cow fish

[jimmy911]

hey all my father has just turned up with a cow fish.
lovely little fella but i don`t know much about them just thought id stick a post on here whilst i scower the net,
any one kept one with success can give me a few pointers,ill return later
ps think he would be better off in the sea horse tankas he`s only 8mm square lol don`t think my big tangs would give him a chance thanks for your help guys

tony

[Wombat]

Hi

IMHO easy to keep but get big, eat inverts and not suitable for a reef tank when large (or a seahorse tank)

[Stonker]

As far as I know they can give off a dangerous toxin. If you haven't got a skimmer in your seahorse tank, then definitely a no. Probably a no with one too!

[chrisgregg]

:D hi i had a yellow cowfish for about a year but lost him one day to him getting stuck in the live rock.... Well to start off dont belive what people say they only give off a toxin if they are attacked by another cowfish or boxfish so that means they can really only be on there own unless in a pair but they are lovely little fish with a funny caracter... They are reef safe but will peck feather duster worms apart from that i had mine in a 4 ft tank with soft corals and loads of other fish he even fights with my yellow tang and regal for the nori .. no problems what so ever but they are slow swimmers and dont like to much flow i have found mine stuck to the power head intake before now only to save and finnally lost when i whent away one night came back found the little guy stuck i got him free but he stressed him self out so much that he stoped eating and died the day after... :( The love nori seaweed and will eat most frozen food mine did prefer mysis shrimps because they where a perfect size for his mouth whitch is tiny... he was about 3inch when i got him and grew to 4 after a year but they dont grow fast so dont worrie about 18inch what it says in the book... They are also very good helth and dont tend to get much ... hop this helps and if you need to ask out you can always pm me ... I will be wanting another in the future for defo :D and he would be perfect for a seahorse tank with pipefish seen this before with no problem due to ther happy nature

[nickd]

[quote=chrisgregg]:D Well to start off dont belive what people say they only give off a toxin if they are attacked by another cowfish or boxfish so that means they can really only be on there own unless in a pair


Chris,

Is this documented or your opinon. Common consensus of opinon is that they will release toxin if severely stressed as a defence mechanism which in the confines of a closed system is detrimental to all inhabitants.

Nick

Jimmy911, do a search on google for info

[chrisgregg]

my oppinion on having one for a year , he had his tail bit by a porcupine puffer no toxing, he had me stressed by a couple of large humbugs that where later remover no toxins, he was stuck to my powerhead and still released no toxin, and he later died releasing no toxin i have read that they only release a poison into the water killing all fish and its self when attact by another box or cowfish so ...

[jimmy911]

i have done a fair bit of reading and uncovered pritty much what has been said on this post, there are many different views on these funny little fish.i`ve aclimatised him very slowly in the dark and given him some brine shrimp which he scoffed a lot of, i think im gonna see how he goes, im not running any powerheads in the tank just the return feed witch turns the water over just enough but not blowing them all over the place there is only xenia in there at the moment which he has had a pop at and a few small goby /blennies, he seems quite a happy little chappy and he`s so tiny about the size of my small fingernail, thanks you for your opinion all, ill keep an eye on his progress and keep in touch

thanks again everyone
tony