Foxface Help Needed Please.

[john_ob]

I'm looking for some advice regarding my Foxface, which I've had for almost three months. Everything has been normal with his appearance, behavior, and swimming until about two days ago.

The morning two days ago, when the tank lights came on, I noticed that the edges of his fins and tail were missing pigment. There were no signs of splits, frays, or rot—just the loss of color. His body color seemed normal, and his behavior and eating habits were unchanged. However, the next day, he developed noticeable marks all over his body, but continued to swim and eat as if nothing was wrong.

Later that day, while he was eating Nori from the clip (something he usually enjoys), I walked over to the tank, and he suddenly spooked. He darted faster than I’ve ever seen a fish move—so fast that if I had blinked, I would've missed it. He slammed into the sand and then straight into a cave in the rocks. He stayed there for a few hours, which was unusual for him. Just before lights out, he emerged and started swimming to the top of the tank, breathing rapidly. His mouth and eyes were completely out of the water, and he was bobbing up and down at the surface. After observing this for about 10 minutes, I decided to remove him from the tank and perform a freshwater (FW) dip. The dip showed no signs of parasites, so I moved him to a quarantine tank (QT) with copper treatment.

As soon as he was in the QT, the bobbing stopped, and he began swimming normally again, although his breathing remained extremely fast. Fast forward to today, and he hasn’t been doing well at all—he's still breathing rapidly, not eating, and mostly sitting at the bottom of the tank without swimming. I noticed he returned to the top of the tank, again with his face out of the water, bobbing like before. I gave him another FW dip, and after being placed back in the QT, he swam normally again but remained in distress with the rapid breathing and the marks on his body.

One thing that’s been on my mind is whether the marks could be from Aiptasia stings. The cave he darted into contains Aiptasia, and I'm wondering if this might explain the markings. I’ve attached some pictures of the marks on his body, as well as a YouTube video showing him laying down and breathing during the FW dip.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? I’m wondering if the injury from darting into the rocks might have caused some internal damage, but that doesn't explain the marks on his body or the loss of pigment on his fins that appeared before he got spooked. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm looking for some advice regarding my Foxface, which I've had for almost three months. Everything has been normal with his appearance, behavior, and swimming until about two days ago.

The morning two days ago, when the tank lights came on, I noticed that the edges of his fins and tail were missing pigment. There were no signs of splits, frays, or rot—just the loss of color. His body color seemed normal, and his behavior and eating habits were unchanged. However, the next day, he developed noticeable marks all over his body, but continued to swim and eat as if nothing was wrong.

Later that day, while he was eating Nori from the clip (something he usually enjoys), I walked over to the tank, and he suddenly spooked. He darted faster than I’ve ever seen a fish move—so fast that if I had blinked, I would've missed it. He slammed into the sand and then straight into a cave in the rocks. He stayed there for a few hours, which was unusual for him. Just before lights out, he emerged and started swimming to the top of the tank, breathing rapidly. His mouth and eyes were completely out of the water, and he was bobbing up and down at the surface. After observing this for about 10 minutes, I decided to remove him from the tank and perform a freshwater (FW) dip. The dip showed no signs of parasites, so I moved him to a quarantine tank (QT) with copper treatment.

As soon as he was in the QT, the bobbing stopped, and he began swimming normally again, although his breathing remained extremely fast. Fast forward to today, and he hasn’t been doing well at all—he's still breathing rapidly, not eating, and mostly sitting at the bottom of the tank without swimming. I noticed he returned to the top of the tank, again with his face out of the water, bobbing like before. I gave him another FW dip, and after being placed back in the QT, he swam normally again but remained in distress with the rapid breathing and the marks on his body.

One thing that’s been on my mind is whether the marks could be from Aiptasia stings. The cave he darted into contains Aiptasia, and I'm wondering if this might explain the markings. I’ve attached some pictures of the marks on his body, as well as a YouTube video showing him laying down and breathing during the FW dip.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? I’m wondering if the injury from darting into the rocks might have caused some internal damage, but that doesn't explain the marks on his body or the loss of pigment on his fins that appeared before he got spooked. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) can be seen in dips without a microscope. However, a FW dip will buy you some time by knocking most flukes off, with the fish improving in a few days (if flukes are the issue).

I don know what the flightyness is a symptom of, but has been reported in this species.

The rapid breathing and the piping (mouth out of the water) are both signs of acute stress - but it just isn’t clear to me what is causing that stress.

 

[john_ob]

Only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) can be seen in dips without a microscope. However, a FW dip will buy you some time by knocking most flukes off, with the fish improving in a few days (if flukes are the issue).

I don know what the flightyness is a symptom of, but has been reported in this species.

The rapid breathing and the piping (mouth out of the water) are both signs of acute stress - but it just isn’t clear to me what is causing that stress.

Hi Jay, thanks for your response. I’m still stumped by what’s going on, it’s definitely strange. The fish’s behavior hasn’t changed much, though. He mostly stays near the bottom of the tank and doesn’t venture far. Every 3-4 hours, he swims to the top, positions himself at a 90-degree angle pointing straight up, with his eyes and mouth completely out of the water, and swims like that for about an hour before returning to the bottom.

One behavior change I noticed today is that while he’s at the bottom, his color goes into a light camo, not the full camo he usually displays when the lights go out. But when he’s at the top with his mouth out of the water, his color is bright yellow and fully vibrant. Another thing I’ve observed is that there’s a thin, invisible layer of mucus coming from his sides. I can't tell if they're coming from all of the marks he has on him, but I can see tiny microbubbles clinging to the mucus strands as he swims.

I’ve just dosed Neoplex to see if that helps, but I’m not sure if I’m on the right track. Do you have any other suggestions or thoughts on what might be going on? Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay, thanks for your response. I’m still stumped by what’s going on, it’s definitely strange. The fish’s behavior hasn’t changed much, though. He mostly stays near the bottom of the tank and doesn’t venture far. Every 3-4 hours, he swims to the top, positions himself at a 90-degree angle pointing straight up, with his eyes and mouth completely out of the water, and swims like that for about an hour before returning to the bottom.

One behavior change I noticed today is that while he’s at the bottom, his color goes into a light camo, not the full camo he usually displays when the lights go out. But when he’s at the top with his mouth out of the water, his color is bright yellow and fully vibrant. Another thing I’ve observed is that there’s a thin, invisible layer of mucus coming from his sides. I can't tell if they're coming from all of the marks he has on him, but I can see tiny microbubbles clinging to the mucus strands as he swims.

I’ve just dosed Neoplex to see if that helps, but I’m not sure if I’m on the right track. Do you have any other suggestions or thoughts on what might be going on? Any feedback is appreciated!

Does the tank its in have sufficient hiding places? Is there good aeration? Does the water check out good (especially ammonia)?

The skin mucus could be a sign of Brooklynella. This species doesn't often get that disease, but it is possible.

 

[john_ob]

Does the tank its in have sufficient hiding places? Is there good aeration? Does the water check out good (especially ammonia)?

The skin mucus could be a sign of Brooklynella. This species doesn't often get that disease, but it is possible.

Yes, the tank has several pieces of PVC in different shapes and sizes for hiding spots. For aeration, I’m using both a HOB filter and a small powerhead, providing more than enough surface agitation. The water parameters are all within normal ranges. I keep my QT running continuously, and it’s been cycled for over a year. I do regular water changes and maintain salinity at 1.021, which makes it easy to adjust to match the salinity of any new incoming fish. I also keep copper levels (Coppersafe) at 1.75, so I can gradually increase it when necessary (I have increased the copper by .25 per day for the past two days bringing it to 2.25 and will dose again tomorrow to bring it up to 2.5). As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve dosed Neoplex, as I’ve read that it’s safe to use alongside Coppersafe.