Long term Rabbitfish owners, please share your experiences & photos!

Markhoh3

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Beautiful tank you have there! Thank you so much for sharing. What size is that? You’ve got a whole lot of awesome packed in there.
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BaghdadBean

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Full tank shot
Thank you! That really puts the perspective in place as to what a rabbitfish would look like in my tank, since IIRC a 180 is also 72 x 24” on footprint. I feel a lot more confident that it would be a decent match for my tank. I really love the bigger Zebrasoma tangs, but I worry my tank would be too shallow for them at full size. The rabbitfish seems like a great compromise for utilitarian fish. If it doesn’t go psycho at 8+“ and eat my clams. :D
 

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I'm getting a onespot from TSM soon to put in my 109 bow, aware they are coral nippers, but I'm only getting weed like softies; Xenia (unfortunately my frag died in transit) clove polyps, cheap zoas and maybe some GSP along with birdsnest, anacropora and monti's I currently have.

So if it eats softies, no big deal, I'm just hoping the foxface will be happy in my humble aquarium, he will be the sole herbivore, so no competition for him, he will also be the biggest fish, with a exquisite fairy as the next biggest.
 
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BaghdadBean

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So if it eats softies, no big deal, I'm just hoping the foxface will be happy in my humble aquarium, he will be the sole herbivore, so no competition for him, he will also be the biggest fish, with a exquisite fairy as the next biggest.

I welcome any fish that eats zoas and leaves SPS alone. I had a severe, life threatening reaction to zoas in my reef tank one year while doing a routine water change, and I’ll never voluntarily own them again. I don’t even like looking at photos of them anymore, it just reminds me of the panic of being in the hospital and nobody knowing what was happening.
 

Wyvern

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I welcome any fish that eats zoas and leaves SPS alone. I had a severe, life threatening reaction to zoas in my reef tank one year while doing a routine water change, and I’ll never voluntarily own them again. I don’t even like looking at photos of them anymore, it just reminds me of the panic of being in the hospital and nobody knowing what was happening.
I actually had to buy zoas to meet the minimum order, otherwise I wouldn't have them.

I actually bought them with the intent of them getting eaten :p
 

Peter Houde

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Have you kept a Rabbitfish for longer than two years? What are your experiences with them? How do they play with others? Anybody have any Biota rabbitfish experience? I’m considering a Gold Lined Rabbitfish from Biota for my 72” x 24” x 19” custom tank, and I would love to hear folks’ opinions and experience, as well as see the photos of your fish!
It will outgrow your tank and then you'll need to figure out how to unload it. When they say it will commonly grow to 25 cm they mean it. Your aquarium just isn't big enough for it in the long run.
 
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It will outgrow your tank and then you'll need to figure out how to unload it. When they say it will commonly grow to 25 cm they mean it. Your aquarium just isn't big enough for it in the long run.
Have you owned one before? My aquarium size (142 gallons at 6 feet by 2 feet by 19” height) matches recommended guidelines both on Biota’s guidelines, and by the ratio calculation method, so I’m curious if this is a knee jerk reaction or if you have experience with the species that is guiding your opinion. Looking at photos of a same species fish here in somebody else’s tank with similar footprint, it certainly didn’t look like it was stressed. I’ll be running a significantly powerful closed loop Oceans Motion on a peninsula style rock work layout, so It won’t be a wall of rock with a tiny slice of swimming room. I don’t want to make a poor choice, which is why I started this thread, to hear people’s experiences, but I also don’t want to limit myself from picking up a fish that could provide years of utilitarian use during the ugly stages of tank start up before needing a possible rehome.
 
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i cant think

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So I’m on my second Foxface - Both the exact same species and been in my care for the same ammount of time.
I’ve owned 2 foxfaces over the span of a total of 2 years. I got the first one at a nice 2”, he got to around 3” in a year and ate anything and everything. He was never a bully and actually instead kept the peace in the tank. Unfortunately I lost that one in an ammonia spike because it was between me being able to lower it in a bigger tank or he died of being in cold water (16-18 degrees Celsius) I’m now on my second Magnificent Foxface in a 4x2x2 (5’ diagonal), hes been a model citizen after eating two frags of Toxic Apple Zoas. He’s at a nice 5” long.
I’ve seen a bicolor in the LFS.. I’m so tempted on it but itd push the tank beyond its limits - It has 10 fish total and 8 of them get to 4” in captivity. I’m adding two more fish (Blue star leopard wrasse & Naokos fairy) and then calling it done - I don’t know how two rabbits would get along in a tank with just 5’ diagonal
image.jpg
 
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So I’m on my second Foxface - Both the exact same species and been in my care for the same ammount of time.
I’ve owned 2 foxfaces over the span of a total of 2 years. I got the first one at a nice 2”, he got to around 3” in a year and ate anything and everything. He was never a bully and actually instead kept the peace in the tank. Unfortunately I lost that one in an ammonia spike because it was between me being able to lower it in a bigger tank or he died of being in cold water (16-18 degrees Celsius) I’m now on my second Magnificent Foxface in a 4x2x2 (5’ diagonal), hes been a model citizen after eating two frags of Toxic Apple Zoas. He’s at a nice 5” long.
I’ve seen a bicolor in the LFS.. I’m so tempted on it but itd push the tank beyond its limits - It has 10 fish total and 8 of them get to 4” in captivity. I’m adding two more fish (Blue star leopard wrasse & Naokos fairy) and then calling it done - I don’t know how two rabbits would get along in a tank with just 5’ diagonal
image.jpg
Thank you for sharing your experience! From what I’ve read and seen from foxface and rabbitfish before, it’s pretty hit and miss to add new ones on later down the road. I thought briefly about trying two, but I really don’t want to overload on big fish, and I’m not sure that more than one would be sustainable in my tank after the first few ugly years. I’m going pretty SPS heavy, and while I intend to grow macros in the sump/refugium for nutrient cycling and export, I don’t think I could keep up with more than one rabbitfish and one tang. I’m hoping that pairing a rabbitfish with a modest sized tang will give a wide enough span on the algae preferences to be suitable for maintaining my tank and supported by in house macro algae growth, without having to rely too much on outside feed.
 

OG Reef Tanks

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Have you kept a Rabbitfish for longer than two years? What are your experiences with them? How do they play with others? Anybody have any Biota rabbitfish experience? I’m considering a Gold Lined Rabbitfish from Biota for my 72” x 24” x 19” custom tank, and I would love to hear folks’ opinions and experience, as well as see the photos of your fish!
I have kept rabbitfish for most of my 15 years of reefing. My current rabbit fish is a Magnificent Foxface which I have kept for 4 years (the other rabbitfish outgrew smaller tanks and were rehomed). I have found that foxface rabbitfish are reef safe with caution as they tend to eat certain soft corals including Trachy, clove polyps, and GSP. I would not trust mine around Trachy's, Scolys, or Lobos.
 

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I have kept rabbitfish for most of my 15 years of reefing. My current rabbit fish is a Magnificent Foxface which I have kept for 4 years (the other rabbitfish outgrew smaller tanks and were rehomed). I have found that foxface rabbitfish are reef safe with caution as they tend to eat certain soft corals including Trachy, clove polyps, and GSP. I would not trust mine around Trachy's, Scolys, or Lobos.
Wow, that’s a gorgeous fish, and a beautiful tank. What size is your current tank? If you don’t mind me asking, what size tanks had the other ones outgrown? Thank you for sharing your experience and the beautiful fish!
 

Peter Houde

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Have you owned one before? My aquarium size (142 gallons at 6 feet by 2 feet by 19” height) matches recommended guidelines both on Biota’s guidelines, and by the ratio calculation method, so I’m curious if this is a knee jerk reaction or if you have experience with the species that is guiding your opinion. Looking at photos of a same species fish here in somebody else’s tank with similar footprint, it certainly didn’t look like it was stressed. I’ll be running a significantly powerful closed loop Oceans Motion on a peninsula style rock work layout, so It won’t be a wall of rock with a tiny slice of swimming room. I don’t want to make a poor choice, which is why I started this thread, to hear people’s experiences, but I also don’t want to limit myself from picking up a fish that could provide years of utilitarian use during the ugly stages of tank start up before needing a possible rehome.
No, I never had a gold-lined. I called TSM on the telephone and asked their advice about putting one in my 125 tank (I'm surprised yours is 142 gallons since mine is the same volume by your measurements.) They told me it would outgrow the tank so I decided to get a foxface instead. I'm happy I did. (And I did get it from TSM) Of course foxfaces look a lot different but they don't get quite as big. The foxface is a great fish. He's outgoing and really drew all my other fish out of hiding. There's just constant shoaling and movement ever since I added him to the tank. My damsels, clowns, angel, and tang, all learned from him to eat nori after years of no previous success trying to get them interested. One thing I've learned over the decades is to resist the temptation to buy fish on appearances. And I certainly wouldn't buy a puppy if I knew I'd had to find it a new home when it grew into a dog.
 
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BaghdadBean

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No, I never had a gold-lined. I called TSM on the telephone and asked their advice about putting one in my 125 tank (I'm surprised yours is 142 gallons since mine is the same volume by your measurements.) They told me it would outgrow the tank so I decided to get a foxface instead. I'm happy I did. (And I did get it from TSM) Of course foxfaces look a lot different but they don't get quite as big. The foxface is a great fish. He's outgoing and really drew all my other fish out of hiding. There's just constant shoaling and movement ever since I added him to the tank. My damsels, clowns, angel, and tang, all learned from him to eat nori after years of no previous success trying to get them interested. One thing I've learned over the decades is to resist the temptation to buy fish on appearances. And I certainly wouldn't buy a puppy if I knew I'd had to find it a new home when it grew into a dog.
Most 125’s are 72” x 18” x 21”, but I don’t know, I guess it would depend on the thickness of your tank and if you’re measuring internal or external. I measured mine by internal, external it’s a bit bigger since it’s pretty hefty acrylic (Envision built my tank, and James builds them for battle). I also have external overflow, so maybe that’s impacting what yours is rated/marketed as? I could definitely see telling somebody that a 72” x 18” footprint isn’t enough for a 12-13” fish, if it actually reached that max size possible. Could you actually have a 135 and just not realize it? Those are 72” x 24” x 18” if I recall correctly. I used to have one, killer tank, great footprint, I just wanted a little more depth because after overflow, the 135 wasn’t quite tall enough for my preferred rock scape. I like tabling and plating corals more than most branching ones, so I wanted something with a higher rock scape than is popular today.

I would strongly consider eating a rabbitfish if it got too big and I couldn’t find another home for it. They are food fish, after all. The puppy… eh, tacos would depend on how many pairs of shoes it destroyed. ;) Nah, in all honesty, I don’t have an issue with picking up a rabbitfish, and then rehoming it to a buddy’s reef if it actually did outgrow the tank and flow. I’m not interested in them solely because of how they look, so much as for their utilitarian value during start up years. The main reason I’m looking at gold lined is their availability as captive bred fish, and their dietary range. I’m not set on it 100% though, hence the thread and inviting people to share their experience. So thank you, for sharing yours.
 

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Most 125’s are 72” x 18” x 21”, but I don’t know, I guess it would depend on the thickness of your tank and if you’re measuring internal or external. I measured mine by internal, external it’s a bit bigger since it’s pretty hefty acrylic (Envision built my tank, and James builds them for battle). I also have external overflow, so maybe that’s impacting what yours is rated/marketed as? I could definitely see telling somebody that a 72” x 18” footprint isn’t enough for a 12-13” fish, if it actually reached that max size possible. Could you actually have a 135 and just not realize it? Those are 72” x 24” x 18” if I recall correctly. I used to have one, killer tank, great footprint, I just wanted a little more depth because after overflow, the 135 wasn’t quite tall enough for my preferred rock scape. I like tabling and plating corals more than most branching ones, so I wanted something with a higher rock scape than is popular today.

I would strongly consider eating a rabbitfish if it got too big and I couldn’t find another home for it. They are food fish, after all. The puppy… eh, tacos would depend on how many pairs of shoes it destroyed. ;) Nah, in all honesty, I don’t have an issue with picking up a rabbitfish, and then rehoming it to a buddy’s reef if it actually did outgrow the tank and flow. I’m not interested in them solely because of how they look, so much as for their utilitarian value during start up years. The main reason I’m looking at gold lined is their availability as captive bred fish, and their dietary range. I’m not set on it 100% though, hence the thread and inviting people to share their experience. So thank you, for sharing yours.
I often wonder how good they taste...
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Not longer than two years (just about a year) but there aren't enough threads on rabbit fish around so reviving this thread. I got these two at the same time. When added they were the same size and as you can see the Scribbled has easily out paced the fox face on growth rate. Im a bit shocked at how fast he has grown... My Blue Hippo used to be the big boy of the tank but now I think that honor goes to the scribbled.

My tank is a 200 gal. display so I assumed I could keep two rabbits peacefully and have for the most part. There was a period of time about two months ago that the Scribbled became very aggressive towards the fox face and it caused the fox face to hide with some torn up fins for a few weeks. He stopped eating as much and I had assumed I would need to evict one but then out of the blue they worked it out. Fox face has healthy fins again.

Ive never seen one touch a coral. They have been very hardy and great eaters (stay out of their way when fed..). Like many others report these two spend hours every day gulping air at the surface. They are also notorious for splashing causing water to drip along the front of my tank and onto the floor - this has become a little annoying but a small price to pay for getting to watch them all day. I run an ich management tank and don't recall ever seeing a single spot on either one - though I don't remember the last time ive seen a spot on any of my fish including the tangs.

Cool fish that aren't all that expensive if you have the room and good method of nitrate export. ;)

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i cant think

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So I’m on my second Foxface - Both the exact same species and been in my care for the same ammount of time.
I’ve owned 2 foxfaces over the span of a total of 2 years. I got the first one at a nice 2”, he got to around 3” in a year and ate anything and everything. He was never a bully and actually instead kept the peace in the tank. Unfortunately I lost that one in an ammonia spike because it was between me being able to lower it in a bigger tank or he died of being in cold water (16-18 degrees Celsius) I’m now on my second Magnificent Foxface in a 4x2x2 (5’ diagonal), hes been a model citizen after eating two frags of Toxic Apple Zoas. He’s at a nice 5” long.
I’ve seen a bicolor in the LFS.. I’m so tempted on it but itd push the tank beyond its limits - It has 10 fish total and 8 of them get to 4” in captivity. I’m adding two more fish (Blue star leopard wrasse & Naokos fairy) and then calling it done - I don’t know how two rabbits would get along in a tank with just 5’ diagonal
image.jpg
I thought I had a better photo of my guy in the past, guess I was wrong. He’s still with me today and is beautiful! Nice and big, I think back in September he was 4 inch because he’s 5 inch now.
Wish I had a nicer photo but this is what I can get now, Hes dull because he’s right against the back of the tank, he goes his normal colours when lights are on.
image.jpg
 
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