# One Spot Foxface lies on bottom of tank



## landcfan

Hello,

I have a question about a fish in my college's salt water tank. It is a one spot foxface. Is it normal for them to rest on the bottom of the tank or on coral? I've been watching this tank for about a month, and I didn't notice him doing that at first. I probably noticed around the beginning of July, when I was concerned about this fish http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/puffer-fish-diseases/concern-about-algae-teeth-105279/ (an issue that has yet to be resolved). Also, he's been pooping for probably over an hour now. It looks greenish in his anus, but like white powder when it comes out. I also thought he had some coating that looked like brown algae slime stuff, with strings coming off, but I looked again an hour later and it was gone. It may very well be nothing, but due to the aforementioned experience, I don't want to leave any other possibilities of problems in this tank up to chance (or up to the stock manager).

I've attached a photo of this behavior.


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## Reefing Madness

Rabbit fish are neat, but sitting on something, thats a little strange. Sorry about the Puffer fish, I just know alittle about them and not enough to throw out many ideas other than their teeth need to be filed down. Thats why it is wise to feed them clams and inverts still in their shells, this keeps their teeth in check. As far as it just hanging there, grab the fish and pull the stuff out.
The Rabbit fish, yoiu should only see them settin around at night when the lights are out, the go into hiding sleep mode. As far as the color of his poop, should be what he's eating, so I see that the substrate is white, so he may be pickin at the substrate for algea.
Water parameters would help here. And what he's being fed, and how often.


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## landcfan

Thank you so much! I don't know about his diet, but I've often seen him eating algae, including off the sand. Come to think of it, the first time I saw him resting was at night I think, but he does it in the afternoon, too. The water temperature appears to be 82 degrees from the thermometer in the tank. Today, it looks like someone was putting something in the water, as there was a tube going into the tank from a container that said calcium something. That's all I know about the conditions. The stock manager has been less than helpful.


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## landcfan

Also, I've seen him nip coral (kinda relevant to diet). I think the tank is 65 gallons, maybe? There's a sign there, but it's too late to get into the building right now.

The sign says they get fed twice a day, but there have been days where I've sat many hours by that tank and no one has gone by. It could be twice if someone is coming right when the building opens and right when it closes. So they're fed 1-2 times a day. I once saw a small crustacean exoskeleton in the tank, so I guess they're fed something like krill or brine shrimp. If more info is needed, I can check the sign tomorrow, although I'm not sure how accurate it is. It gives a temperature range that maxes at 79 degrees, but the thermometer shows 82. The sign is from before the building was built a few years ago, so some things may have just changed since then (although the few sample species on the list are still there).


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## Reefing Madness

82 is a bit high, although not totally out of the safe range. The 78-79 range is much better. But, if you can't get any water parameters its gonna be tough to help. But, sounds like they are feeding to much. And if the Puffer was eating the right stuff, you would see clam shells all over the bottom of the tank. As for the calcium, may have been calcium carbonate. They may have been dosing the tank.But by using a tube going up to the tank, thats a new one on me there.
Good things for you to look for are:
Salinity- for a fish only tank it would be 1.017 to 1.027
Actual Temp 76-82
Calcium
ALK
PH
Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0
Nitrates- under 40


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## landcfan

I'll check the sign tomorrow, but I must stress that I don't trust it to be accurate. Thanks again for your help!


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## landcfan

I would imagine they have to be fed quite a bit. There's a black saddled toby, a three striped damselfish, a foxface, about five or six chromis, a goby, a blue damselfish, a tomato clownfish, a yellow tang, a coral beauty angelfish, a starfish, a sea urchin, two anemones, multiple corals, and multiple hermit crabs. Actually, for some reason I think the tank was bigger than what was posted. I feel like someone said that. Not sure.


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## Reefing Madness

If its only 65g, THATS ALOT OF THINGS, for a 65g.


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## LyzzaRyzz

Wow, I feel so bad for the fish in this tank..it seems that whoever is taking care of them has no clue what their doing!
I wish i knew what to say to help you, but i know nothing about salt water fish!

Good luck though...=/


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## landcfan

Also, just to be clear, he rests for a little while, then goes back to swimming.


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## Reefing Madness

landcfan said:


> Also, just to be clear, he rests for a little while, then goes back to swimming.


 Still weird.


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## landcfan

Hello everyone! I talked to someone at the school who knows a lot about fish, who in addition to agreeing to help with the puffer from my other thread, took a look at the foxface. He said it was hard to tell if anything was wrong with him. He also has seen him eating algae off the sand, and agrees that's why his poop has white powder. As for the brown stuff on him (just a little on his spines) he thought that it might get better once the tank is cleaned (there's a starfish that has similar whitish slime on it too). As for the lying down during the day, he suggested that it may be because his schedule is off (light timers and everything. Maybe because it's summer and the days are so long, and he's used to sleeping earlier? Just a thought). He also agreed that the temperature was a bit high, and will see what he can do about it. He said the sign was indeed out of date, but here's the data on it: 75 gallon (I think the tank itself has been changed since then. I'd say the tank is about six feet long, maybe about two feet wide, and a few inches taller than it is wide.)
Temperature: 79 F (it's actually 82)
Salinity: 35ppt
pH: 7.8-8.2
Alkalinity: 8-12 dKH
Calcium: 350-400 ppm
Magnesium: 1250-1350 ppm

The sheet also says they are fed once daily (why did I think it said twice?:dunno, and that they clean the window everyday :rofl: as well as add major and trace elements every day.

The container with the tube is still there. I was mistaken: the tube leads into the cabinet under the tank when the filtration system is, not directly to the tank. It says it is calcium hydroxide, and appears to not be transferring any more through the tube.

As far as the tank mates, I had mentioned a goby, but I haven't seen it in at least two days, so I'm guessing it died (someone told me that at some point, its fins had seemed rather tattered because of another fish (I'm guessing the three striped damsel) although I looked at it a few weeks ago, and while it may have had a bit of damage, it didn't look too bad.)


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## Reefing Madness

Those dimensions would make it a 180g tank.
Don't think the sleeping pattern is off for the fish. Everything looks to be normal to me on this side. So, my guess would be, sit and wait. Thats not normal for that fish to just sit catch its breath and then move on. And they can see that the lights are on, its would be possible that he thought the lights would be going out, he would find a hiding place, not just sit out in the open. And he would figure out the lighting pattern after a few days.
:dunno:


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## landcfan

What was really odd today was before I left, I saw him apparently resting a few times tilted with his nose down. Maybe he was eating, but it didn't look like it. He did it in sand and coral.

Thanks once again! I'll keep an eye on him!


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## Reefing Madness

:thumbsup:


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