Foxface Rabbitfish - Unhappy and Hiding

[turbosquid]

Hey everyone. I have a question about my Foxface Rabbitfish.
We got him about a month ago and introduced him into our new 60gl tank, he was on of the first fish that we added to the tank, along with two clown fish.
During the first day he looked pretty pissed off and hid the entire time but after a day of acclimation he took to the tank well and was very happy ( a bright lemon yellow with no discoloration. )
He was like this, bright and very energetic, for about a month, now for the last two weeks he has had a constant brown discoloration along the top 1/3 of his body ( like a brown stripe ) and is constantly hiding around behind the rock work.
We have been checking the water in the tank every other day and the results have been a constant:
Temp: 76F
Salin: 1.024
PH: 8.6
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
The clown fish in the tank are doing very well, very strong coloration and very energetic, the only difference we can see in the tank is the amount of flora growing on the rock work, in the first week the Rabbitfish demolished any naturally growing flora, we have tried supplementing this by adding dried sea-weed on a clip for him at feeding time but he won't eat much of it. ( A few nibbles around the edges at best. )
Anyways, I am all out of idea's and I think Google will ban me if I search this topic any more, so I am hoping someone here will have some experience.
THANKS!

 

[deejeff442]

ph is too high need 8.2
i like the temp at 78
salt is also a little low i like 1.026
the water is off a little in 3 of 4 tests maybe thats it.
how big is the fish a 60 gallon is pretty small for a foxface but not clowns.
he might be stressed being cramped

 

[turbosquid]

Thanks for the reply.
The Rabbit fish is not fully grown, 2.5in at most. I will try upping the Salinity slowly as I add water to the tank ( replacing evaporation ), but I am not sure how I can lower the PH. Do you use anything in your tank to control the PH?
As for being crowded, I could not say, he seemed very content with the tank and his neighbors for the first month but does not seem happy any more.
I am worried that if he is finding the tank too small now, then we are just going to make the problem worse as we add more fish, the tank currently has 2 clown fish, 1 rabbit fish, and 2 peppermint shrimp ( to control a noxious plant [ looked like an upside-down umbrella ] that was growing in one corner of the tank, now totally gone. )

 

[deejeff442]

you can use a buffer to controll the ph .
yours is way too high.
if he is at least eating a little thats good.
do you add anything to the tank except water?
calcium would mess up the ph.also using tap water.
my foxface is always changing color .
they are shy also took mine a long time to get bold.
mine is 6 inches now he was 3 when i got him.
if you are not sure go to your lfs and bring a water sample .they will test it and recomend a buffer
good luck

 

[spiderwoman]

Your pH is slightly elevated, everything else looks just fine.
How much LR do you have in the tank?
I've got a large FF in our 150 and it's probably the boldest fish in the tank, always in front of the glass begging for food.

 

[turbosquid]

We have 60lb of live rock in the tank, and we have not added anything to the water except salt and a splash of water cleanser to remove the chlorine.
I will try taking a sample of the watter down to the fish store this weekend and see if they can recommend anything. I have done a lot of reading and seen a lot of posts about people with low PH due to too much CO2 in the water, could I by chance have the opposite problem? Could I have too much aeration in the tank?
I currently have a protein skimmer ( bubble type ) and a curtain air-stone for decoration. Could this remove too much CO2 and cause the PH to climb?

 

[spiderwoman]

What do you mean by adding water cleanser? Did you pour it directly into the tank or into the topoff water?
Please take the air-stone out of the tank. They do not belong into a SW tank and that can very well be the cause for high pH in your tank.

 

[deejeff442]

agree no air bubbles in sw just water movement.
obviously you are using tap water.
you might want to test that also if there is copper in it the fish will be ok for a while then start to get sick.
you will see alot of people say they use tap water without problems.
but not all tap water is safe .you might have some bad water.
for $100 get a ro unit.
take a sample of your tank water and your tap to the store .

 

[turbosquid]

Thanks, I will get both my Tank and Tap water tested. I don't know the copper content of my tap water and had never thought of it.
As for the water cleanser we have been adding it to the top off water, letting it sit over night with a spare heater to get it to temperature and let the chlorine out then adding it to the tank.
I will look into the RO unit, but to be honest I have no clue what that is... Is it anything like a water distiller?

 

[deejeff442]

they sell them at home depot i hook mine up to the spicket in the gararge.
takes a few hours to make 5 gallons .

 

[gatorwpb]

foxface are pretty slow growers. I have a 2" one in my 65. They dont need 4' tanks like tangs do, but certainly as they get to be 4+" a larger tank may be needed. So I dont think its a cramped thing.
They are very scared fish sometimes, as long as he is eating I wouldnt worry too much. Mine took sometime to get used to being in my tank, now he comes out and begs whenever someone walks by, thinking he will get fed.

 

[turbosquid]

Well thank you for all your help. You have given me a lot of good advice. I will update this thread as I go along and let you know if he starts looking any better.
Thanks!!!
[]

 

[doggiepuffer]

I agree. I have a foxface that is about 3.5" in my 30 gallon (which is being upgraded to a 75 gallon this week) and when I first got him about a 6 weeks ago he was acting stressed all the time, especially when the light was first turned on, however now he rarely stresses out and loves it when he sees people watching him. He tends to be more of a show off anymore

 

[hmcklveen]

I would say the ph is def too high but also are the clowns picking on him? My clown fish i had the clarki clown and i had to get rid of him because he was stalking him and would ram into him and try to bite him. I would just make sure that is also not adding to the problem

 

[turbosquid]

I checked the Alkalinity of my tank and tap water this weekend, the tank was at 10 and my tap water at 9 so I think this could be part of the problem... I am going to be investing in an RO filter as soon as I can get one and I will also be going to the fish store this week to get a recommendation on a buffer.
As for the clown fish, I don't think they are bullying him. He is larger then them and they don't seem to mind him too much. I often see them all hanging around the same place in the tank. They really seem to like hanging around beside the power head for some reason... Oh well, I should get them an anemone when I get the Rabbitfish sorted out.
Thanks for your help!

 

[deejeff442]

i would think twice about an anenome.unless you have had experience with them.they will get into the powerhead and nuke the tank.
i was out of town one time and my wife called saying all the fish are dying i asked what color the water was and she said cloudy white.so i knew right away.luckily i had another big tank running to put the alive ones in but i lost alot of fish like 3 tangs .plus they move around the tank to get settled and will sting your corals.

 

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by TurboSquid
http:///forum/post/2838177
Hey everyone. I have a question about my Foxface Rabbitfish.
We got him about a month ago and introduced him into our new 60gl tank, he was on of the first fish that we added to the tank, along with two clown fish.
During the first day he looked pretty pissed off and hid the entire time but after a day of acclimation he took to the tank well and was very happy ( a bright lemon yellow with no discoloration. )
He was like this, bright and very energetic, for about a month, now for the last two weeks he has had a constant brown discoloration along the top 1/3 of his body ( like a brown stripe ) and is constantly hiding around behind the rock work.
We have been checking the water in the tank every other day and the results have been a constant:
Temp: 76F
Salin: 1.024
PH: 8.6
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
The clown fish in the tank are doing very well, very strong coloration and very energetic, the only difference we can see in the tank is the amount of flora growing on the rock work, in the first week the Rabbitfish demolished any naturally growing flora, we have tried supplementing this by adding dried sea-weed on a clip for him at feeding time but he won't eat much of it. ( A few nibbles around the edges at best. )
Anyways, I am all out of idea's and I think Google will ban me if I search this topic any more, so I am hoping someone here will have some experience.
THANKS!
well 2 things im seeing that could be this particular fishes issue number 1 is ph is too high it should be 8.2- 8.3.. second is the temp is too cold for him it should be between 78-82 i am no expert but i have always had foxfaces
mine mostly lives on pellets and flaked foods i prefer using thera+a pellets but they arent readily available to me here so i now use omega one pellets with garlic and kelp flakes also by omega one i feed 3-4 times daily small amounts then once a week i feed emerald entrese soaked in selcon and garlic extreme for added nutrition.. as for dried seaweed i rarely ever use that as it should be intended as a treat more so than a staple diet.. some foxfaces are very shy fish as it is i have noticed that the one spot is much more so than the majestic or the bi colored(they tend to be more bold).mine also hides alot but now i have him trained to recognize his food container.. he sees the food container and comes right out for it
as for buffers i use seachem 8.3 marine buffer

 

[turbosquid]

Just updating this thread if anyone is still reading it
We are still working on figuring out what is up with our RabbitFish. We have done a 30% water change and used distilled water as a base during the change to try and bring down the total alkalinity of the tank, so far no success. As for the fish itself he seems to be doing "better". He is still discolored all the time with a brown stripe across his entire topside, but he is coming out into the open more often now and is often finishing all the seaweed we give him at feeding time.
We also increased the temperature in the tank to see if that was related to the problem. The tanks stats are now at:
Temp: 81F
Salin: 1.024
PH: 8.5
Alkalin: 10
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
The other tank life is doing good. Clown fish continue to be very bright and energetic. We have been noticing a number of exoskeletons in the tank from our peppermint shrimp so they should be doing well. ( I saw one the other night and he is definitely larger then when we bought them. )
We are still researching an RO unit to filter our own water. We are getting it from the drugstore at the moment, should have seen the look on the cashiers face when we asked for 120L of distilled water. If any one has any recommendations or experience on this I would be ever appreciative.
Anyways as allways, thanks for all your advice you guys rock!

 

[jeremye83]

I got a $150 RO system in my basement that we have been using for years for my fish tank and our own drinking water. If you thought it may cost more, for a small one it really doesnt. PM me for the site, and good luck.

 

[bang guy]

I don't see any problems with your water that won't be solved by not using tap water. There's nothing to worry about there.
Are you feeding your Foxface any algae?
Edit - nevermind, I see you are feeding algae.