<1” Foxface in 29G DT

[IE Reefer]

Hi everyone,
I just went to my LRS and I saw that they had a very small Foxface for $40. I was thinking about getting it for my 29g DT to add some more swimmers to the tank. I currently have a Pericula Clown, 2x Green Chromis, Yellow Watchman Goby, Fire Tail Blenny, and a Green Mandarin Dragonet. The only concerns I have about keeping the Foxface is that it might attack the YWG due to the YWG not being kind to new tankmates by opening its mouth and swimming close to the new guy. What do you guys think?

 

[brmreefer]

29G is a bit small for a foxface IMO. Mine has been peacful other than going rogue one day and eating my pulsing xenias. Luckily that phase seems to have passed, but you never know (Knocking on wood).

 

[BostonReefer300]

A Foxface will get too big for that tank within two years so you'll have to re-home it. If you're comfortable with that and think your tank can handle that bioload, go for it. If you're following the old rule of thumb about 1/2 inch of fully grown fish per gallon, you have about 15 inches of fish for your tank capacity. Based on what I know of your current livestock off the top of my head, I'd guess that you're already at that limit.

 

[lion king]

Within 3 months, foxface grow really fast.

 

[Bpfor3]

I put a 3" fox face in my 150 around November, 2020. Its a good 6" now and probably weights 4x as much so my experience is that they grow very fast.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I suggest to people to google "minimum tank size for X fish", in this case, it is 90 gallon suggested to for a foxface. Adding this to your tank will eventually lead to unhappy fish and unhappy owner

 

[tehmadreefer]

 

[IE Reefer]

A Foxface will get too big for that tank within two years so you'll have to re-home it. If you're comfortable with that and think your tank can handle that bioload, go for it. If you're following the old rule of thumb about 1/2 inch of fully grown fish per gallon, you have about 15 inches of fish for your tank capacity. Based on what I know of your current livestock off the top of my head, I'd guess that you're already at that limit.

Most of the fishes I have in the tank are fairly small, I’d say the Ocelaris is ~1 ¼”, both Chromis are a bit bigger, Fire tail is pretty small but 1 ½” long, YWG is 2 ½”, and the Mandarin is 2”

 

[IE Reefer]

I suggest to people to google "minimum tank size for X fish", in this case, it is 90 gallon suggested to for a foxface. Adding this to your tank will eventually lead to unhappy fish and unhappy owner

Yeah, you’re right… I was probably just a bit excited to get another fish

 

[IE Reefer]

Well, I’m glad I asked. I hit my first year in reef keeping in April and I’m still learning.

 

[Clo]

I think you should not. My clown grew an inch in like 2-3 weeks. I think a fox face would grow even faster.

 

[IE Reefer]

I think you should not. My clown grew an inch in like 2-3 weeks. I think a fox face would grow even faster.

Yeah, I think I’ll wait until I get a bigger tank to host bigger fish.

 

[Clo]

Yeah, I think I’ll wait until I get a bigger tank to host bigger fish.

I think it is best for you and the fish to do that.

A large fish in a small tank will become aggressive, and you will become stressed out trying to rehome it or saving your fish from being attacked. I wanted some bigger pygmy angels as well, but decided keeping my current fish alive and happy was more important.

Plus, it gives you a reason to look forward to your next tank! You will really be able to stock it with fish that you didn't have access to before

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

While I agree with the majority here, around 2008, when I had a 1 bedroom apt. I had a bad caulerpa issue in the 26G bow front I was keeping at the time. You can see this ~1.5" rabbit towards the top in the pic, and he was fine in there for a year or so, before moving on to a much bigger tank. They will stay stunted a bit in that size tank, and I've never seen aggression from Siganus sp. towards non conspecifics, and I've kept a lot of them. But unless you know for sure you are upgrading soon, probably best to skip it.