Yellow Box Fish

mbell

mbell

New Member
My box fish is growing white spots on his body they appear to be more attached than discoloration of the skin they just appeared today and i have had him in the tank for only 7 days. I have a 35 Gallon SW tank with just the one yellow spotted box fish, a piece of Tonga Live rock and some base rock that seems to be growing some white stuff that looks similiar to a thick spider web or similar. Any help on any of this would be very appreciated.
Thank You
 
broncofish

broncofish

Active Member
First off let me say, Boxfish are awesome I own on and love him. Second Longterm that boxfish will die in your tank. It's to small I recomend 90g as a minimum, as long as you plan on upgrading to a 180 at some point. For some reason all boxfish seem to develope ich very easily. Now that is different than the white spots that start to form around there black spots. As they mature their Yellow skin turn to a pail tan, and the black spots become surounded by white circles. I use a cleaner shrimp with my boxfish and it seem to keep the ich away, but they almost always devlope it when first intorduced to a tank. If you go check out the Photog forum there is a pic of my Box in the photo contest, while being treated for ich. If you have a pic of yours it would help.
 
mbell

mbell

New Member
Thanks For Your Reply, A few more questions since I am new to box fish, and SW tanks. Do i need to have him in a quarintine tank? Will the ich do any damage to my Tonga Live Rock? Also currently I have a pepperment shrimp in with the Boxfish as of about 1 hour ago, will this help until i can get a cleaner shrimp in with him later today, and will I need more than one cleaner? How long will it take for the ich to clear? And what kind of diet do you feed your box fish, i have been feeding some flakes and krill, but today i feed him some frozen brine shirmp and he seemed to like this much better. Also as he grows i do plan on upgrading my tank to the appropriate size, currently he is no more than 3 inches long. and seems to be active and healthy other than the ich, often his bottom half will turn white with his upper half being yellow other times he will be all yellow and then at times comletely pale, is this normal?:)
P.S. I have taken a look at your Photog in the pic gallery and that looks like what my fish has. I am going to be posting a pic as soon.
Thanks Again
 
broncofish

broncofish

Active Member
The color change is very normal. Especialy during night and morning. Read the sticky at the top of this page about QT and Hypo salinity. It will take about a month. I feed mine a mix of Frozen brine, omnivore cubes, flake, krill, and it will munch on copepods on your rocks as well as green algae(varies by fish) Ich will only harm fish not inverts and rock. I keep 2 skunk cleaners, they are always cleaning the box, and breeding(natural food source).
 
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