months and still foxface...

His eyes look cloudy, or is that the photos.
Any chance he has decreased/darkened vision from disease or trauma and therefore keeps his night coloration [because he is always perceiving shadows or darkness]?
 
both the current and previous foxes I had seemed to have that fogginess. Not sure what it is but seems to be a thing they all have.
 
How big is it? Mine got too big for my old tank and started hiding and staying dark. Once I upgraded to a bigger tank, it went back to normal coloration and has stayed that way since.
 
His eyes look cloudy, or is that the photos.
Any chance he has decreased/darkened vision from disease or trauma and therefore keeps his night coloration [because he is always perceiving shadows or darkness]?

FWIW, my rabbitfish always had cloudy eyes too. It might just be a siganid thing.
 
Foxface I have eve seen except for scribbled rabbitfish, have all had that cloudy eye look
 
I had 2 one spots. One went back yesterday to make room for an ungrade.
But, of the two, both were skittish and one would absolutely freak out when you put your hand in the tank. I thought it would have a heart attack for sure every time.
Both are/were great nuisance macro algae eaters though.
 
ok so here is a pic of my fox face.... you can really see how black he is on the top and yellow his belly is. When I bought him about 3.5 weeks ago he was ALL yellow just like the pictures you see of foxes. He is very friendly, eats well but he just won't shake his black for the yellow that he had when I first got him. Am i just paranoid or is there something more to this.
 

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A FoxFace that isn't bright yellow is just not happy. There is really no other reason. Could be due to water quality or stress. My FoxFace pair were discoloured their whole time in QT for 2 months and they only had a Potters Angel for company. It might have been that they were in new surroundings, might have water quality wasn't excellent (elevated nitrates in QT) or it might have movement in the room - or a combination of all.

After they went in my DT with 18 other fish at that time they coloured up immediately. My tank is pretty busy with 24 fish now and they are always out and about and bright yellow. Every so often one will disappear for half a day and reappear a bit off colour but it doesn't last. Probably due to some aggression from the other FoxFace or other fish.

They are a hardy fish but need peace and good water quality. Also a largish tank.

They are awesome fish. I'm glad I got two. :)
 
yeah thats what is all strange about it. Phos-undetectable, No3-undetectable, PH-8.2, Mg, 1450, Ca 445, Alk 11, temp 79, other than the alk being a little high I can find NOTHING wrong with the water. Its weird though I noticed the other day that for about 20 min after the lights come on he looks normal, then goes black on his top half again....its really strange. Usually you think of it being the other way around. Hes in a 75 gal perfecto with only a few other fish so while not huge he should still have reasonable room. The blue hippo is the only fish that seems to show interest in him and they are usually swimming around together so I don't see that she is picking on him.

:sad2:
 
OK so I have a theory, I want to see you what the rest of you think. I stumbled across a webpage some where that said Foxfaces don't handle temps above 78 very well so I thought I would look into it a little more. I watched my tank temps very close for a couple of days and discovered that the temps cool to 78 over night and when the lights come back on the reach about 80.5 by the end of the day. So I thought I would drop my temps 2 degrees and see what would happen. Oddly enough the next day with the cooler temps his color has started to return.....he is still not the yellow he was when I got him but I can actually see the black spot on his butt now. What you guys think....some truth here or did he just finally decide to unclinch a little.
 
My tank averages on 27-28C in the summer (around 82F). Only now can I maintain at 76-78F. My tank hit 86 one day and I had to cool it by turning off Halides and turning on the air con in my office full blast and opening the access doors. I also have air con in the tank room. Not sure what caused the temp spike but the summers months I have to be very careful. None of the fish minded 86 or sustained 82 also I think 76 at night and 78 during the day is the perfect range for our fish.
 
So another thought into this dilemma. I dropped the temp a bit and he lightened a little but stopped at that. I started vodka this week and as a result obviously my NO3 and PO4 is dropping. I was watching him and me seemed a little more yellow now and his behavior was a little different. He seemed more excited and moved around more with a little more deliberation. Didn't seem so lethargic. Perhaps those levels are affecting color....I dunno, I am just stabbing in the dark here but I really need to figure it out before its too late.
 
I have had one it my tank for about a year now and he will change from stressed to normal colors all the time but, he still eats like a pig. He is about as fat as he is tall.
 
i understand that but this isn't like his normal "stressed" look. He is not mottled at all. His whole dorsal area from about mid body up is black except the dorsal spines....they are yellow like his lower half. The white and black stripes are there how ever the one between his eyes is blacked out. The strange thing is when he does do the normal stressed look all that black goes away and looks just like every other foxface. When he brings his yellow back its just on his lower half....strange....I fear he may die as this is not normal but he seems to show no other signs of sickness and he still eats and craps like a horse. Perhaps I am missing a particular mineral or vitamin or something he is not getting in his diet that he needs for that black to go away. I am really really stumped though.
 
same here westwind, mine is still kind of grayish color....im stumped...probably gonna have to find a new home for him soon
 
Yeah I dunno...I don't know what else I could possibly give him. I mean when I was learning this hobby I had one in a 35 gallon tank (which I now know was stupid), he was always a nice bright yellow and had no problems at all till he jumped out of my tank in the middle of the night. Now I have a 75 and all the rocks and food he could want and he won't quite being a butt.
 
westwind I have mine in a 75 as well, and have had the same problem you describe. Although my Foxface has been coming around lately, and gets good color, but not constantly like I would like. It is healthy, "fat", and eats/craps like a pig.

I have found that it gets the best yellow color when I turn off all the current in my reef tank. I turn off all pumps and powerheads and give my fish some "dead time" where all the current is gone and the water is perfectly still. My fish love this time, and it gives them a chance to explore/eat where they couldn't with my pumps and powerheads on because of the strong currents. I find my Foxface looks the best and the most brilliant yellow color during this time.

Anyone else with this problem have a similar experience?

If you try this...

*** PLEASE REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR PUMPS AND POWERHEADS BACK ON!!!!!***

It's easy to forget if you don't have them on timers! The longest I usually let the tank sit like this is for one hour. PLEASE USE DISCRETION DEPENDING ON YOUR BIOLOAD!
 
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