Loopy Cow Fish? Need Feedback Please

jrittz

jrittz

Member
I have a cow fish, bessie, and she's a cute fish. Anyways, my question is this... At night she tends to go a little nuts? if you know what I mean. She will start to ram the top of the glass hood. Sometimes it's several times and others it's one or two times. None-the-less this is becoming a concern of mine. She eats like a pig and nothing in the tank is agressive towards her. She usually does this while all the other inhabitants of the tank are asleep.
Has anybody else experienced this or heard of this happening? Any ideas as to why she does this? Is this something to do with "exercising her horns"? Like a hamster will gnaw on objects to keep their teeth sharp and keep them from over growth.
Please feel free to comment even if it's one of those "I heard this from so and so" or "My friend had this happen before" etc..
Water parameters:
72 Gallon Bowfront
50/50 Flouresent Lighting
RedSea Prizm Deluxe Protein Skimmer
Emporer 400 Wet/Dry
2 x 802 AquaClear Powerheads
500W Jalli Titanium Heater
50+ lbs Live Rock (tonga and fiji with a small amount of base)
1.020 Salinity
74 Degrees
.15 Nitrates (by RedSea's test measurments, as well as everything else)
.025 Amonia (has never been below this no matter what I do)
0 Nitrites
8.1 pH
Treated the tank one time with Greenex 3 months ago and realized this was a mistake, killed every snail. (Have always been curious if there has been a lingering effect)
Tankmates:
Type (name) - How long i've had them in the tank
Snowflake Eel (lumpy) - 4 months
Yellow Tang (woodstock) - 3 weeks
Gold Stripe Maroon Clown (george) - 4 months
Three Stripe Damsel (stripe) - 5 months
Porcupine Puffer (puffy) - 1.5 months
Mexican Turbo Snails - 2 weeks
Blue Legged Hermits - 4 months
Red Legged Hermits - 4 months
Hawaiian Strawberry Crab - 2 months
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp (bruce jr.) - 1 month
2 x Peppermint Shrimp - 2 weeks
Jrittz
 
dugan

dugan

Member
I would be concerned about your positive ammonia readings. I don't know if cowfish are particularly sensitive to ammonia but that may well be the problem.
I would move her to the QT until you can get that ammonia level down. If she's stressed she could poison your tank. :eek:
How long has your tank been up and running? I'm guessing like 6 months or so? Did you ever complete the cycle? (I ask because you said your ammonia level "has never been below this no matter what I do".) How often and how much are you feeding?
The eel, the puffer and the cowfish I think all tend to be on the 'messy' side... so they create a higher bioload than other fish their size.
Katie
 
jrittz

jrittz

Member
I feed 2 times a day, noon and 10pm. After as much as a 20% water change and the amonia readings are the same and never vary up or down. I've also cleaned the substrate several times since I use CC.
She doesnt appear to be stressed, she's a very docile fish. I can pet her, feed her by hand, etc.
I've also moved her from the display to the qt on a compule occasions for treatment of ich. She just plays around while in the big bowl waiting to be moved into the other tank, she'll swim upside down and spit water out at me.
I've treated her 2 times up to this point and i've had her for 3-4 months. She's just a happy-go-lucky fish in my opinion.
It may be nothing to worry about but I definately do not know what the deal is.
Jrittz
 
cincyreefer

cincyreefer

Active Member
The ammonia reading is probably just the test kit... Some kits never show a 0 reading, even for RO/DI water. Especially if it is a test kit where no color is 0 amm. They always seem to turn very slightly yellow/green IME. How much water flow is in the tank? I have found that cowfish don't particularly like fighting heavy currents.
 
dugan

dugan

Member
She just plays around while in the big bowl waiting to be moved into the other tank, she'll swim upside down and spit water out at me.
She sounds cute as heck!! :joy:
Have you ever tested some plain old RO/DI water with your test kit to see if you have a bad test kit?
Katie
 
jrittz

jrittz

Member
I've never tested RO/RI water yet. I can do that tonight to verify. My tank current is fairly high, maybe she's sick of fighting the currents. :) I'll lower the current down a notch and see what she does with that.
On that note, is it a good idea or bad idea to make a "dead" spot in the tank? Dead spot meaning no or very little current, a place where a fish could hang out and not be blown all over the tank.
Jrittz
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
can u send a pic of your cowfish........ I started a new tank reasontly and the slightest addition will raise my amonia( usual for new tanks ) but if yours has been up for half a year thats unusual.
 
cincyreefer

cincyreefer

Active Member
A dead would not be a very good idea, but an almost dead spot would work. As long as its not near rockwork you should be ok, otherwise you might get a bunch of hair algae pop up.
 
dugan

dugan

Member
Yeah, she IS cute as heck... :D My LFS had some that were TINY... maybe 1/2" long recently... I was actually tempted to set up my 58 again just for one of those little critters!!
Katie
 
dugan

dugan

Member
what did that guy mean when he said......"dead spot"
Just a place in the tank where there is no current... just still water.
Katie
 
sltwtronly

sltwtronly

New Member
IVE BEEN TOLD BY MY LOCAL FISH STORE THAT COW FISH ARE SENSITIVE TO PH. I HAD A PH OF 8.1 AND THE COW STARTED TO NOT LOOK SO GOOD. THEY TOLD ME IT HAD TO BE 8.3. I GOT IT THERE AND AS THE SCALES OR SKIN(DONT KNOW WHAT TO CALL THEM) LOOKED BETTER ITS ACTIONS DID NOT CHANGE. MINE ALSO DID THE THING WITH ITS HORNS SO I WOULD SAY DONT WORRY.
 
qofther

qofther

New Member
My other half just came home with one of these fish. I didnt know anything about them so I started reading up. The most alarming fact I found was that they grow up to 16-20"!!! Is this true?!? :eek: How big to these get in captivity and how fast do they grow?
 
qofther

qofther

New Member
My other half just came home with one of these fish. I didnt know anything about them so I started reading up. The most alarming fact I found was that they grow up to 16-20"!!! Is this true?!? :eek: How big to these get in captivity and how fast do they grow?
 
sltwtronly

sltwtronly

New Member
YES THEY DO GET VERY LARG BUT IT DOES TAKE TIME AND MINE ACTUALLY ATE OUT OF MY HAND ONCE HE GOT USE TO THE TANK. HE WAS AWESOME. HE KINDA REMINDED ME OF THE NEW AUTO VACUUM SO WE NAMED ROOMBA JUST LIKE THE VAC. I LOVE COW (BOX) FISH BUT I DONT KNOW IF I WILL GET ANOTHER ONE DUE TO EVERYONE TELLING ME THAT THEY NEED PERFECT WATER CONDITIONS. I DO KNOW THAT IF THEY GET STRESSED OUT OR THE WATER IS NOT PERFECT THAT THEY CAN RELEASE A TOXIN THAT WILL KILL EVERYFISH IN THE TANK.....JUST A HEADS UP FOR YOUR INFO. GOOD LUCK
 
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