Why would a "reef safe fish" become unsafe all of a sudden?

[anonome]

Hi all, I am very puzzled with this one.

I have a 125g reef tank with all sorts of coral, clams etc., and a good selection of fish. My question pertains to my foxface, which I have had for over 3 yrs. He is about 5-6 inches and very friendly, and well fed. My question is that I purchased a small rock, about 3 inches, of beautiful brown with yellow eyes zoos. From the first 24-36hrs of introduction to the tank he has picked the rock up and tossed it all over the tank. By this action it has pretty much killed all but maybe 5-6 polyps of the zoos. He seems to be eating them. Now understand that the tank has many frags and also large rocks of zoos that he leaves these alone. I have tried to hide the rock, and he seems to find it no matter where it is placed, and when I return home it has lost more polyps. I have now had to just accept that this type of zoo is not in the cards. Any ideas why he would do this to them? At first I thought that maybe it had algae growing on it, eventhough I couldn't see any, and he was eating it to clean this off. I am really puzzled. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[wangotango]

The only absolute in the hobby is that there are no absolutes. Foxfaces can be reefsafe, but it is never a 100% guarantee, it just depends on the individual fish. It is weird that it doesn't bother other things though.
I would consider taking it back to your LFS.
-Justin

 

[t316]

I wonder if there is a hitch hiker in there that he senses.
Can you put something over it for a week or so, keeping him from getting to it? Maybe like a clear cup with holes in it for flow, or a net, etc..

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by WangoTango
http:///forum/post/3204251
The only absolute in the hobby is that there are no absolutes. Foxfaces can be reefsafe, but it is never a 100% guarantee, it just depends on the individual fish. It is weird that it doesn't bother other things though.
I would consider taking it back to your LFS.
-Justin
How true about no absolutes in this hobby! I am really keeping my eye on him. I have some blue zoos coming soon, and am really worried about putting them in the tank. I will protect them, and if taking him out has to be, I will certainly do this. Thanks.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3204261
I wonder if there is a hitch hiker in there that he senses.
Can you put something over it for a week or so, keeping him from getting to it? Maybe like a clear cup with holes in it for flow, or a net, etc..
Good idea. I am afraid that for these zoos it is probably too late, but not for any new ones. My new blue zoos will certainly be contained somehow until I know that it is safe. But like Wango said, it may be time to rehome my foxface.

 

[ophiura]

I in general would conside foxface to be pretty omnivorous. I also had one that really enjoyed zoanthids and clam mantles.

 

[anonome]

Thanks for replying Susan.
My foxface and I have parted ways. This morning at 5:45, before the lights came on, I caught him and he is now at the LFS. He had mowed down a nice rock of blue xenia and that was the last straw. Sad to see him gone, but now I know that anything else that is added will probably be safe(I hope). This is as long as he didn't share his talents with my other fish.

 

[jtt]

such a shame, the foxface has to be one of my favorite fish.

 

[chrisnif]

My bet goes with there being a hitchhiker he wants in the rock. I'd see about fragging the zoos from that rock to a new rock/plug and seeing is it the rock of the zoos he wants..

 

[flower]

It could be the color it doesn't like...too close to his own, who knows how fish think. I had a Royal Gramma that made ugly faces at anything close to its own color.
I had a Hippo tang actually eat my Xenia once...every head nipped off. No soft coral was safe from it after that. I replaced it with another hippo and have had no other issues.
So Reef Safe..

...it is up to each fish.

 

[bla403]

I love my foxface and he doesnt bother any of my corals, clams or sponges.
He likes eat new life spectrum pellet food and I keep some veggies in there for him to chew on most of the time. Either Romane Lettuce or dry seaweed sheets from the asian market.
Seems to be happy and fat.

 

[ophiura]

Until the day something is added that he thinks is also really tasty...it is the risk with grazing fish, IMO. They make no distinction between that $150 frag and the bit of lettuce. It is all a nice tasty thing for them. So the message on foxface is that they are a risk, and I would not keep them in a tank with corals/clams that I couldn't possibly lose.

 

[anonome]

I really didn't want to get "rid" of him. He was a very personable fish, but when you see dollar signs everytime he grazes on a prized rock, it is time to part ways. I really wish I had another tank to put him in, but this was not the case.
Bla403--I wish you luck with yours. I had mine from a 3 incher to when I gave him away he was easily 6-7inches, and very large in his girth. I fed him well, but he decided that softies were his new snack. He was always in a reef tank from the get go, but something just snapped.
I went by the LFS today to check on him, and he is adjusting well to being in a fish only with live rock tank.

 

[bla403]

As I said mine is getting nice and fat and growing nicely. I dont have any softies in my tank but I do have clams & sponges. The rest of my corals are sps & lps with a bunch of different chalices. Ive had good luck with him thus far and he hasnt shown any signs of interest beyond the stuff I feed him.
I was actually thinking of taking another gamble since i wanted to get a potters angelfish. Havent made the final decision yet but the are a real gamble.