Boxfish question

[kien]

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]

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!