Box fish

[aquahungerforce]

I saw a very small cute box fish at a lfs yesterday, I was wondering if anyone has kept these fish and could tell me more about them. I know they can release a poison, but are they suitable for a community aquarium? And how big do they get? Thanks!

 

[Guest]

I wanted one but can't have one with my fish ,there related to the puffer's
they have a slime coat on them that is toxic if another fish eats them they will dye
Not trying to scare you, I have a puffer that has the same slime ,they get along with most fish, just can't have more then one in a tank as they will fight, also you can't have a puffer and a box fish in the same tank ,other then that your fine
nothing to worry about ,if you really want to see a cool fish look for a cow fish, its a box fish with what looks like horns, the one I szaw was yellow, wanted real bad but I have a puffer so I'm out of luck

 

[packfan2204]

i'm not sure how big the cubicus boxfish gets, i believe around 8 inches, but the blue boxfish will get around 6

 

[aquahungerforce]

The guy at the store said tat they actually will release a toxin if they're in "too small" a tank and kill all the "small" fish. He didn't specify what would be too small, or really any other info
The fish i saw was yellow with little spots and he was about the size of a die. What would be suitable tank mates? Non-agressive smaller fish possibly?

 

[Nitrate]

I had two puffers and a longhorn in the same tank for almost a year without any serious problems. There were some tense moments, but all in all they got along great.

My longhorn got caught up in a feeding frenzy and was almost swallowed whole twice by my puffer and he never released any toxin, so it must be a dire circumstance that would cause them to so. He had two of his horns bitten off by a trigger, and recently was being harassed by a filefish.

I think they are a great addition to a community tank as long as there are no bullies in the tank and if I could get confirmation that I could house a longhorn and a Blue boxfish together I would be on the search for a medium to large Blue.

 

[ReefGuru]

I have worked at a LFS that brought in a 18 inch long horn cowfish. They are ok for aquariums if you have several parameters.
1.) Carbon at all times
2.) Protein skimming
3.) Enough room for it to grow
and 4.) No other fish that it can pick at.

With all that said, I would be cautious with it in a reef. The little ones are sometimes ok, but in general, any one as it gets bigger will cause problems.

Good Luck

 

[ReefGuru]

I have worked at a LFS that brought in a 18 inch long horn cowfish. They are ok for aquariums if you have several parameters.
1.) Carbon at all times
2.) Protein skimming
3.) Enough room for it to grow
and 4.) No other fish that it can pick at.

With all that said, I would be cautious with it in a reef. The little ones are sometimes ok, but in general, any one as it gets bigger will cause problems.

Good Luck