Foxface Rabbit Fish Stinging my other fish?

[sharri62]

Has anyone ever had a Foxface Rabbit fish sting and kill the other fish in the tank? My FFRB seems to have his spines up more than not. He "flexes" the spines all the time. There doesn't seem to be any reason most of the time he does it. He is looking great. Full tummy and lots of room, (I have a 125 gallon tank). But it seems every time I try to introduce a new fish they end up dead. Water tests show nothing abnormal and corals are perfect. I recently lost a beautiful Bicolor Angel. He was doing great and seemed to hang out with the FFRB, but after almost a week I came in to find him dead. This has happened with three other fish that seemed to hang out with the FFRB. When I got the Bicolor Angel out of the tank he did seem to have a small puncture on it's side. Any thoughts? I don't think the FFRB is trying to hurt them, but the reflex of flexing his spines maybe accidently stinging the fish? These are only the larger fish that this seems to be happening to also. Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sharri62

[DrHank]

It may be that he feels threatened by them. My Foxface will go spines up anytime that any of my fish try to challenge him but they back off when he threatens them. He was the second to last fish that I added to my 200 gal. He was the new fish not the others. You may want to consider finding him a new home and introducing another as your last fish.

[sharri62]

Thank you DRHANK. I kind of thought that might be my only solution. My next thing to try to figure out is how to catch him in my reef. He is very fast.
Thanks again!
Sharri62

[DrHank]

That poses a unique problem. My first thought is a large fish trap. You want the clear acrylic type with the dood that drops down and backwards. Unfortunately, it is the most expensive one. An alternative is to position a large net under a nori clip. Plan on having to leave it there for several days until the fish become used to it's presence, then try to catch him when he goes to the clip to eat. Finally, you may be able to catch him at night. The usually go camouflage and hide in the rocks. you might be able to spook him out and into a net with a flashlight. As a last resort, you could remove your rock and enough water to cover into a brute trashcan while you net him out. Good luck.

[michael_cb_125]

Personally I would be sure it was the rabbitfish before removing him. Typically these fish are bug babies. There may be an unseen issue, which is causing the demise of newly added fish.

~Michael