So we picked up a yellow spotted cowfish a week ago. He is only about a inch big. Really small. He has been great with the blood worms, but now does not eat them. So he has not had anything to eat. What should I switch him two? I want to see what people have had the best luck with.
Cowfish not eating...
- Thread starter ecreef
- Start date
try live brine to get him to eat, bloodworms usually will give saltwater fish stomach problems (may be the problem) so I'd stop feeding bloodworms
Petstorejunkie
New member
try live brine to entice him to eat, the blood worms are a good idea for him in the beginning but is not a complete diet for the long run. cows and boxfishes NEED veggies in their diet so put some nori on a clip or rubberband it to a rock.
Monkeyfish
Active member
My cowfish loves mysis shrimp, clam, Omega One Super Veggie flakes, Ocean Nutrition frozen formula 1 and 2 and pieces of silverside. He nibbles at nori and seaweed select.
sorry, ecreef, I should have been clearer. I knew you had yours for a short time. good luck with the new fish!
I was actually talking to monkeyfish. cowfish and boxfish don't seem to be reported as doing well long-term. I was trying to get information from someone that kept one successfully for a long time.
I was actually talking to monkeyfish. cowfish and boxfish don't seem to be reported as doing well long-term. I was trying to get information from someone that kept one successfully for a long time.
reefD
New member
common for some fish. this is why with some breeds its important to ask and see it feed at lfs. if they dont eat most likely wasnt before you bought it and most likely will be a challenge. tangs are always looked at and asked "is he eating" but other fish also require this question.
Monkeyfish
Active member
Hello Lisa D
I've only had Moo (longhorn cowfish - Lactoria cornuta) for about 3 months now. When I first brought him home he was a little under 2 inches and I put him in a 20 long. He's now over 3 inches long and will be going into a 75 gallon tank. If/when he outgrows that one he'll go into a 180. He is very personable and likes to be hand fed. As previously stated he gets a variety of meaty and veggie foods. Moo had a minor case of ich which he overcame without treatment. I will be giving him a 6 week hypo treatment in a 29g hospital tank prior to placing him in the 75 just to be on the safe side.
I've only had Moo (longhorn cowfish - Lactoria cornuta) for about 3 months now. When I first brought him home he was a little under 2 inches and I put him in a 20 long. He's now over 3 inches long and will be going into a 75 gallon tank. If/when he outgrows that one he'll go into a 180. He is very personable and likes to be hand fed. As previously stated he gets a variety of meaty and veggie foods. Moo had a minor case of ich which he overcame without treatment. I will be giving him a 6 week hypo treatment in a 29g hospital tank prior to placing him in the 75 just to be on the safe side.
tankbuilder
New member
Hey guys! Glad to find some admirers of the ol boxfish! I've had my longhorn for over a year. Loves mysids, fomula 2. HATES squid!Loves seaweed selects. Be careful about stresses around them. Lost one cow to stress and he poisoned the tank. Took out my gramma, made my hippo tang and lawnmower blennie sick for a few days.
Monkeyfish
Active member
ecreef - If you added new live rock to the tank without curing it first then you most likely created another cycle in the tank. IMO you should check the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, etc) and do a large water change if necessary. If the water quality is poor and you stress out the boxfish you could end up losing everything in the tank.
The rock was already cured and I checked all the levels today twice and they are all where they need to be. I did buy mysis shrimp (frozen) and plankton (frozen and I have some live brine shrimp so I am going to see if anything works when I get off, if not I will set up my 75 and try to get him in his own tank for now to see if that does anything...maybe tank mates bugging him, but this I have not seen.
Petstorejunkie
New member
i have had mine since august, and he has more than doubled in size ( now at around 5 inches) the key is to feed them a variety and to deworm asap these guys are prone to parasites, and since they are not shaped like a typical fish, most aquarists dont know how to tell if theirs is emaciated.their sides can be a bit "sunken in" but NOT the bottom side. when you look at the fish from the side you should be able to see his under side bulging down a bit. if you get him readily eating i would first deworm with pipzine, (some areas wont carry this, but i have found it in a doggy dewormer proper name is piperazine citrate, i found it in 8in1 erliworm liquid dewormer) soak the food for several hours in a small amount of pipzine, like .25 teaspoon pip to 1oz defrosted mysis, also add Zoe and marine C while you are at it. then i would dose with metronitazole 4 weeks later (same routine for the food, but perhaps adding focus to it will help bind the metro to the food. mine has a pot belly and poops more than my 5 inch dogface! he eats half a sheet of seaweed selects green daily with the occational strip fo red rolled in (he hates it so i have to sneak it) mysis, and whatever else i throw in there meaty, he will also sometime go after the spectrum pellets. mine has never been a timid eater, but when i got him he was already eating mysis and bloodworms.
GOOD LUCK hope he stikes up an appeitie again really soon!
Ok, so I think new rock I got from a guy is causing all the problems. I lost a lemon fish and the rest have heavy breathing. The yellow cow fish has lost a lot of color and is still not eating. The only thing left is the live brine shrimp once they hatch in the am. He looks very rough, but he is still moving around like normal so I am at a loss. If the bring shrimp don't work then I dunno. Someone who got fish from the same guy had bad ich problems in them. Could that have come from the rock?
Petstorejunkie
New member
check your parameters again, the heavy breathing could be from ammonia. if that is the case you need to start some serous waterchanges and some bio spira pronto. i would reccomend a 50% water change and then the biospira, which will take care of the ammonia problem in about 48 hours, if that is indeed the problem.
Monkeyfish
Active member
Heavy breathing may also be do to low dissolved oxygen in the water though I agree with Pets that it sounds more like an ammonia spike, especially since you just added more live rock to the tank. Is there a film on the surface of the water? Is the surface calm or are there ripples? Check the temp, pH, calcium and alkalinity. Make sure a heater isn't malfunctioning.
Even if all parameters come back good from chem tests a large water change can't hurt as long as the temp, salinity and pH are appropriate. I'd aerate the new water for 24 hours before doing the water change.
Even if all parameters come back good from chem tests a large water change can't hurt as long as the temp, salinity and pH are appropriate. I'd aerate the new water for 24 hours before doing the water change.
Well, some other people got things from the same guy and the rock/fish from the guy was the problem. So ich and parasites. So the rock has been removed and all seems back to normal now. Now the box fish is eating the blood worms again and the nori. He is getting color back which is great. Still won't eat the plankton or anything else, but baby steps haha. Tanks for all the help.
