Foxface Rabbitfish?

[SCETT316]

Hi:
He did not want to eat this evening at all when I fed the fish. He usually does. He also grazes in the tank much of the day, but today he has not. He has been pretty much hiding behind the rocks for much of the day. When he did come out, he stood next to a rock, discolored & looking scared, other than that I did not see anything wrong with him as far as any noticeable signs of illness.
Is this normal occasional behaviour, or a sign of illness? I have only had him for several months now. His tankmates are:
1 mandarin
1 PJ Cardinal
2 Clowns
All of my wtr. parameters where checked & everything is fine.
Thx for the input.

[Ninong]

My Foxface Rabbitfish eats whenever food hits the water so it might be unusual for one to be uninterested in food. The other behavior is quite normal and nothing to be alarmed about. They go into what I call stress coloration at the drop of a hat for any reason or no reason at all. They freeze, extend their dorsal and anal spines and change coloration. Adding food to the tank will cause mine to immediately color up and get over the stress camouflage coloration. That's also their typical nighttime coloration, too.

Not eating could be a sign of something wrong but the other stuff is normal.

[SCETT316]

Thanks Ninong
I was afraid of that. I have seen the discolaration on him before and at night when the lights go out, but he has never missed a feeding. I have a feeling I am going to loose him too. I am so dissapointed. I am trying so hard to make sure I try to do the best I possibly can for my tank and I have already lost 4 fish recently and I can't understand why. All 4 were acquired from the same place locally. This place treats all their tanks with cooper and keep a very low SG. I have carefully dripped acclimated them when I have bought them, but it has not been long before I loose them.

[prow]

try to check your ph foxface are good fish to indicated a early ph flux. in the ph.because they react in such a noticable way. may take 1-2 days for other fish to signs of distress. worth a look see.

[SCETT316]

try to check your ph foxface are good fish to indicated a early ph flux. in the ph.because they react in such a noticable way. may take 1-2 days for other fish to signs of distress. worth a look see.

Thx Prow
There has been no fluctuation in my ph.

[scubadude]

Hey Sue

I had that same problem happen to my rabbitfish when I first had one in the greenhouse, it coincedentally was the PH like prow suggested, and do agree w/Ninong on the stressing of discoloration. Im just curious of his diet, does he mostly get one mainstay say NORI?, if so then I would try something other than that, maybe some fresh greens, like brocolli, lettuce, collard greens, heck throw a hamhock in there too J/J bout the hamhock. Your not seeing any abnormal spots, or showing signs of bacteria/parasite infections on the foxface are ya? I know its probably hard to get a good view of him cuz he is hiding all the time tho right. Keep us updated, and I sure hope he gets better

[prow]

Thx Prow
There has been no fluctuation in my ph.

ninong is right about their behavior but since you sounded very concerned about him(which is nice to hear) and there was no mention of ph i thought i would throw it in the hat. sorry my bad.

[SCETT316]

Hey Sue

I had that same problem happen to my rabbitfish when I first had one in the greenhouse, it coincedentally was the PH like prow suggested, and do agree w/Ninong on the stressing of discoloration. Im just curious of his diet, does he mostly get one mainstay say NORI?, if so then I would try something other than that, maybe some fresh greens, like brocolli, lettuce, collard greens, heck throw a hamhock in there too J/J bout the hamhock. Your not seeing any abnormal spots, or showing signs of bacteria/parasite infections on the foxface are ya? I know its probably hard to get a good view of him cuz he is hiding all the time tho right. Keep us updated, and I sure hope he gets better

Hi Rocky:
I did get a good look at him last night & did not see any signs of illness, the poor thing just looked scared to death. Then when he quickly swam to the back of the tank, he was nice & yellow again. He not only eats greens but also, brine & mysis shrimp etc. I have yet to see him as of this morning. Thx for the help.

[SCETT316]

ninong is right about their behavior but since you sounded very concerned about him(which is nice to hear) and there was no mention of ph i thought i would throw it in the hat. sorry my bad.

Prow I appreciate all the help I get. I just wrote that all my wtr param. were ok, I guess I should of been more specific.
Thx

[Ninong]

...the poor thing just looked scared to death. Then when he quickly swam to the back of the tank, he was nice & yellow again.

They never swim with their camouflage pajamas on.

The stress coloration will fade as soon as they start to move. This behavior is really quite normal and nothing to be concerned about.

[SCETT316]

I lost him last night

[Ninong]

Sorry to hear that.

[scubadude]

Im sorry too Susan did you ever find out what the problem was?

[SCETT316]

Thx. I was pretty sad last night when I saw him. From My Oceans Five, today it is only Oceans Four Anthony pulled him out (that is one of his jobs lately with the reef) he looked at him closely and could not see any signs of illness.
Of course today the fam. was over and they were looking at the tank and had to ask when would the pretty yellow fish come out from behind the rocks
Needless to say I am not happy at all with my recent loses. I keep checking & re-checking everything to try and figure out why.

[almostdiva]

Has anyone been taking care of the tank for you (were you out of town for any reason recently)?

A friend of mine left her mom to watch the tank. Mom thought she was being helpful and cleaned the front of the tank w windex -- by spraying it directly on the tank. Naturally some got into the water. Enough to kill a fish or two.


Have all your recent losses come from the same place? Maybe there is a problem with how they handle their stock??

Very sorry to hear about your loss...

[SCETT316]

Has anyone been taking care of the tank for you (were you out of town for any reason recently)?

A friend of mine left her mom to watch the tank. Mom thought she was being helpful and cleaned the front of the tank w windex -- by spraying it directly on the tank. Naturally some got into the water. Enough to kill a fish or two.


Have all your recent losses come from the same place? Maybe there is a problem with how they handle their stock??

Very sorry to hear about your loss...

Hi Rebecca:
Thx for your input. I have not been away. My husband Anthony also feels it's the way this LFS handles their live stock, that the fish are stressed etc. But why would they live in my tank for close to a month or so after I introduce them? I am unable to set up a Q-tank at this time so I don't know what to do. I hate to think I would not be able to keep fish in my reef. Also I have never ordered fish online. I would like to try in the future. Can anyone recommened any good vendors. Maybe I will have better luck & so will the poor fish.
thx for all the help.

[almostdiva]

The Marine Depot does a nice job. Stay away from Aquacon.

How about metal? I know someone else who had a pump fitting (or something like that) that became exposed that was copper and lost a bunch of livestock before they figured it out. Could anything like that be a possibility in your system? It is a little odd that things die after a month in your system. have you tested for metals or anything like that, or just ammonia and nitrates? How old are your test kits? Do you make your own salt water or do you get it from someplace? (I'm now just trying to think of any thing that might possibly not be quite the way it should in your system)...

Good luck!

Rebecca

[zhenya]

Sorry to hear you lost your Rabbitfish, Susan.

I can't offer anything meaningful as it is very hard to do without knowing exactly what the fish looked like prior to its demise. I was thinking that perhaps either LFS or at the point of collection has something to do with it but you mentioned that you had other losses as well. Was it all new livestock(fish) or some old as well?
Delayed death;s like that makes me think of cyanide use( internal organs failure after few weeks or a month) by collectors but it is hard to tell if that was the reason without autopsy of the fish.
From what I have read about Rabbitfishes they are much less prone to deseases and what not, unlike thier close relatives, the Surgeonfishes.
If anything, I do have pretty large Foxface in my 110g anemone tank that needs a new home.As you saw, there is hardly any room left for him to swim about becouse of all those tentacles all over the place. If you want it, come and get him. I don't believe I can keep two different species of Rabbitfish in my upcoming tank and I would like to keep one from my 75g tank.

[SCETT316]

Hi & thx for all the help any ideas are welcome since I have been spinning my wheels lately.
Rebecca:
No metals at all in my tank/plumb. Etc. All my test kits are brand new with exp. dates. I prepare my own salt water.
The odd thing is I have had my Mandarin for over 3 years and he looks very healthy. The PJ & the clowns I got someplace else and they are all doing well, so far..(knock on wood)

Gene:
Date & Time pls? Will be there, just let us know. You are too nice, thx again for so much help.
When I read your post last night, I felt like an expectant mother to be, filled with joy & extreme anxiety
All my recent loses have been from the same place. All the fish I originally had, I lost except for the Mandarin when we went to Spain on Vacation with my Dad in 2002, (have no idea what the sitter did or did not do ) soon after my Dad got sick & passed away, so I never replaced any fish till a few months ago.
All of them only last a few weeks; the Fox lasted a little over a month. The strange thing is, when I loose them, there is no exterior sign of anything wrong. You have no idea how bad I have felt each time I have lost one. Everything else in the tank seems to be doing rather well, except for my algae problem, but I do not except a problem that was created over several months to disappear overnight, even though I do see big improvements. I am back on track as far as being able to attend to the tank etc.
BTW why would they use cyanide for?
Again thx to everyone for all the help.

[Poseidon]

Cyanide slows the fish down so they are easier to catch! YIKES, It also KILLS a bunch of stuff....