Mag. Foxface

[t5Nitro]

I purchased a magnificent foxface from your website around 1.25 years ago. He has done GREAT and ate like a horse since day 1. As of today, he is being somewhat inactive and ate a few pieces of frozen mysis, but not much. The algae clip, he used to "run" for it and start eating out of my hand before I could get it in the clip. Now he kind of looks at it but doesn't go for it.

His eye is clouded up. I remember a while back he got a clouded up eye and pulled through it like nothing was wrong. Kept on eating and everything.

NOTE: Just took a few bites out of the clip. Can anyone explain what is wrong with him?

Thanks.

Also, the kole tang I purchased from the retail store died last week. Got FULL of ich and quit eating. I put him in a QT to try and cure him, but it failed. The 2 clownfish then got ich and were loaded with it. The male as of yesterday didn't take any food and was hiding in one of the caves. The female ate all kinds of food but hid in a cave when not eating. Today, I can find neither of them. I tested ammonia and it shows 0ppm. In my size tank, even if both died, I don't think any ammonia would show up. This blows, I really hope the clowns are in there somewhere. Hoping the foxface starts to eat more again.

Also, if you guys can suggest anything that eats hair alage, that would be much appreciated. I've been battling the crap since March. I might as well take my SPS corals to the trash can, that way I don't have to watch any more of them get taken over by GHA.

Felt like I needed some help from the people that work with this stuff everyday. I can't seem to get my tank going anymore. What I don't understand about the foxface is about a year ago when I set up the larger tank, I thought I could add quite a few fish. Later to find out 125 isn't as large as I thought it was. I ended up feeding the fish too much for how many fish I had and caused an ammonia spike to 8ppm. I was water changing like crazy. The yellow tang and mag. foxface himself didn't show any signs of anything being wrong and pulled through it with ease. That's what I don't understand what is wrong with him now? No ich signs or anything. Whats the clouded eye deal, and less activity?

That was my last question back to the hair algae. If I would buy a lawnmower blenny from you guys, are they for sure going to eat the stuff or is it another 50/50?

 

[t5Nitro]

Well, on a bright note, my lights just went off and the foxface became more active. Now he is, as usual, swimming the length of the tank. I find it strange he stayed more in hiding when the lights were on. He never did that. On another bright side, the female clown was hiding under the hammer coral. She also came out when the lights went off. Hopefully the male is in there somewhere.

 

[dfs/la2]

t5Nitro,

Thank you for your post. We apologize for any troubles you are experiencing with your Aquarium. We recommend testing nitrite and nitrates as well, as these can have an effect on fish if the levels are high as well as ammonia. Unfortunately, we cannot say for sure as to what may be wrong with your Foxface, it’s possibly a bacterial infection. The best course of action would be to place it in a quarantine tank and treat with antibiotics.

The main cause of ich is stress the fish endures when being added to an aquarium or sudden changes in the environment. The best way to rid the fish of ich is to raise the temperature slowly (one degree per hour) in the aquarium to about 80º-81ºF, leaving it elevated for approximately 10 days and supplement with Garlic Xtreme. Raising the temperature in the aquarium will help speed up the gestation of the ich, causing it to leave the body of the fish faster. Adding the Garlic Xtreme to the aquarium will help to build the immune system of the fish so it is able to fight off any infestations of the ich in the future. Keeping the water quality ideal will also help to avoid any illness in the future as well.

Unfortunately, hair algae can be hard to get rid of once it starts. However, we recommend cutting back on feeding the aquarium to once every other day, and by adding a phosphate remover or absorber to the filter or aquarium. Most likely, a Sailfin/Algae Blenny will not eat hair algae and it would be quicker to take a very soft bristled tooth brush and scrape the algae from the rock and substrate in the aquarium right away, so the algae is no longer seen in the aquarium. You will want to siphon the algae from the water to prevent any additional waste, as the algae will decay in the aquarium causing high phosphates.

Please contact us with any other questions or concerns.

Chris C.
Live Aquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith