help new foxface rabbitfish

[radarriuswilli]

I purchased a foxface about 5 days ago during the time I have had him I havnt been able to get him to eat anything or come out of the rocks he is hiding under he is still the black and white color and is breathing rapidly since I have had him I currently have him in 180 gallon

 

[Marshall O]

How big is it? How many other fish are in the tank, and what kind of fish?

IME, Foxface Rabbitfish are very skiddish. They are spooked extremely easily. In nature, they are used to being in small shoals I believe (unless you have a Magnificent Foxface, as these only form pairs in the wild, IIRC), so it takes them a while to get truly comfortable in a tank. The larger/older they are, the longer it can take.

Larger, fast swimming fish like tangs and angels can also contribute to it hiding vs. a tank with smaller and more docile fish. However if it is the only fish in the tank, I would expect it to take a long time to get comfortable, so hopefully this is not the case.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[scooter31707]

Did you quarantine? Do you see it shedding it's mucus? Also it could still just be uncomfortable in his new home. If you don't see any symptoms of disease, give him some more time to get adjusted. Also, do you see any signs of aggression from other tankmates?

 

[lokmar]

Sounds like its very stressed and x2 on if he has tank mates that are beating him up or chasing him? I had a scribbled rabbit that had ich real bad, it stayed dark and wouldnt eat either. I'd get him in a quarantine tank with a salinity of about 1.015 to ease its ability to breathe ASAP. If you have other fish, I'd watch them over the next week for signs of disease too. I've used 20 rubbermaid tote tanks to quarantine with a basic filter and heater.

 

[Silly clownfish]

+1 on need to quarantine. My foxface was by far my easiest fish for TTM - would go into that frozen camo mode right in the transfer container.

Give it a nori clip in QT so it can graze at leisure when you aren't around to scare him. He'll get more comfortable and stop hiding so much. Mine is a pig.