Hello all.
I have a 100g mixed reef. About 6-8 months ago I added a small one spot fox face. He swam about a bit and maybe spent half of his time in camouflage colors hiding and/or sleeping in a certain shady spot under a shelf of monti cap coral.
In the 6-8 months since I've had him, he's increased in size and appears very fat and healthy. I feed him nori a lot, some algae pellets, and general purpose saltwater fish foods. So far, so good!
However, as he's grown older, he's become more skittish. Even though he the largest fish in the tank, he hides almost always. And if he does come out, he quickly retreats at any motion near the tank. Lately he's been hiding either under the monti cap or underground in the engineer goby's cave system. I'm convinced he's quite healthy, which is my main concern, but I'd sure like to see him roaming the tank more.
I haven't noticed any bullying from the other fish (starry blenny, sixtine wrasse, two pajama cards, two false perculas, and an engineer goby). The tank is rather quiet, with a lot of hiding places.
Some things I have tried or considered trying:
1) I've moved the nori clip to the most exposed (least hidden) spot in the tank to coax him out. I move it from feeding to feeding, but often petit in a top, front corner so he's got not choice but to venture way out if he wants to get any. He does come out and eat it. I notice him from across the room, and also the nori disappears over time. But he won't touch it if anyone is near the tank.
2) I'm considering adding an additional, schooling group of small pajama cardinals as a sort of "dither fish" to signal safe waters out in the open. My thinking is these added fish might make the fox face feel more safe in the open water. I'm not even quite clear on my thinking here.
3) I also thought about spending much more time near the tank. For example, setting things up so I can work a few hours right next to the tank every day. The reasoning here is that more external activity without consequences might inspire the fox face to venture out more often.
4) Trimming my monti cap. This coral is pretty big, and there are a lot of other hiding places in the tank. If I were to remove a particular shelf of monti cap, it would remove one of his favorite hiding places, and replace it with more open water. Sure, he could still hide with the engineer goby (or elsewhere), but he may decide to explore more.
Any thoughts about this?
I have a 100g mixed reef. About 6-8 months ago I added a small one spot fox face. He swam about a bit and maybe spent half of his time in camouflage colors hiding and/or sleeping in a certain shady spot under a shelf of monti cap coral.
In the 6-8 months since I've had him, he's increased in size and appears very fat and healthy. I feed him nori a lot, some algae pellets, and general purpose saltwater fish foods. So far, so good!
However, as he's grown older, he's become more skittish. Even though he the largest fish in the tank, he hides almost always. And if he does come out, he quickly retreats at any motion near the tank. Lately he's been hiding either under the monti cap or underground in the engineer goby's cave system. I'm convinced he's quite healthy, which is my main concern, but I'd sure like to see him roaming the tank more.
I haven't noticed any bullying from the other fish (starry blenny, sixtine wrasse, two pajama cards, two false perculas, and an engineer goby). The tank is rather quiet, with a lot of hiding places.
Some things I have tried or considered trying:
1) I've moved the nori clip to the most exposed (least hidden) spot in the tank to coax him out. I move it from feeding to feeding, but often petit in a top, front corner so he's got not choice but to venture way out if he wants to get any. He does come out and eat it. I notice him from across the room, and also the nori disappears over time. But he won't touch it if anyone is near the tank.
2) I'm considering adding an additional, schooling group of small pajama cardinals as a sort of "dither fish" to signal safe waters out in the open. My thinking is these added fish might make the fox face feel more safe in the open water. I'm not even quite clear on my thinking here.
3) I also thought about spending much more time near the tank. For example, setting things up so I can work a few hours right next to the tank every day. The reasoning here is that more external activity without consequences might inspire the fox face to venture out more often.
4) Trimming my monti cap. This coral is pretty big, and there are a lot of other hiding places in the tank. If I were to remove a particular shelf of monti cap, it would remove one of his favorite hiding places, and replace it with more open water. Sure, he could still hide with the engineer goby (or elsewhere), but he may decide to explore more.
Any thoughts about this?
