Horned Cowfish

[OBTEPPER]

Any words of advice on buying a cowfish? Special requirements, which tankmates to avoid.

 

[Domboski]

I wouln't take on a cowfish if you are inexperienced or at least not aware of the risks. There is many factors in keeping a cow/boxfish that make them difficult to keep. Feeding can be difficult as they require special nutrition regardless of thier willingness to eat the standard available fish food. They also can easily suffer from bacterial and fungal infections and not show signs until its too late. Another thing is any micro bubbles that get in your water column can cause them to have buoyency problems which will kill them as well (not too mention if they try to eat food at the surface of the tank).

Also, I wouldn't keep them in a reef tank because they can and will pick at your corals, featherdusters, cleanup crew, etc. They can also poison your system if provoked (everything can die).

Having said all that, I have three boxfish in my system . It is not impossible to keep them but I would do as much research as possible and be aware of all of the risks.

 

[Spracklcat]

Domboski, what kind of system do you have them in, and how large? The cowfish was what originally attracted me to SW (though I never did get one), and I always thought they had to be in HUGE systems. How do yours do, and what tankmates do you have?

Thanks,
Christine

 

[Deanos]

Cowfishes

 

[Spracklcat]

Thanks deanos--I did find that.

 

[Domboski]

Domboski, what kind of system do you have them in, and how large? The cowfish was what originally attracted me to SW (though I never did get one), and I always thought they had to be in HUGE systems. How do yours do, and what tankmates do you have?

Thanks,
Christine

I'll tell you only if you trade me the Sea Dragon in your avatar! J/K

I have a 250 or so gallon system. I have a custom made acrylic tank that is about 3' wide and 5' long. I also have a 40 gallon long (4') that hangs above the main tank.

The 40 gallon has pipefish, seahorses, blennies, assorted shrimp, chromis and assorted corals and yes, two juvenile yellow boxfish (Ostracion cubicus). They get large but are small right now and love eating the mysis I feed the pipes and horses. They also pick at the live rocks for pods and algae. I use the 40 gallon to raise younglings until they are ready for the larger tank or my other systems and house sensitive fish (for now. I am moving my seahorses and pipefish to a 72 bowfront). It is not recommended to house these fish together but I am getting away with it right now becuase of thier size.

The main tank is where the Blue Boxfish (Ostracion meleagris) resides. He is an adult roughly 6" long. He does not really accept frozen foods. He grazes algae, sponges, crabs, shrimp from the live rocks. He is housed with lionfish, stingrays, yellow tang, brown scopas tang, two puffers, assorted damsels, flame angel, coral beauty, a couple of anglers and toadfish. There is also quite a bit of coral in the tank (not recommeded for the type of fish I have). I don't mind the fish picking at the coral which believe it or not, they do not at this point. I keep the fish well fed (at least twice a day). Heavy skimming, two refugiums and 3 phosphate reactors help keep the nutrients at bay.

In regards to the cowfish as Deanos' link pointed out, they get much larger than the blue boxfish although a bit easier to keep. I actually took on a mid-sized long horn (8") about a year or so ago from someone on this site. It got too large for them and to be honest, wasn't real happy to be in my 150 gallon at the time either so I had to find a suitable adopter with a much larger tank. So my recommendation is based on my experience. Unless you have a monster tank, in the long run, keeping a long horn is not recommended. You could certainly house a juvenile for a while but I think you would be surprised how fast they grow when properly cared for. My yellow boxfish doubled there size in less than six months! And if you did decide to house a juvenile for a while, it may be smart to have a friend or an adopter already identified for the future care of the fish.

I hope this helps!

 

[Spracklcat]

Yes, that was great--thanks for the practical experience, and it's great to see people taking such good care of their animals. Your tanks ounds amazing--much different than the typical reef, and I like that

 

[Domboski]

Thanks I appreciate that!