Thinking of getting a Foxface Rabbitfish

[truebeliever71]

Like the title says I'm thinking adding a Foxface to my tank. It's a 55 Gallon bowfront, with 3 clowns, green chromis, engineer goby, mandarin, and tobacco basslet.

Do you think there are any compatibility issues or anything?

 

[reefscape15]

is it a corner bow? If so, it may be large enough of a tank to house a foxface, but if it's more of a standard rectangle shape, it may be a little too small. A 54gal corner bow has about a 4' front glass, which if rockscaped semi-openly, it has about the same amount of swimming room as a 75gal standard tank.

 

[truebeliever71]

Jim,

Yes, its the corner bowfront like the one you have. I think it scaped pretty openly. I have the rocks piled in the middle if the tank, mountain like, so that the fish can swim the perimeter of the tank. I also have a few caves or tunnels.

 

[reefscape15]

Sounds like a fine addition to me. You always read about the minimum tank size, but those recommendations are in regards to a standard tank, and not really about swimming space, which is what they should be. Sounds like your setup is pretty much the same as mine. I used to have the rock lining the back 2 walls and then switched it around to just a main structure in the center. Here's a couple pics to compare:

old:

new:

 

[truebeliever71]

I have a little less rock work right now than that. I'm working on curing a custom structure I created for it.

 

[nwrogers]

If you get a small one you should be fine. They are a great fish for algae control!!

 

[truebeliever71]

Nate,

Thanks for the input. I definitely need algae control! I'm not sure why but the hair algae in my tank is out of control. My seahare was doing a great job at controlling it but he fell victim to a powerhead that lost its screen.

As for my water parameters, everything tests out fine. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Phosphates all test near zero. There's a trace of Nitrates. I don't understand where it's coming from. And I use RO\DI water.

 

[Sk8r]

I have the same tank and a onespot rabbit, which I have had since September. However, he is getting too prosperous, too fast. He's eaten all my problem algae (caulerpa) and while he is calm and at home, he's grown, and gotten fat as a pig, and is intimidating to smaller fish, who won't come out except at feeding time. Mr Rabbit is going to have to go back to the lfs soon, though I'm sure that darn caulerpa will pop out the moment he's gone. His max size, however, is 9-10 inches, and the vision of that is daunting.

To my observation, he eats macro algae and shrimp, and has no interest in film algae. I doubt he would eat hair algae. His thing is the leafy stuff like caulerpa. And no shrimp would survive in the tank with him, I fear.

 

[reefscape15]

I agree also that they can get quite big. If you could find a pretty small Juvi, you'd be good with it for a number of years, but it will most likely outgrow your tank. You could try a Dwarf Angel or a couple Blennys. You could keep 3 Pygmy Cherub Angels in a tank that size, or a pair of Flameback Angels with no problem. They would help control the algae, and IMO they are much more beautiful than a Foxface. They probably won't consume quite the amount of algae that a Foxface would, but they would deffinately help

 

[reefscape15]

Actually nevermind that previous post. I forgot that you already had 3 clowns, and adding a pair or a trio of anything would most likely mean some serious trouble! You could get a small Foxface and a Blenny. The two of them should most likely take care of the majority of algae in your tank.

 

[nwrogers]

My foxface loves green hair algae. I am not sure if it will eat it if it is too long but if you manually remove the current hair algae the foxface will stop it from growing back.

 

[reefscape15]

I agree with that. Try to manually remove as much by hand as you can, and your fish should be able to keep it in check pretty well. If it's still growing fast enough to the point to where it becomes a problem with a fish like that in the tank, there's something else that needs to be done. I have an algae problem in my 54gal and I know it's because the skimmer is too small. I'm only running an older Prism Deluxe, that I wouldn't recommend on anything over 30gal at most, but that would be stretching it too. I ran it on my older 20gal, and it was just the right size for that tank. I never had an algae eating fish and not a ton of crabs or anything, but I never had a problem with algae in that tank.

 

[frankandmaura]

If you can hold out for a little while, I have a nice Fox Face that I will be selling. Once we sell our house I have to remove the tank and that fish will be going...let me know if you are interested...

 

[truebeliever71]

Frank,

Unfortunately, I already picked one last Thursday.