]

I have a brown scopas and a smaller yellow scopas a black naso and a baby convict (in yesterday) and a fox face.
The scopas' are like a married grumpy couple but the yellow scopas is bff with the foxface, I would never try 2 ff unless they went in together but still risky.

 

[southerntnreefer]

I hope the foxface teams up with my little tomini tang. Presently, the tomini is impressively cowardly. He pops out of a cave now and again to say hello until a grain of sand spooks him. Little tomini could use a big brother.



A powder brown tang is on my short list of new livestock. My buddy wanted me to wait a bit longer for the tank to establish before adding the powder brown. How do you like him so far? It is likely a powder brown or blue unless i'm talked out of both.


So let me give some more information from my conversation with the fish store guru. She basically hard talked me out of the yellow tang. Said they are way more aggressive than other equally helpful and less expensive tangs (such as the sailfin tang I ended up with). She said the yellow tang isn't a problem by itself if other fish are more established or larger unless the large foxface bonds to him. Then the foxface will basically become the yellow tang's henchman. So i suppose the 2 conditions are that the foxface has to bond to some tang AND the tang needs to be a bully.

I have to say it's not Everytime. My yellow tang has been a d*ck for years. He was far worse in the 90 than he is in the 220, but he's good friends with both rabbits and there is no mob type behavior going down here