yellow tang or foxface rabbit

[Texreefer]

speaking strickly about algae eating diversity...which fish do you guys think can do the best job?

[saltcreepette]

foxface probably. mine unfortunately also has a taste for xenia....(I happen to like xenia...)

[Texreefer]

thats the kind of info i need .. thanks,,, i happen to like xenia also

[GaryP]

foxface probably. mine unfortunately also has a taste for xenia....(I happen to like xenia...)
I'll trade you foxface!!!!

I have two foxface and neither touches Xenia. Just take a sniff of it and you will understand why most fish don't care for it.

Just remember that no fish a good solution to a hair algae problem. They are grazers and aren't going to totally eliminate it. As a matter of fact, grazing can stimulate growth. Some fish have been known to actually cultivate gardens of algae in the wild so they have a steady supply.

[Texreefer]

Gary, i agree and have read this info as well, i want one of these fish anyway, the algae grazing is just a bonus.

[brewercm]

Foxface over just about any tang for eatin algae in my opinion, but then you have to make sure yours doesn't have a taste for something that you want in the tank either.

[SueT]

I'd have to vote for the foxface also. I've had 2 and both were just great fish and the algae grazing was an extra added plus for those places that our arms can't quite reach. Since I've had the yellow foxface, I now want to try a rabbitfish.

[GaryP]

Foxface will also eat bubble algae (sometimes). It just depends on whether they have a taste for it. I don't have a lot in my tanks. They eat all of it they can get to except for the really big ones that are easy to pluck out anyway.

[betiuminside]

After all this reading, I guess my next fish will be a foxface... will he do fine in 100 gal?
How much should I pay for one?

[GaryP]

I have a large one in a 75 gal. and he does fine. He gets a little spastic when I stick my hand in the tank.

Please be aware that the spines are poisonous. Not real bad though. Not as poisonous as a lion fish. I've had mine for years and never got finned.

[betiuminside]

kool... I will try to get one... planning to get now foxface and a tang... maybe blue, maybe yellow...
thanks anyways...

[hobogato]

hmm... had a foxface and a scribble rabbitfish at one time. both were reef safe until they reached 5-6 inches long, then they decided (at separate times) that they liked zoas as much if not more than algae.

[saltcreepette]

ace, that makes me sad, very sad...(good thing my foxy is only two inches long!) I probably overpaid, I think I got charged $35.

[hobogato]

well, the foxface did it first (he was bigger), so we spent the better part of the day catching him and reassembling the aquarium afterwards. then, about 3 months later, whattayaknow, the scribble started. this time i was smarter, and carefully lifted him out of the rocks and out of the tank with my hand (yes, i know those spines are poisonous), after just making him swim around the tank for an hour so he was too tired to run any longer. no more rabbitfish for me.

[GaryP]

These fish are all individuals. The rabbit in my 125 is huge. The biggest fish I have ever had in a reef tank and my tank is overgrown with zoas. Go figure.

[Enigma13]

My Scribbled Rabbit is about 5" and he doesn't bother my zoas. Now, he also doesn't graze much either, other than on seaweed sheets that I put in a clip. Those he can just devour in a matter of 1-2 minutes. My yellow tang is a much better grazer off of the live rock.

[Texreefer]

great input guys. the wife wants a yellow tang. so guess what i will probably get? ;)

[brewercm]

Just fair warning, yellow tangs can be mean little buggers. I've never had a problem adding another tang after a yellow was in, but there was almost always a pretty good battle over territory.

[Texreefer]

The yellow will be the only tang in there.. other fish will be clowns, chromis, blenny ,mandarin.. thats about it.. i have yellow tangs in every tank i've owned but never had a foxface ,, thats why i was curious.

[brewercm]

How's the tank coming along. Good algae starting to grow in there yet?

[Texreefer]

a lot of hair algae growth right now. cleanup crew starting to work on that. i'm seeing some coralline starting on my rocks and hints of it on the tank as well. the stuff you gave me is doing great

[Enigma13]

I have to agree that Yellows will be mean, but it doesn't sound like you are adding any potential competitor fish that might set it off. I have had success adding my rabbitfish and a Pyramid Butterfly after the YT, but it was a wild couple of days with plenty of fighting and collateral casualties (2 chromis ended up dying from slashes from the YT that were intended for the Rabbit but missed the mark). The chromis took their role as dither fish very seriously and gave their lives for peace. :( Adding smaller fish (i.e. Blackcap Gramma) has never gotten the YT stirred up.