Boxfish question

Delphinus · #1 03-09-2010, 06:41 AM

Question about boxfish and the risk they pose with their venom if stressed or perish ..

What do people do with boxfish? Keep them in a tank on their own? Live with the risk that if they kick off, they might take the tank with them? Or is the risk of that overstated? Or is the strategy, run loads of carbon, and hope to heck you get it in time, in case of something bad happening?

Ok I guess that's more than one question. But it's kinda all related...

I know people have these .. maybe mostly in FOWLR tanks.. so would love to hear people's thoughts on these.

kien · #2 03-09-2010, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Question about boxfish and the risk they pose with their venom if stressed or perish ..

What do people do with boxfish? Keep them in a tank on their own? Live with the risk that if they kick off, they might take the tank with them? Or is the risk of that overstated? Or is the strategy, run loads of carbon, and hope to heck you get it in time, in case of something bad happening?

Ok I guess that's more than one question. But it's kinda all related...

I know people have these .. maybe mostly in FOWLR tanks.. so would love to hear people's thoughts on these.

I've had three box fishes in all my time with salt water. The first time I had one he lived for quite a while (3 years?) in a FOWLR before I had to shut down that tank and move

The second one I had did not last long at all. He got ich so bad it enveloped his entire body and nothing I did helped the poor guy. My third and final box fish I got a few months ago?. I think you might have seen him when you were here a couple of times ago? Anyway, he was a huge mistake in my tank. There was way way too much flow in that tank for him. He just kept getting whisked around the tank. He would find calm spots and hover there, but whenever he tried to venture out, whoosh! Round and round he went. I was going to give him up to a new home but sadly I was too late and he didn't make it

Neither deaths resulted in any adverse effects in my tank(s) though. None that I noticed anyway. My conclusion is, they are really poor swimmers. If they are weak they will get stuck to powerheads and or overflows grills.

I have seen them thrive in the odd tank here and there though.

Delphinus · #3 03-09-2010, 06:58 AM

Were they all the same species?

I guess I should have mentioned I'm specifically wondering about this species:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...4+77&pcatid=77
http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/box...pottedboxfish/

FWIW I totally didn't take into account the flow question, good point on that. Well, at this point it's a moot point anyhow, I'm not about to buy one, but I was just curious about the risks since all the sites I was reading about them tonight had those warnings about tank nuke. But I'm sure I've seen this fish available occasionally at LFS's so am curious what the exit strategy is that people use ... or whether the risk is overstated.

Sorry to hear about your little guy.

kien · #4 03-09-2010, 07:04 AM

I had two of the yellow spotted cow fish (non horned variety) and one of the blue ones you posted. The blue one was the one that got ich all over. I saw a blue one at golds about a month ago so ya, they do come through from time to time. The regular cow/box fish are quite common and I know tonnes of people buy them and a lot of them die but haven't heard about any of them nuking a tank. My last box fish was dead for a while.. like half eaten by the clean up crew.. yet no sign of any nasty chemicals.

Did you spot one scuba/snorkling or something? :-) I spotted one pretty close to the shorline just off of one of the beaches near Lahaina. Followed him for a long long time. He didn't seem to mind.

Finley · #5 03-09-2010, 08:08 AM

I agree with Kien, I've had a 2 previous boxfish and both develped ich to the point of no return no matter what I tried. Once was a yellow spotted boxfixh and the other was a smaller one which I can't recall the name. I was impatient when intoducing them which I suppose we all were when we started in the hobby. Now that my 50g has cycled I have another small (at least right now) yellow boxfish which does quite well. He is in a fish only tank with very calm tank mates. I replaced my powerheads with smaller units for less flow and he is out in the front of the tank all the time, unless he is in the back looking for food. I've been looking at the spotted boxfish species you have the links to above there and when the time comes to re-home the yellow I will definitely look into it. I would be interested if anyone else has had experience with the spotted boxfish besides Kien.

As far as them poisoning your tank, I am always looking at my different set ups throughout the day when I'm home. So the chances of something going wrong to point of no return, I would say the chances are slim. There is probably a better chance of power outtage!