Boxfish (Ostracion cubicus)

budder

budder

New Member
Hi all,
i recently pruchased a lil poka doted box fish from my lfs, its been two days and the lil fish is not eating so well ive tryed meaty pettets, algea flakes, and bloodworms (dryed). he is only picking at my live rocks and grazing a little, but only every so often. i tryed turning up the temp to 80 to see if that helps. i was wondering if anyone could give me some insight to this problem, or if it is a problem. I remember my coral beauty was picky at first but with this fish being venomous i dont want to take any chances.
stressed,
me
 
otto13

otto13

Member
Chance are he wont release toxins in your tank if he dies unless you leave his corpse in there for a few days.
Go to the store and get some live ghost shrimp. They also really like frozen mysis and brine shrimp. You cant keep him on the brine forever but the mysis will do good.
They never really take to dry foods that well. They will pick at them, but really prefer frozen.
Double check your water levels. If you nitrates are above 20, they can act this way. They are a little more sensitive to water quality than other fish.
They get really big too.
 
otto13

otto13

Member
You have to be very careful with your filters/powerheads with these guys. Most of the time when I hear of one dying, it is when they get sucked on to the intake of the filter/powerhead. They will sit there stuck for hours while their skin is slowly pulled off. Sounds gross and it is.
I have a mini filter will one of the lowest flows you can get and a safety guard and mine still got stuck since it was a baby. A good solution is putting a sponge filter around the intake or they even sell little safety covers.
You might think that yours is safe but it will eventually happen even if it avoids it for months. Even when they get over 6 inches, they are still prone to this.
Oh, did you try the frozen of live or both?
 
fixed

fixed

Member
Originally Posted by otto13
You have to be very careful with your filters/powerheads with these guys.
My tiny boxfish started getting stuck to a powerhead intake. I unplug the cord for it, then he gets off. To avoid being stuck too long, I thought about putting the powerheads on a wave timer, so that each would turn off frequently. Sound like a good idea?
Also, I'm getting ready to upgrade to 150 overflow tank. Do they get stuck near the overflow, too? Thanks.
 
imaburch

imaburch

Member
I have had my cowfish for almost two weeks and he has been stuck once. It freaked me out because I thought he would NUKE the entire tank!!!! Everyone says that having him is such a bad idea, but he is the coolest fish I have seen!!!!
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
imaburch,
if my name doesnt say it all...
i have pictures of a 12" cowfish from when i was in bermuda.
you think the long horns are pretty... you aint seen nuthin
budder, best of luck with the spotted boxfish- mine developed some sort of internal infection. just keep an eye on him.
 
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