puffer and cow fish...toxic???

[chicki1957]

I've read that cow and box and puffer fish have a toxin inside them, and if they should die in the aquarium they release these toxins and it can take down everything in your tank. Can anyone comment on these????
thanks Lynn

 

[whipple]

Thats true of the Cow and Box fish but the puffer no ( Dog, Pork, Valentini) The Cow and Box will possibly release poisons when stressed or if they happen to die and it can take out your tank, but if you give them a happy home and dont haave anything that chases them or competes for food and good water quality they more then likely wont nuke your tank. I have a Cow fish Pork and a Dog living happily in the same tank. Bill

 

[tangcrazy]

The flesh of a puffer is poisonous if eaten, other than that they are safe, they do not release toxins like the boxfish.

 

[kronin]

Nope - The spotted puffer/golden puffer is actually a member of the boxfish family (meleagris) and CAN, and WILL poison your tank.
There are more puffers that do this - I suggest if you were planning on getting one, be certain that its not one that will release any toxin. A dogfaced puffer for example.
Ultimately though, IMO I wouldnt touch boxfish, cowfish or any of the certain puffers unless they were on their own. If you keep them with other fish, even if their not aggressive, a boxfish could die in the middle of the night and you'd have the unpleasent suprise of waking up with no fish left. Not worth it.

 

[tangcrazy]

Wow, Kronin you got me! I had no idea that a golden puffer could release poison!! I had one in a tank with two triggers, and dwarf lion. The clown trigger really would get in some moods, and just harass my golden puffer, until one day the puffer was actually stung by the lion, and even though I took the puffer out within 12 hours of being stung, he never did release any poison. With all that happened to him, it is suprising he maintained himself. ALL this time, I was under the belief that ALL puffers were just poisonous if eaten. Thank You for setting me straight.

 

[kronin]

I was just as suprised as you tbh - but I cant take the credit for that piece of information - If anyones after more info. head over to Pufferlovers site, hes the man to talk to
<a href="http://www.pufferlovers.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pufferlovers.com/</a> - (hope that aint breaking any rules <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" /> )

 

[chicki1957]

Thats what my book said, so your right on the mark. It just doesn't go into details about which exact species do exactly what. I love the dogface puffer!! Can it go in a community tank?

 

[treble]

You could do a dogface in a community tank, just no small fish, get the dogface small, they can reach 20in. The olny 2 puffers that are actually capable of realesing toxins are the golden and S&S.

 

[bstanford]

i came back from vacation and my cow fish had been sucked up into my filter. Thank god he did not poison my tank, my other fish seem to be doing fine.

 

[kronin]

Unfortunately I wasnt so lucky
My yellow spotted boxfish died just before Christmas, and took everythng except the hermits with it. Killed off most my LR too!
Anyone who's already got a boxfish or a cowfish, I'd seriously reconsider and think about whether its worth the risk keeping them. I mean theres better looking and more interesting fish out there, without you having to worry about your beloved reef being wiped out.