How long for fish to call tank 'home'?

[Pau Hana Reefer]

Thanks for the feedback all. I feel a little better knowing this is not atypical behavior.

The first picture below is when he first arrived. The second picture is from a couple weeks ago. He definitely uses the rocks to hide and use as camo when he's mottled.

 

[Zionas]

Nice Foxface! Though my tank will be 183 gallons I still prefer One Spot over Foxface Lo due to smaller size and I love the black spot / patch. I don’t think the regular Foxface Lo without the patch looks right. It looks a bit off. One Spot gets to 8” same size as a Yellow Tang while the one without the spot gets to 9”. Magnificent are beautiful to me but they also get to 9”.

As for me it is a must have fish for my tank. Considering how skittish it can be it will go in fairly early (but as for larger fish Marine Betta will be in before it because it’s slow) before any Tangs. I want an algae eating trio comprising of my OSFF, Yellow and Yellow Eye Tangs.

Do Foxface have high requirements when it comes to the maturity of the tank? Do they require high water quality or else they get stress and disease easily? Are they prone to any diseases?

I do agree many species of fish should not be sold at all, IMO this includes:

-Cleaner Wrasses (unless ORA captive bred)

-Most butterflyfish (If I ran an LFS I’d over ever import the 1s and some 2s in WWM’s ranking)

-Harlequin Sweetlips or any Sweetlips really

-Achilles, Powder Blue, Clown, Powder Brown Tangs (sold only to the most experienced aquarists and imported in small quantities, with a full questioning of their QT / disease management procedures)

-Orange Spotted Filefish (sold in minimal quantities and only to the most dedicated and experienced aquarists)

-Moorish Idol (stop importing altogether)

-Regal Blue Tang (sell only to aquarists with large enough tanks, with a full questioning of their QT / disease management procedures)

-Regal Angelfish (only import from the Red Sea)


TBH if I ran my own LFS I’d mostly ever import easy to moderate fish. And I believe it’s more than possible to create a thriving and beautiful tank without any delicate fish.

 

[Peach02]

Do Foxface have high requirements when it comes to the maturity of the tank? Do they require high water quality or else they get stress and disease easily? Are they prone to any diseases?

I do agree many species of fish should not be sold at all, IMO this includes:

-Cleaner Wrasses (unless ORA captive bred)

-Most butterflyfish (If I ran an LFS I’d over ever import the 1s and some 2s in WWM’s ranking)

-Harlequin Sweetlips or any Sweetlips really

-Achilles, Powder Blue, Clown, Powder Brown Tangs (sold only to the most experienced aquarists and imported in small quantities, with a full questioning of their QT / disease management procedures)

-Orange Spotted Filefish (sold in minimal quantities and only to the most dedicated and experienced aquarists)

-Moorish Idol (stop importing altogether)

-Regal Blue Tang (sell only to aquarists with large enough tanks, with a full questioning of their QT / disease management procedures)

-Regal Angelfish (only import from the Red Sea)


TBH if I ran my own LFS I’d mostly ever import easy to moderate fish. And I believe it’s more than possible to create a thriving and beautiful tank without any delicate fish.

fox face are hardy just shy / skittish, they are not more prone to disease than any other fish but they apreshiate large tanks.

unfortunately most LFS are not in a position to do this especially outside of the states as most customers don't care where there fish come from and feel its worth a shot to get things like powder blues despite the risk, however this is getting better with time as more and more information is readily available, plus if LFS A stops selling e.g. cleaner wrasse, if a customer wants one they will just go to LFS B so it would have to be a mutual agreement or something enforced similar to how Red Sea tanks are the same price between stores usually.

 

[KilnCorals]

We have a one spot and magnificent in two of our different systems. They are skittish but once established, great specimens and algae destroyers.

Try a food additive like Selcon, Selco Boost, Selco Advance. A little goes a long way but we mix a couple drops into cup when thawing out frozen food.

What do you feed regularly? As long as he’s healthy otherwise, be patient on coloration.

Thanks for the feedback all. I feel a little better knowing this is not atypical behavior.

The first picture below is when he first arrived. The second picture is from a couple weeks ago. He definitely uses the rocks to hide and use as camo when he's mottled.

 

[Zionas]

How big are your tanks?

 

[Justin Aretz]

This is what I'm afraid of. And I've read old threads where some believe that minimum recommended tank size of 75g for one-spot foxfaces is far too small. As much as I love keeping fish, I'm mindful of trying to provide them as happy of an environment as possible. I'm very close to being decided on helping him find a larger home locally, most likely looking for someone with a 180 gallon or larger tank.

If his native waters were close to me, I would release him without hesitation. Waters of east Asia isn't exactly a quick drive from Philly.

there is a lot of information out there about how releasing aquarium fish back into the wild, native habitat or not, is detrimental to the entire population of that species, and even other species. because you are mixing fish from all around the world, it is very likely that they are carriers of a disease that is not native to a specific fishes’ native environment, and the chances are increased of causing an outbreak from even one specimens introduction

 

[Miller535]

I have bad both one spot foxfaces and the larger foxface lo. They are both pretty skidish but I have had much better luck with the foxface Lo. I believe this is even why on LiveAquaria they list the one spot as moderate and the Lo as easy. I realize many prefer the one spot because it stays much smaller, but it doesn't do as well in my opinion. But lots of people have them and have luck with them though, so who knows.

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

there is a lot of information out there about how releasing aquarium fish back into the wild, native habitat or not, is detrimental to the entire population of that species, and even other species. because you are mixing fish from all around the world, it is very likely that they are carriers of a disease that is not native to a specific fishes’ native environment, and the chances are increased of causing an outbreak from even one specimens introduction

Thanks for the heads up, I definitely have not considered that you could be introducing alien diseases along with the fish. The focus of the conversation for the general public is on releasing invasive species, but perhaps the conversation should also including diseases and hitchhikers since they can be just as devastating. This is a really interesting topic and I'm going to read more into it.

 

[McPuff]

I've had a few different foxfaces and they eventually seemed to get less skittish... but never as calm as most other fish. I have a foxface lo right now and he's about 9" and seems pretty comfortable in my 300DD. It wasn't always that way. Honestly, it probably took the better part of 4-5 years to get to this point.

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

We have a one spot and magnificent in two of our different systems. They are skittish but once established, great specimens and algae destroyers.

Try a food additive like Selcon, Selco Boost, Selco Advance. A little goes a long way but we mix a couple drops into cup when thawing out frozen food.

What do you feed regularly? As long as he’s healthy otherwise, be patient on coloration.

He's the only herbivore in the tank. I feed the tank 1-2 times a day with either: Frozen Mysis, New Life Spectrum pellets, Spirulina flakes (for the foxface), or Ocean Nutrition flakes, and sometimes mix in dried brine shrimp with the pellets or flakes. I started using Selcon two weeks ago and wish I started using it earlier. While there weren't any changes in the foxface, my helfrichi firefish's colors have really started popping.

I also leave out romaine for the foxface.

How big are your tanks?

 

[Zionas]

Sounds like a good mix of foods! I’ll have three herbivores in my tank lol. One Spot Foxface, Yellow Tang, and Yellow Eye Kole Tang. I will call them the “Three Musketeers.” Hope they’ll do a heck of a job cleaning up all that algae!

 

[KilnCorals]

Mix sounds good, but I'd recommend skipping the flakes for nori once or twice a week. We do a cube combination of PE Calanus and Mysis + Hikari Ocean Plankton and Spirulina Brine. There are a couple of auto feeders for pellets but that's mostly for anthias.

A Tomini Tang with a few Dispar Anthias would be nice in your aquarium. Just be patient on the yellow coloration, ours was faded for a bit and that was a few years ago now.

He's the only herbivore in the tank. I feed the tank 1-2 times a day with either: Frozen Mysis, New Life Spectrum pellets, Spirulina flakes (for the foxface), or Ocean Nutrition flakes, and sometimes mix in dried brine shrimp with the pellets or flakes. I started using Selcon two weeks ago and wish I started using it earlier. While there weren't any changes in the foxface, my helfrichi firefish's colors have really started popping.

I also leave out romaine for the foxface.

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

Mix sounds good, but I'd recommend skipping the flakes for nori once or twice a week. We do a cube combination of PE Calanus and Mysis + Hikari Ocean Plankton and Spirulina Brine. There are a couple of auto feeders for pellets but that's mostly for anthias.

A Tomini Tang with a few Dispar Anthias would be nice in your aquarium. Just be patient on the yellow coloration, ours was faded for a bit and that was a few years ago now.

I heard others talk highly of Hikar Ocean Plankton as well as Spirulina Brine. I'll def check them out.

So I gave him nori for a couple weeks when he was in the QT... and wow THE MESS!!! I mean, nori pieces everywhere in the DT and in the HOB filter. I switched to romaine for a few weeks and when I tried giving him nori, he ignored it. I'd be willing to try nori again if I can figure out a way to prevent the mess. I use a magnet clip... I've heard the baskets work well for nori. Any suggestions?