cowfish cautions

[Aquamarina]

Hi. I'm a newbie to salt water fish-keeping, but am becoming fascinated by the hobby. We bought this house in Nov.02 and it came with a stocked 220 gal salt tank, so have had to learn quick! So far, so good, until I decided to buy a few more fish--2 Tangs, a butterfly, a blenny, and a long-horned cowfish about 3" long, just because he seemed personable! I followed the instructions from the fish store owner, giving them a bath in the prescribed chemical, and put more chemical in the 20-gal quarantine tank and added the fish. Next morning, all were dead, except the cowfish, which I was told "should have been first to die". Looking to the internet for answers later, I discovered that a frightened or sick cowfish can excrete a toxin which can wipe out a fish tank. As he was the only fish left alive, it is only logical to assume that he was the murderous culprit!
Before I found this out, he was put in the main tank so hopefully any toxin will be somewhat diluted. I keep the salt mixing tank in readiness, though.
Another problem has come up--3 days ago, the cowfish "Apollo" (because he looks like he is on a moon mission!) got stuck in a rock cave 3' down at the bottom of the tank, and just floated looking out the glass, making little attempt to find the way out. After missing feeding time, I began to worry that he would die in there and start producing toxin, so I started to chip away at the rock with a steel yard-stick (hoping not to frighten him!) and eventually freed him. Because of this inability to slide in and out of crannies like other fish, and because a dead cowfish would be difficult to remove from rocky formations, I don't think it's a good idea to have cowfish in large tanks with a lot of rock.
I do like him, though, and think he is such an interesting fish. I am posting this rather long (sorry!) message just as a caution to other fish-keepers who might be considering cowfish. I won't be buying any more fish without getting as much info on them as possible!

[Van down by the river]

What was the "chemical" you added?

[DJ88]

Yes what was the chemical prescribed? How much did you put in? Why did you bathe the cowfish in this chemical?

I am betting that chemical had more to do with the death of the fish than the cowfish.

I had a cow die in my tank and it didn't release any toxins. THe other cow underwent a couple of very stressful events(having a run in with a carpet anemone) and didn't release any toxins either.

[Troy F]

I'd seriously avoid the advice of that particular fish store in the future. When looking to add more livestock your best is to do it fish by fish unless there's an extenuating circumstance (like trying to circumvent aggression).

Adding five fish (all territorial) to a 20gal tank would be enough to seriously stress all the fish. Personally, my guess would be the boxfish did nuke the others. With certain species of boxfish it's a well documented phenomena. Of course, in a closed system the toxin should have probably killed the boxfish too. But the coincidence just seems to strong for me. Darren, you may've had a species that is not known to release the toxin or the toxin isn't as lethal such as Lactoria fornasini.

[DJ88]

Holy.. didn't see 5 fish in a 20. saw chemical and chemical and skipped the rest. 5 territorial fish in a 20 gallon tank is not a good thing. That is a lot of stress you have created on top of hte stress of moving to a new home. 5 fish at once in a tank is a lot of stress. Butterflies are a very delicate fish to start. Two tangs in a 20.. ouch.. I'd suggest going a bit slower with fish additions and let us know what that chemical was that you added and bathed them in. thanks.

Troy,

The longhorned cow's don't seem to release like the other boxfish do. I agree with you that if it had in a 20 gallon it would have died as well. Cow's are pretty tough. A lot tougher than people think. My two went through some rough times that a lot of other fish wouldn't have made it through. Including run in's with a very healthy carpet anemone that wiped out a few fish with just a glance.

[AJ_77]

Guys, I think it's a 220 gallon. Might change your advice.

Originally Posted by Aquamarina

We bought this house in Nov.02 and it came with a stocked 220 gal salt tank, so have had to learn quick!

And "welcome" to our new Calgary member!

[DJ88]

I followed the instructions from the fish store owner, giving them a bath in the prescribed chemical, and put more chemical in the 20-gal quarantine tank and added the fish. Next morning, all were dead,

20 gal Q tank..

[AJ_77]

Right you are, Darren - so much for my grade 12 education...


Didn't read that first post well enough to make sense of it. My mistake.

[DJ88]

Alan,

I didn't read it fully the first time either.. lol

so no worries.

[Delphinus]

Man, I want to buy a house that comes with a 220gal aquarium. What a score!!!