Cowfish Woes

[flubberina13]

Hey anyone with experience about cowfish?

has been in my tank for more than six months and been a darling and a PIG!!!

recently got a hawaiian cleaner wrasse who 'courted' it very often.

Just read that Cowie's delicate skin may be damaged by the wrasse's attention!!! wonder if it is really true...

And bearing his reputation, at a dilemma over him and his other firneds in my tank.

Expert's advice?

[IcecruncherZ]

Hi, I've got no exp with Boxfish. There have been reports of Boxfish being continually harassed by Cleaner Wrasses to the point of...

Yahz~

Dont mean to frighten you, but I've read of it... just cannot remember where...

[leeweixiang]

may i ask a question..........how are cowfish and boxfish related???

[boxfish]

may i ask a question..........how are cowfish and boxfish related???

same type of fish.. one has Gong one no Gong.... as to which one has.... the name tells it all..

[ah_d3x]

wat is cowfish? got pic?

[metals99]

cowfish got antanae.. one and yeah if its frigten it will hahahaha bomb..

[bum]

hey dudes,

lets not hijack the lady's thread,

heres a thread to answer all your cowies and boxies questions.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/boxfishes.htm

i've kept this current specimen for abt 2 months now,

you're right, they're half pigs...

eats mysis, brine, nori...even macroalgae i put for the tangs.

i think your point of concern would be:

"The family is also notable for some members possession of "ostracitoxin" a toxic discharge substance of some trunkfishes. If/when sufficiently disturbed whole tanks, and recirculating systems of livestock have been wiped out. Though this is rare, the cautions listed elsewhere in this piece on netting, acclimation, and tankmates should be heeded if you intend to try a trunk/boxfish."

i'm not sure if the cow fits in the above category of "some members of the ostraciidae family though....

[flubberina13]

Eeks!!!

Crying out loud...then how?

Should I continue to keep Cowie?

He has doubled his size and really like a darling to me but the cleaner wrasse is crucial too.

Let's say if he does 'bombed', then will it be too late to remove all the fish within the first few hours?

Sigh...most of my fishes were gifts from loved ones and wouldn't want any to come to harm...

Otherwise...I may have to start a 'Adopt Cowie' thread liao...

[bum]

uh, how is the cleaner wrasse crucial?

IMHO, cleaner shrimps live longer and clean better.

seriously, i'm not sure how the cow will react...

or if its a danger at all...

after all, its a RARE occurence

no need to panic..

maybe the wrasse will just leave the cow alone after

he's had his fill...

and its just cleaning off parasites...

[diabolus]

after reading all these...im thinking twice abt getting a cow fish...

btw...where can i find it?

dun see them in the LFS ive visited.

[SpiderOne]

I really suggest, u worry about your hawaiin cleaner wrasse than your cowfish. u got one of the most difficult fish to keep there with almost no survival record in aqauariums unless taking prepared food which will prolong its life a while. or u have a 10 ft with many many fishes for it to eat the mucus off

[IcecruncherZ]

Yeah Spiders right... do get cleaner shrimps in the future... They're just as efficient without being 'irritating' ie the cleaner shrimp will set up a cleaning station and whoever wishes to be cleaned will just visit him. My cleaner's cleaning station sometimes got a queue...

Oh yahz, and cleaner shrimps live too

[flubberina13]

Haha...thanks...

Guess I really typical Singaporean...The kiasuism syndrome sets in...

Do have two cleaner shrimps though and it's true that they dun really irritate the fishes but rather, the yellow tang and cowfish irritate them to seek santuary though...

Will monitor the situation for a few more days as it has been two weeks since the introduction of the cleaner wrasse. Was paraniod when I came across the article that Cowfish is incompatible with cleaner wrasses...