Foxface is never yellow any more

[Recliner]

About 6 weeks ago I bought a 1 spot foxface. In the lfs he was in a small tank with 2 other fish and looked great, just like any other fox face. In my tank he would be the great color and everyone in a while if he was spooked by me or my kids coming up to the tank he would turn his mottled camo color.
For the last 1.5 to 2 weeks he's stayed that dingy color (no yellow at all) he is the biggest fish in the tank and no one bothers him and he doesn't bother anyone else. I have a 150 gal reef tank. He has several spots he can dart into and hide.
He doesn't seem to swim around much, he stays in his caves or near a corner where the nori usually is.
Is he somehow being stressed? Is there anything else that could be causing his behavior?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

What are the other tank mates? Something is stressing it out.

 

[HumbleFish]

IME, a foxface will get brown/splotchy when they're sleeping or scared/stressed. Mine is always this way in the morning and at night, but he colors up nicely during the day. If yours is staying brown/splotchy 24/7 something is stressing him out. Maybe another fish is being aggressive towards him? Foxface are very sissified; ironic for a medium sized fish with venomous spines. :hmm2:

 

[Recliner]

Adult/full grown fish:
2 clowns, six line wrasse, sailfin blenny
Young/small fish:
Flame angel 2", blue/green chromis 1.5", sailfin tang 3", bristle tooth tang 4", powder brown tang 3.5", hippo tang 3.5"

The fox face is probably close to 6". When I put a strip of nori in he has no problems pushing the other fish out of the way to get there first and eats as much as all the rest combined. I've watched them all a lot all throughout the day and don't see any aggressive behavior. My female clown harassed him for about a day like she does to every new fish but that is long behind us now.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Believe it or not, it could be the six line wrasse pestering it. They are really aggressive little fish.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

believe it or not, it could be the six line wrasse pestering it. They are really aggressive little fish.

+1...

 

[Recliner]

That's what I've heard. Mine seems like it's at the bottom of the pecking order. If it was the six line though, would that explain why the fox face is literally never yellow anymore? Cause I've watched them for 30 min straight and didn't see any aggression towards the fox face the entire time but it stayed mottled the whole time.

 

[tankmate1986]

I had a psudocromis that was picking on my foxface. He stressed it out so much it eventually died before I could find a new home for the psudo. I'm pretty sure he got his revenge before he passed though because a day after he died I found the pseudo dead. All other fish were fine. Kind of a Romeo and Julet story there.