baby box fish at Big al's

[adidas]

was there on sunday, they had a few baby yellow boxfish, they were like the size of a nickle.... cute



like this guy but tiny

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Actually that's a long horn cowfish. Same family though If you get one & it looks stressed or dying, take it out pronto because they release a toxin that will wipe out your tank.

Anthony

[adidas]

ahh ok..

[DJ88]

cowfish aren't as likely to have a toxin as a regular boxfish. I think the only documented occassion this has happened was written by Bob Fenner and I haven't heard any since or even prior. If you do a search on these I think you will find the "toxin" release is an over-exaggeration for the most part bordering on myth which gets perpetuated through the internet by people who haven't had experience wiht them but have heard stories of this. Like many things in this hobby sadly enough. "If I heard about it on the internet it must be true".

I had two get stung by a massive carpet anemone with one being killed and the othert surviving. no toxins. the survivor was stung a second time and survived and still no release. Both of these cowfish were over 5" long. There used to be a cowfish group on MSN and you will hear of many whom have had these fish pass away with very few/no instances of toxins. For all the cows I have seen sold in this area alone I have yet to hear of anyone with a first hand toxin experience.

FWIW

I will add that yes there are boxfish that do have this potential and I have seen instances of this happeneing. But with cowfish I have never seen or even heard of this happening other than Bob Fenners one report.

I believe that these fish have been lumped in with others by mistake and it has stuck. Regretfully. They are some of the best fish to keep IMO IME. But they do grow fast and large so you WILL ned a big tank for them. They make a big mess and will taste and munch on anything that suddenly is interesting to them.

[adidas]

exactly..a myth i had a boxfish dying for days, and then finally die....no ill effects to the other fish occured.

[Willow]

i remember hearing about the "deadly toxin" back in the 80's long before the web ever got ahold of it.

[DJ88]

Not sure what your point is willow.

That myths existed prior to the 'net? Yeah they did. Word of mouth is just as bad for letting these myth-truths move right along.

Do you have some personal experiences to add? Insights?

Or do you prefer to be among those who perpetuate and just add what they have heard along with any other wives tale they feel is relevant?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Actually, I was at a LFS when a boxfish died & was released into a container with a bunch of other fish. Over the next couple of days, everything in that one box died. Cause of death was traced back to that dead boxfish since all other parameters in the different containers were fairly equal. Since they're in the same family, I still wouldn't risk letting one die in my tank just to disprove a "myth". Not sure how toxic long-horn cowfish are compared to boxfish. I'm tempted to get one because they are so irresistably cute

Anthony

[Willow]

what happaned darren did you get canned from rc, is that why you are back with us lonely ol' peeps?

[DJ88]

Well firstly.. Boxfish and Cowfish are from different genus of animals completely. Lactoria cornuta is the longhorned cowfish. Ostracion sp. is the genus for the boxfish you see in the stores. Different fish. Different families. So throwing a blanket statement over a bunch of fish just because they are called "boxfish" by stores doesn't mean they are the same thing.

Usually when a boxfish releases it isn't a slow lingering death of occupants. It's pretty sudden and traumatic. Trust me.

A couple of years ago I spent a lot of time talking to other Longhorned Cowfish owners. Several actually who had experiences as I have with these fish passing on. On two occasions one of the group brought home fish from LFS's that were not in the best of health with the intention of nursing them back as he had done on prior occasions. Neither of these two survived and niether released any toxins. Even after being in the tank for awhile after death.

With my two Longhorned Cows both sustained very serious trauma due to being stung by an 18" carpet anemone. One was the anemone overnight and had quite obvioulsy struggled for a while. No release. The other cow was stung twice, once that same night and once a short while later. I sold it to someone without any anemones and the last time I had spoken to them was doing very well and had grown by 2".

I guess it comes down to looking to those with past expereinces that don't follow with the "myth" and seeing that quite possibly there is differences and maybe they would be better served clearing the air rather than confusing the issue.