Magnificent foxface in 75?

Thalia

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Hello, I have a 75 gallon (48"x18"x21") with roughly 20 gallons of sump water. Someone is offering a magnificent foxface to me. The fish apparently is small for its species and has been kept in tanks smaller than the recommended 125 gallon. I do have plans for a custom over 100 gallon tank in the next few years but no timeline on that yet. My knee jerk reaction was to decline so the fish can find a more appropriate size tank. Then I was thinking, I don't know how fast they grow, if it could wait a couple years for a bigger home. What do you all think?
 
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Thalia

Thalia

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They grow very fast. In six months you'll have a big fish. Mag is a bit too large for a 75. The one spot (Siganus unimaculatus), the smallest, is a tight fit for a 4ft tank.
Thank you! I'll decline then, they're gorgeous fish but I wouldn't want to do wrong by it by putting it in too small of a tank. I'm not even sure I'm going to get any tangs for this tank because I don't think it's fair to put such an active fish in a 4' tank. I don't really know anything about the foxface so thought I would ask before doing something unfair to the fish.
 

JoJosReef

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Thank you! I'll decline then, they're gorgeous fish but I wouldn't want to do wrong by it by putting it in too small of a tank. I'm not even sure I'm going to get any tangs for this tank because I don't think it's fair to put such an active fish in a 4' tank. I don't really know anything about the foxface so thought I would ask before doing something unfair to the fish.
I ran a 4ft (48x20x20, 83gal) with a one spot foxface, which I think was OK on a razor thin margin, and I also decided against having any tangs in the tank, despite wanting a yellow tang and a bristletooth (essentially a tomini). Foxfaces are not as active, but they get big and beefy, the one spot being the most manageable sized.
 

steveschuerger

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Here’s a short video of a one spot in my old 90 . It fits but I definitely wouldn’t go smaller.
 

larrysaltisfun

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I’ve got a 8 inch bi colored fox face fish in a 120 gallon 4 foot tank he’s been in there for 12 years. While They’re slow
And laid back most of the time, over the past year, he’s gotten more aggressive to an equally old velvet damsel who is almost as big as him while it’s usually just a few seconds of chasing around the tank, he has done damage to his own pectoral fins bumping into power, heads and rock on rare occasion. he leaves everyone else alone, including the small clown fish and flame hawk fish. Sadly, I do need to rehome him.
 

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