rabbit fish

[weaver5]

I called marine oassi today to see if they had any sea hares in stock.I have a mild case of hair algea they did not have any but she said I should get a Rabbit fish instead.I was just looking for more opinions and what everyone here would reccomend.My tank is a 90 gal and it does have some soft corals and some hard corals also.Thanks in advance Scott

[Gary Majchrzak]

Hi, Scott. MO always gets in the kewlest Rabbitfish.
I still think that the best/safest ones for a reef aquarium are the "Foxface" types, but the other species of Siganus are algae eating pigs, too.
If you have a problem with nuisance algae make sure to check the performance of your RO unit and skimmer.

[MarkKlier]

Scott have had "fox" faces with good results. Johnathan's sailfin tang is the current "king" of eating hair. He did get the boot from Tom's tank for eating some acans, but has been good for us so far:):):)
Our fox face destroyed some acans, but was okay with most of my other LPS. On occasion they can develope a taste fo Zoas which can be very disappointing. Mine did not...hope that helps..MK with lots of help from JK

[weaver5]

yes it does help alot.I always value the information i get from you guys.I have always used wal mart distilled water just bee to lazy to get and hook up an r/o unit i guess lol.My skimmer does pull outt alot and it has mostly been sence I switched to M/H lights.Thanks Scott

[LFS_worker]

some rabbitfish are notorius zoanthid eaters (orange spot's) But all things equal at eating H.A. the rabbit will be the safer for the other tank inhabitants.

Brian

[Sk8r]

My scribbled went after the frogspawn.

[raw88gt]

my clown tang does an awesome job on any stray algaes i may get! hes always picking at the rock even between bites of nori! haha

[weaver5]

I know that she did say that she was getting in some goldspotted rabbit fish.She said they are very reefsafe and very hardy.Thanks again scott
PS I just finished water test and i got to bring ph up it is only at 8.3 everything else was great but doing a 25 gal. water change anyways because i had it planned.

[Gary Majchrzak]

I've personally not had good results with Gold/orange spotted Rabbitfish in reef aquariums. I had one that ate corals (including table Acropora) no matter how much I fed it. The safest bet for a reef aquarium is a "Foxface" type of Rabbitfish- there's several types including the "one spot", "bicolor/Fiji", and "magnificent".
"Foxfaces" have a pointy snout whereas the "Rabbitfish" have more of a button (rabbit like) nose. MO had a nice Fiji/Bicolor the last time I was there and they occasionally stock magnificents. They also carry "common" Foxfaces and one spots. There seems to be an infinite number of varieties/colorations of the common Foxface, but they can change color like a chameleon.

[saltwaterfishlover]

http://photos.fishindex.com/sig/siganus_doliatus34996.jpg

this is a wonderful fish Siganus doliatus or Barred spinefoot or scribbled rabbit
I had one for a few years and never had any issues...

and off topic...

Gary nice anthia in your avitar what kind is it?

andy

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8562903#post8562903 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltwaterfishlover
off topic...

Gary nice anthia in your avitar what kind is it?
Bartlett's Anthias. Watch out, Andy- they jump more readily than advertised. ;)

[weaver5]

Glad i posted the kind they are gonna have in stock or i might of been not happy lol.Thanks again Scott

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'm just giving generalized advice. Each individual fish has different tastes.

[saltwaterfishlover]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8563050#post8563050 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
I'm just giving generalized advice. Each individual fish has different tastes.

semi humorous post alert....

I find most fish have a taste for arm and finger hair :p

[weaver5]

ok now here is a new one (well for me it is lol) I was looking through all post new posts here and I found one and there are four pages and seems mot agree that one of the best things for hair algea is a reglar old mollie.I do know they can go from saltwater to freshwater.

[saltwaterfishlover]

I've seen a couple threads concerning Mollie's too... didnt read to much just seems they work pretty good just take your time aclimating to salt from fresh... not sure how long but I would think quite a while

[weaver5]

i have read that you can aclimate them with a drip in about 2 hours or so.My son works weekend at our lfs and he says they just throw the into the salt tanks for feeders and they survive until eaten

[nwrogers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8562562#post8562562 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by weaver5
PS I just finished water test and i got to bring ph up it is only at 8.3 everything else was great but doing a 25 gal. water change anyways because i had it planned.

8.3 is fine, no need to raise it IMO

[dreaminmel]

My one spot foxface has recently developed a taste for my orange zoas (leaves all else including other zoas alone) BUT since he's also developed a taste for my bubble algae, the orange zoas are on their own... =) So far he's only occassionally picking at them and they seem to be holding their own for the most part. If they start going downhill I may find a better home for them.

[SVXH6]

my orange spot rabbit will decimate zoa's and leave paly's alone.. hes always too hungry, he may need a new home soon(i like him too much though!!)..

[weaver5]

I was able to get a foxface right here in Batavia.Petmart had some in stock.He seems to love the algea in my tank so far.First rabbit fish I have had in any of the tanks pretty cool to watch he is very active during the day but can not find him once the lights go out.