What corals will a non-reefsafe foxface eat?

[eatbreakfast]

Rabbitfish are vegetarians. Feed him lots of veggies/algae sheets/sea greens and it will leave your corals alone. Purple/red/green nori.

When they eat coral they are eating the symbiotic algae within the tissue. Feeding a variety of veggie matter helps, but there are still instances where foxfaces that are fed plenty of algaes and seaweeds still eat coral.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Rabbitfish are vegetarians. Feed him lots of veggies/algae sheets/sea greens and it will leave your corals alone. Purple/red/green nori.

- Thanks. I till try this and update everyone on how it goes. I am getting the fish on Oct. 8th. I will post updates to tell everyone how it goes.

 

[CenlaReefer]

I have my foxface for months now. He is doing a great job on algae and not touching my corals. Things could change when there is no more algae on the rocks. After that, I will need to start putting out sheets of nori daily in addition to my daily feedings for him and the other fish. I hope he never gets a taste for coral. If I keep him well fed, he may never do so.

 

[Jakedanijacob]

Mines been good for ages every now and then he will eat corals try’s everything not often tho he is so shy he hates my phone caught him as we speak lol eating green star

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I’ve got a mixed reef and mine has never touched a coral. Do you have algae growing? I was trying to get rid of all the GHA in my tank but realized he loves it. Now I have GHA but not a GHA problem. It doesn’t spread because he eats it all day and keeps it in check. Plus it keeps me from having to keep putting nori in there.

 

[Mical]

Both my one spot fox and bi-color rabbit fish are great for algae management and only corals they've ever bothered were torches. GSP,frogspawn, hammer - no issues.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Mine is well fed.m. The only coral it ever nipped at was zoas. Since I‘m rally not a zoanfan, it’s not an issue. Does not both my SPS or LPS (my frogspawn grows like a weed. Aussie Splatter Hammer grows really slow). Mine is also not a big fan of hair algae. It would rather beg for more nori.

 

[Filipino Reefer]

My foxface picking on my acans and bowerbanki. Also my copperband butterfly fish too. So sad to see acans and bowerbanki closed. Currently, placed foxface and copperband in sump. Planning on trading in for another fish to a LFS.

 

[anth]

Mine has the occasional nibble on my sea fan and picked at my clam mantle once but other than that he’s generally reef safe. Other corals in tank are acros, acans, duncans, elegance, monti, euphilia, zoas, and nems.
He never touches any of them.

 

[uhgster1]

Mine is an acan connoisseur. Worst part is I can’t catch him! He obliterated two 15 head rainbow colonies

 

[CenlaReefer]

Mine is an acan connoisseur. Worst part is I can’t catch him! He obliterated two 15 head rainbow colonies

I wish there were a sad face reply. Sorry to hear that.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I have heard they like riccordia but mine never bothered it that I noticed.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Wish I was so lucky!

Me too. I had mine for 2 days and he at a freshly bought Yuma and started going after my duncan

 

[Juan4265]

The nippy foxfaces I have dealt with were safe with sps. Though I would be cautious with newly cur pieces or ones that are struggling for some reason.

So keeping an nori clip in the tank always full will do? Also if there was an established large colony of zoas, would they have a better chance of not being eaten considering it is being well fed?

 

[Wakenbaker420]

Our foxface started eating the goni pedals. It was like a snack for him, a couple here and a couple here. He eventually did us a favor and jumped out one night. Probably won't get another foxface for our reef tanks. I will say this, they do have a lot of personality.

 

[Soren]

So keeping an nori clip in the tank always full will do? Also if there was an established large colony of zoas, would they have a better chance of not being eaten considering it is being well fed?

There are no guarantees. I have not had mine with any corals to note so far as I am still working on my main system and have my foxfaces in Quarantine Tanks devoid of coral, so I can't answer to this from specific experience.

I did get a one-spot foxface from an R2R member in my geographical area because it started eating her zoas that she wanted more than the foxface. She kept her tank well-fed, from what I know, but the foxface still bothered her zoas enough for them to melt.

Of course, keeping algae and nori available should help limit their hunger (though not necessarily their curiosity of coral tasting). Fresh macroalgae seems the best option (especially with a bit of diversity in types), so I intend to culture a few types of macroalgae specifically for feeding my foxfaces and other herbivores.

I will note that foxface rabbitfish are probably my top favorite living organism in this hobby. My 2 one-spot foxfaces in my 40B Work Desk tank have not bothered the corals in the tank thus far which only include 2 Sarcophyton toadstool mushrooms and a small LPS coral (possibly rose coral) that came in on a piece of ocean live rock from the Florida Gulf.

 

[Cthulukelele]

There are no guarantees. I have not had mine with any corals to note so far as I am still working on my main system and have my foxfaces in Quarantine Tanks devoid of coral, so I can't answer to this from specific experience.

I did get a one-spot foxface from an R2R member in my geographical area because it started eating her zoas that she wanted more than the foxface. She kept her tank well-fed, from what I know, but the foxface still bothered her zoas enough for them to melt.

Of course, keeping algae and nori available should help limit their hunger (though not necessarily their curiosity of coral tasting). Fresh macroalgae seems the best option (especially with a bit of diversity in types), so I intend to culture a few types of macroalgae specifically for feeding my foxfaces and other herbivores.

I will note that foxface rabbitfish are probably my top favorite living organism in this hobby. My 2 one-spot foxfaces in my 40B Work Desk tank have not bothered the corals in the tank thus far which only include 2 Sarcophyton toadstool mushrooms and a small LPS coral (possibly rose coral) that came in on a piece of ocean live rock from the Florida Gulf.

Apparently mushroom coral and sarcophyton are 2 of the most ridiculously unappetizing tasting corals that exist. There should be a "yumminess" chart for coral. Top you have most fleshy LPS and clams, next seem to be zoas, xenia, duncans, and certain neptheas, then you've got SPS, and then down at the bottom are noxious softies. Obviously different for specialized eaters, but it's still interesting

 

[Juan4265]

Apparently mushroom coral and sarcophyton are 2 of the most ridiculously unappetizing tasting corals that exist. There should be a "yumminess" chart for coral. Top you have most fleshy LPS and clams, next seem to be zoas, xenia, duncans, and certain neptheas, then you've got SPS, and then down at the bottom are noxious softies. Obviously different for specialized eaters, but it's still interesting

So would that mean that foxface would be less likely to nip on rhodactis mushrooms and leather corals such as devil's finger, sinularia leathers and toadstool leathers?

 

[ARGYGANG]

Nailed it. I have a one spot and he doesn't touch any corals, but I feed him aggressively. His sides are always nice and plump. It's amazing how much food/algae these guys can go through. Adding in somethings else like a tang and you really have to feed heavy.

just wanted to add to this thread my experience with fox faces, have a normal fox face and he is a model citizen never picks at tank mates or anything.......once my hammer was eaten.