Boxfish/Cowfish Problem

v-lioness

Member
Some History of the Cowfish, it came into my LFS very sick and loaded with ICH, they had shown me this fish when I walked in one day, I worked with this cowfish at my LFS, treating for Ich and a secondary Bacterial Infection. It took me going to my LFS everyday for two weeks trying to get it to eat, I did and than fed 2-3 times per day a variety of food, a month later I brought it home with me. My cowfish which has been in my 90g with a lion for 2 months or so now, it has been eating greens and meaty food 2-3 times per day. Water tested and everything is fine.
Problem: I will explain this the best I can, please let me know what you think.
Friday
it ate in the morning but not afternoon, Friday night as soon as the lights went out, it stated to swim all over, running into things, jumping, hitting the eggcrate so hard it broke both horns. it looked stressed, started to release it's slim coat, I did a hefty water change & ran carbon.
I placed a small 2 1/2 gallon tank side ways near the front so that the flow would still pass through, and the cow seemed to calm down some.
Saturday
- I moved the 2 1/2 gallon in the morning, let the cow out and it was fine all day except it is still not eating. Last night when the lights went out, it did the same thing, swam like it could not see, jumping, hitting the egg crate, started to release it's slim coat again.
I set up my 12g nano, placed the cow in there with tank water and a slight water change because of the slim coat. I had the lights out so it started to jump, hit the top of the nano, I turned on the lights, placed the small 2 1/2 gallon tank in there, the cow fish went into the 2 1/2 gallon where it calmed down and stayed all night, I left the lights on all night.
Sunday
- Today it is out of the small tank, lights out, but it has light from outside, not eating but content.
8:13pm - Lights are out and still calm, we will see how it goes tonight, medicating for the next few days, if it is bacterial, I do not want the buoyancy knocked out of whack.
Again tonight 12:03 am, very stressed, swimming running into the sides, hitting the top. I don't get it, it does not make sense.
Monday
Cowfish is again very calm, does not look as stressed today as it has the past few days, not as dark in color but I have not tried feeding yet today but will try this afternoon, right now I want to keep things calm.
It looks stressed during the day or with the lights on, but just goes crazy when it is dark, I do not think it can see with the lights off.
** Eyes do not look cloudy
** Stopped eating Friday afternoon, before any signs of this behavior
** Acts blind with lights off
** Looks stressed, dark in color
I did notice a black mark near the tail, and I did see it picked at my lions tail, there are large chunks missing on the lions tail.
** It is possible this cow was stung by the lion, but no signs of paralysis.
So stung or bacterial?
Either way I started to treat last night (Saturday) with Lifeguard, since it is for Bacterial, Fungal, Viral & Parasitic. I will continue this treatment for 5-7 days, I need to get this cow eating again.
I am at a loss and just not sure, Please tell me your opinion. What am I missing?
Kaye
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
Kaye, what are the other fish in the tank with the cow and lion?
Before I read your suggestion of it being stung, this came to my mind as well.
Do you have a grounding probe in this tank? Maybe, it could be going so crazy due to stray current.
Have you had your water tests double-checked to make sure that your test kits are not reading improperly?
 

v-lioness

Member
Kaye, what are the other fish in the tank with the cow and lion?
No other fish in the tank, just the cow and lion (Volitan Morph), they have been together the past few months, before that it was just the lion by itself. The lion is showing no signs there is a problem, it is still eating and acting normal. This is a very aggressive lion, it can be housed with other fish species, but not other lions, it will kill another lion. I know it is a risky combination because cows have been know to pick at lions.
Do you have a grounding probe in this tank?
I do have one in the tank.
Have you had your water tests double-checked to make sure that your test kits are not reading improperly?
I did have them checked by two different LFS in the area, just in-case my test kits were incorrect and this one has me stumped.
Before I read your suggestion of it being stung, this came to my mind as well.
Do you think it is possible that the cow was stung and only the eye site was impaired?
I put my finger up to the tank, I am sure the cow can see my finger today, two days ago I could not say that. Right now the coloration is good on the cowfish, it is not dark or looking stressed. I can actually see blue spots right now. I will try feeding again tonight, I have greens in the tank but it is not touching them.
Kaye
 

v-lioness

Member
Just a quick update, 10:03 pm Still calm, around 8pm he was spitting at the top of the tank, just like he does when he gets hungry, but did not eat, I tried mysis and chopped shrimp. Syphoned the food back out, took around a gallon, replaced the gallon with fresh saltwater, medicated.
Hopefully tonight goes well.
Kaye
 

v-lioness

Member
Last night went great, Whew..... :cheer:
Mouth has a little damage from jumping and hitting the top. Coloration looks good still, no longer looks stressed, I removed the 2 1/2 gallon tank today to offer more space. I dropped some chopped shrimp in, acted interested but nothing, maybe tomorrow, I will medicate again tonight. I think I am going to medicate for 7 days, today is day 4.
Kaye
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
Kaye, I know that you know that live foods are not really nutritious, but have you thought about offering the boxfish some brine shrimp or ghost shrimp, maybe just to really spark his appetite. I would think at this point, you would just want to get him back onto the path of eating for you.
I am glad he is holding up okay though.
 

v-lioness

Member
but have you thought about offering the boxfish some brine shrimp or ghost shrimp, maybe just to really spark his appetite.
Thanks Lion and NO I did not think of this ....lol I will try it today, good idea, Thanks.
Kaye
 

v-lioness

Member
This afternoon I tried Live brine and Ghost Shrimp (Gut Loaded), nothing, no sign of any interest.
Tonight However, I placed greens on the clip, it went right over and started Picking, I ran and thawed some krill, it tried to eat, but spit it back out, this could be because the mouth has some damage. I will keep greens in the tank for now and try meaty foods again tomorrow.
Things are definitely looking up!

If this was lion a sting, I have never heard of a lion sting impairing only the vision, but who knows. If this was a bacterial infection, again no signs, the eyes looked clear and only at night it could not see.
Today is day 5 of the medication. I wish I could have gotten pictures, but I could not afford to add any more stress than this fish was already under.
Kaye
 

v-lioness

Member
Thanks you two, Yesterday he started to eat meaty foods again, I fed meaty foods twice and greens, he seems fine. He seems very content in the nano, but hes not staying there
Last night was day 7 of medicating, I really like that Lifeguard by Instant Ocean, very easy to use.
This is not the first time I tried Lifeguard, I tried it on a clownfish with velvet, the clownfish is still living today. I have yet to try it on lions, but since I did not know what I was dealing with here, it was a perfect opportunity to try it on the cowfish.
Now to decide which tank he is moving to, I am leery about moving him back with the lion, but all my tanks have lions
so i really need to think about this.
Thanks again,
Kaye
 

blennyboy

New Member
I do not believe that the sickness and ich are not related. Ich cysts suck all of the blood out of the fish making the fish weak, appearing like the fish is sick. The horn problem is because of the quick light change.(read more of this at COWFISH.com) Mature cowfish are sensitive to quick light changes, and will stress. This causes them to swim around very fast and out of conrol also they will break their horns on the side of the tank and will release an ostratoxin.
 
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