Very scared fox face fish (randomly scared)

[kingkapoor]

I just got a foxface on Sunday, its a 55 gallon (kinda small but we are upgrading again in 3 months). He is also small. I dont get his behavior, hes the biggest buy in the tank, he hangs out with our yellow damsel (also a baby). No one bullies anyone. I can stick my hand in the tank to change norie clips and hes okay. He eats, doesnt get scared

But sometimes I will go to the tank and hes hiding and trying to blend in, whats going on?

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

It's just how they are. Very skittish fish for a while when in a new environment. My magnificent does the same thing. He'll go into camo color under the skimmer for no reason. Also the only large fish in the tank.

 

[Mike.P]

It's just how they are. Very skittish fish for a while when in a new environment. My magnificent does the same thing. He'll go into camo color under the skimmer for no reason. Also the only large fish in the tank.

Yes, it's in their nature... In a new tank especially, expect that behaviour to continue for at least the first month.

 

[Marco S]

My Foxface is definitely the weirdest fish I have ever had. He sometimes will just put his spikes up and camouflage in the middle of the tank for no reason...it's not like he is hiding because everyone can see him. He does camouflage himself in the rocks when he sleeps and sometimes when he gets scared, but it's a lot less now that he is in my DT. In the smaller QT Tank he did it a lot more often. He even hid up on top of the PowerHead several times and scared the heck out of me because I couldn't find him.

One thing I will say is that he absolutely loves the red Nori and while he is eating nothing can scare him at all. Once he is done though he goes back to weird and skittish behavior.

 

[BestMomEver]

They’re a weird fish but terribly intriguing!

 

[kingkapoor]

My Foxface is definitely the weirdest fish I have ever had. He sometimes will just put his spikes up and camouflage in the middle of the tank for no reason...it's not like he is hiding because everyone can see him. He does camouflage himself in the rocks when he sleeps and sometimes when he gets scared, but it's a lot less now that he is in my DT. In the smaller QT Tank he did it a lot more often. He even hid up on top of the PowerHead several times and scared the heck out of me because I couldn't find him.

One thing I will say is that he absolutely loves the red Nori and while he is eating nothing can scare him at all. Once he is done though he goes back to weird and skittish behavior.

Thanks man, thats what I noticed, they started eating nori quite a bit but sometimes I will just walk by the aquarium and he will go into hiding for 5-10 minutes like I was out to kill him.

 

[Mike.P]

My Foxface is definitely the weirdest fish I have ever had. He sometimes will just put his spikes up and camouflage in the middle of the tank for no reason...it's not like he is hiding because everyone can see him. He does camouflage himself in the rocks when he sleeps and sometimes when he gets scared, but it's a lot less now that he is in my DT. In the smaller QT Tank he did it a lot more often. He even hid up on top of the PowerHead several times and scared the heck out of me because I couldn't find him.

One thing I will say is that he absolutely loves the red Nori and while he is eating nothing can scare him at all. Once he is done though he goes back to weird and skittish behavior.

I had a doliatus that would swim up and take nori from my hand, as I was hanging it... Then he'd start rubbing against the underside of my hand and wrist. With his dorsal fin down, thankfully. Which is still the scariest sh-- ever. lol. Holding perfectly still, holding perfectly still, please don't freak out.

So yes, they're very weird fish. =P

 

[edindubai]

I just got a foxface on Sunday, its a 55 gallon (kinda small but we are upgrading again in 3 months). He is also small. I dont get his behavior, hes the biggest buy in the tank, he hangs out with our yellow damsel (also a baby). No one bullies anyone. I can stick my hand in the tank to change norie clips and hes okay. He eats, doesnt get scared

But sometimes I will go to the tank and hes hiding and trying to blend in, whats going on?

I have a special needs foxface had it a few years it's about 5-6 inches. If I wear a yellow t-shirt its entire top half of its body goes almost black, a very dark brown and it flicks its spines at me, sort of understandable as I guess it thinks I'm a giant foxface. If I wear a blue t-shirt it's fine. If my wife is near the tank it's fine too, except if she has any sort of blue clothes on, could be navy or turquoise, trousers or top or anything with someblue in it. In this scenario it will spot her from 20ft away in the doorway of another room, which itself I find amazing, and it triggers it to be absolutely petrified with fear trying to escape and will smash around the tank at full speed hitting everything and has jumped out. She now has to wrap herself in a shawl to get past the tank if wearing any blue to stop the fish injuring itself. Very odd fish, I'm thinking of putting together a YouTube vid of all this as fascinating.