Concerned about One Spot Foxface

[Engineer Brian]

Hi all-

I am new to this forum but I've been in the hobby for about 10 years.

I have a new addition to my tank, a small One Spot Foxface who has been in my tank a week now. He seems very scared and is almost always hiding behind my LR. He comes out for a few minutes and then darts back behind the rock. When he is behind the rock, and I can see him, his color has faded like he is scared, but usually when he is out his colors are fine.

He seems to be eating OK, and when he is out seems to swim and acts normally. I am having a bit of a hair algae outbreak right now and he comes out of the rock and nibbles on the algae often. I am used to seeing new additions hide in the rock for a day or two, but never a week.

His tank mates are two Yellow Tail Blue Damsels and a small Coral Beauty. I just stocked up on hermit crabs and turbo snails to tackle the hair algae (which after a week looks much better). I have not seen any signs of aggression toward the Foxface from the other fish.

My water parameters are all normal. Ammonia is 0.25, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate are all 0.0, pH is 8.2, Salinity is 1.022, Alkalinity is 125.3 (7 degrees), Calcium us 400, Temp is 72-74.

I am using API test kits.

Does this behavior sound odd to anyone else?

Thanks for the thoughts!

PS... I went a little long between PWC and I suspect I had a Phosphate spike the fueled the Hair Algae. I was using RO for make-up water but recently installed a RO/DI system.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Hi all-

I am new to this forum but I've been in the hobby for about 10 years.

I have a new addition to my tank, a small One Spot Foxface who has been in my tank a week now. He seems very scared and is almost always hiding behind my LR. He comes out for a few minutes and then darts back behind the rock. When he is behind the rock, and I can see him, his color has faded like he is scared, but usually when he is out his colors are fine.

He seems to be eating OK, and when he is out seems to swim and acts normally. I am having a bit of a hair algae outbreak right now and he comes out of the rock and nibbles on the algae often. I am used to seeing new additions hide in the rock for a day or two, but never a week.

His tank mates are two Yellow Tail Blue Damsels and a small Coral Beauty. I just stocked up on hermit crabs and turbo snails to tackle the hair algae (which after a week looks much better). I have not seen any signs of aggression toward the Foxface from the other fish.

My water parameters are all normal. Ammonia is 0.25, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate are all 0.0, pH is 8.2, Salinity is 1.022, Alkalinity is 125.3 (7 degrees), Calcium us 400, Temp is 72-74.

I am using API test kits.

Does this behavior sound odd to anyone else?

Thanks for the thoughts!

PS... I went a little long between PWC and I suspect I had a Phosphate spike the fueled the Hair Algae. I was using RO for make-up water but recently installed a RO/DI system.

Hi brian i am also a one spot owner when i first got my fox he was very shy and would turn very dark whenever i walked up to the tank. This went on for at least a week ad he was constantly hiding. Eventually he should get much more comfortable with your tank and swim in the open more often, i hope yours starts to come out soon. Overall i would not be worried about your fox, just keep a close eye on him and make sure he is eating.

I really suggest you do another pwc until your ammonia is at 0. Its very important to have stable perameters in your reef tank. Also, its best to keep your salinitly at .025-.026 (the salinitly of natural sea water). Hope this helps, have a nice day brian.

Ps: great to know you live near me haha

 

[Gboy66]

Hi!

I have a onespot, so all info i can tell you is based out of personal experience.

The rabbitfish in general is a timid species. When i got my guy, i really didnt expect him to get used to me right away. After a week or maybe even more he started to stay out in the open. When i say this, i mean he wouldnt discolor and swim away if my nose was against the glass lol. So IMO this is very natural behavior for your fish.

Heck, my Todd still will randomly dart into hiding even today, several months after purchase. They are a crazy fish, and are one i have trouble understanding lol.

Goodluck to you!!

PS. The fox should love the algae. When it's gone, add Nori to a clip several times a week to keep him happy

 

[Engineer Brian]

Hi brian i am also a one spot owner when i first got my fox he was very shy and would turn very dark whenever i walked up to the tank. This went on for at least a week ad he was constantly hiding. Eventually he should get much more comfortable with your tank and swim in the open more often, i hope yours starts to come out soon. Overall i would not be worried about your fox, just keep a close eye on him and make sure he is eating.

I really suggest you do another pwc until your ammonia is at 0. Its very important to have stable perameters in your reef tank. Also, its best to keep your salinitly at .025-.026 (the salinitly of natural sea water). Hope this helps, have a nice day brian.

Ps: great to know you live near me haha

Thanks for the quick responses... I had a one spot before and I don't remember him acting this way, but he was a large one, especially compared to his tank mates.

I am not positive about my ammonia reading. I am color blind which as you can imagine makes the water test hard to interpret. I struggle most with the API ammonia and phosphate. The others are pretty easy to see. I can tell that the ammonia is between 0.0 and 0.5 but I can't tell which so I assume the worst. I have been doing 30% water changes every other week for the past two months and no change in any of my parameters except Alkalinity. I figure everything seems good in my tank except for the hair algae (which is receding) so I figure as long as it doesn't get worse I must be doing something right.

 

[TheTodd]

I got a bi-color fox face a couple of weeks ago and he still hides as soon as anyone approaches the tank. Even with nobody around, he seems to hang out in the rock a lot. He is eating fine and looks okay, so I figure he will eventually come out more.

 

[Qube]

I have to agree with everyone here. Mine did the same thing for about 3 weeks, now he eats out of my hand! Kind of intimidating, considering he's venomous...

 

[TheTodd]

I've heard it's like a bee sting. Don't want to find out though.

 

[Qube]

I've heard conflicting reports, so I just stay weary around him.

 

[Gboy66]

Yes ive heard it is a bit worse than a bee sting. But if your allergic to bees and get stung, it is very painful apparently

 

[cashmoney6980]

From what I understand, a foxface sting is actually more painful than a lionfish sting. Whether or not this is true, I don't know, and don't want to find out cuz I am deathly allergic to bee stings, so im a little more jumpy around my foxface. He loves eating out of my hand, and my heart starts racing every time lol.

I have heard its rather difficult to actually get stung by one tho. You pretty much have to grab the whole fish with your hand and give it a good squeeze. Like I said tho, this is only what I've read because I wanted to make sure id take any and all precautions with this little beauty devil! Don't want to be in the hospital trying to explain to the doctor wat the hell a foxface rabbit is lol

 

[dwint]

i just bought a one spot yesterday and its about 3 inches long.he eats everything including algae pellets.this fish wasnt scared at all,it came out around 15 min and so far gets alone with my clowns,hawkfish,lawnmower blenny.im just worried if it does sting a fish will it kill it or teach it a lesson

 

[Qube]

Mine has never stung another fish to my knowledge. In fact, he's the tank referee. Anytime there is some sort of dispute, he jumps in the middle and breaks it up, kind of interesting behavior. Every fish is different though...