Long Horn Cowfish -- Reef Safe?

SkullV

SkullV

They Got My Number
Does anyone have experience housing one of these fish in a reef? A friend of mine is leaving the country and has a very small (under 2") specimin eating frozen well. I know it's not a long term fish for me, but I would rather have the fish go to me to grow out for a while then end up in a LFS holding tank.

I read that they are reef safe but will eat tube worms. Is that true? Anyone have experience with one of these and SPS?
 
had one in my softies tank, a while back, it took pellets.

never touched any corals.


an even stressed cowfish can inject poison to water, and crash your tank ... that is why I got rid of mine, the risk wasnt worth it.

for sure a cool fish though ! most Alien looking creature I think .
 
Allmost said:
had one in my softies tank, a while back, it took pellets.

never touched any corals.


an even stressed cowfish can inject poison to water, and crash your tank ... that is why I got rid of mine, the risk wasnt worth it.

for sure a cool fish though ! most Alien looking creature I think .
Click to expand...

Hmm, well soft corals are a start! Still looking for SPS tanks though.

Not really concerned about the stress/toxin thing. The tank is very peaceful and the water quality/equipment quality/redundancy is excellent. If anything happened that would stress the fish enough to release the toxin, the tank would be crashing anyway.
 
SkullV said:
Does anyone have experience housing one of these fish in a reef? A friend of mine is leaving the country and has a very small (under 2") specimin eating frozen well. I know it's not a long term fish for me, but I would rather have the fish go to me to grow out for a while then end up in a LFS holding tank.

I read that they are reef safe but will eat tube worms. Is that true? Anyone have experience with one of these and SPS?
Click to expand...

Here's my experience (and you can ask Jim Stine of LAFISHGUYS and he'll say the same thing): The longhorn cowfish releasing toxins an aquarium is only a myth. In fact it is such an incorrect analysis that the Long Beach Aquarium has them in almost every tropical marine aquarium they display. Thats millions of dollars on the line for a cowfish? NO! THEY ARE NOT A THREAT TO ANY AQUARIUM. Plus they do not hurt any coral, but will nibble on tube worms.

It was my dad's favorite fish in his aquarium. He was worried that when it dies it would release lethal toxins. Well after 10 years, it finally past and to no surprise, no toxins released and nothing died because of it.

They are very cute, vibrant and completely incapable of killing ANYTHING but tube worms.
 
TheFishTeen said:
Here's my experience (and you can ask Jim Stine of LAFISHGUYS and he'll say the same thing): The longhorn cowfish releasing toxins an aquarium is only a myth. In fact it is such an incorrect analysis that the Long Beach Aquarium has them in almost every tropical marine aquarium they display. Thats millions of dollars on the line for a cowfish? NO! THEY ARE NOT A THREAT TO ANY AQUARIUM. Plus they do not hurt any coral, but will nibble on tube worms.

It was my dad's favorite fish in his aquarium. He was worried that when it dies it would release lethal toxins. Well after 10 years, it finally past and to no surprise, no toxins released and nothing died because of it.

They are very cute, vibrant and completely incapable of killing ANYTHING but tube worms.
Click to expand...

Great info. Sounds like this is going to inadvertently be my next fish then!
 
TheFishTeen said:
Here's my experience (and you can ask Jim Stine of LAFISHGUYS and he'll say the same thing): The longhorn cowfish releasing toxins an aquarium is only a myth. In fact it is such an incorrect analysis that the Long Beach Aquarium has them in almost every tropical marine aquarium they display. Thats millions of dollars on the line for a cowfish? NO! THEY ARE NOT A THREAT TO ANY AQUARIUM. Plus they do not hurt any coral, but will nibble on tube worms.

It was my dad's favorite fish in his aquarium. He was worried that when it dies it would release lethal toxins. Well after 10 years, it finally past and to no surprise, no toxins released and nothing died because of it.

They are very cute, vibrant and completely incapable of killing ANYTHING but tube worms.
Click to expand...


:eek2::eek2::eek2:

I wish I knew that a couple of years ago :(

I gave away my beautiful animal for free cause of this :S and he was taking pellets :S

thank you for this info !!!! really, it is indeed an amazing fish ! and that was the only thing keeping me away from getting another one !!

hunting for another then :D
 
Great fish. I have had two. One from a baby and never had issues in the tanks with softies or cuc. Once settled they are a lot like a puffer always wanting food. I never lost anything in the tank when it died :( due to stress of house move and subsequent tank move. I tried a replacement some months later but didn't make it out of q/tank. This fish has bitten me before as I was cleaning the glass and not paying attention much like a puppy trying to get you to notice them and feed them :) if I could source a healthy one I would definitely look at it again, just remember they get very big and grow quite fast.
 
geronimo234 said:
they get very large and need an appropriate sized tank good luck
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As stated in the OP, this is a temporary home for the fish while it grows out a bit. I know the fish requirements, just inquiring as to it's eating habits with regards to coral.

Lynnmw1208 said:
they probably don't do well with a lot of flow correct?
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From what I understand flow is not really an issue with this fish (or any fish for that matter). The flow we can create in our tanks is nothing compared to what is in the ocean.

Even the seahorse guys have been increasing flow in their tanks.
 
We had a Long Horn Cowfish in our SPS dominant reef tank for 4 years. He was the "puppy" in the tank and would eat out of our hands. Very playful, full of personality and loved to spout water out of the corner of the tank, lol. They will eat small snails and small feather dusters.
 
prop-frags said:
We had a Long Horn Cowfish in our SPS dominant reef tank for 4 years. He was the "puppy" in the tank and would eat out of our hands. Very playful, full of personality and loved to spout water out of the corner of the tank, lol. They will eat small snails and small feather dusters.
Click to expand...

Great news. It seems like there is no reason not to put this guy in the tank until he puts on 7-8". The copperband will take care of all the feather dusters before the cowfish makes it out of QT anyway and my only snails are large, and expendable if need be.
 
pmrossetti said:
how about shrimps and hermits?

what is a "small" snail?
Click to expand...

Hermits don't belong in a reef anyway, so no worries there. I have seen cowfish with shrimp, but I don't know if that is normal or not. I would assume small snails are things like dwarf ceriths.
 
They don't belong in your reef you mean. I love herms and wouldn't enjoy a reef nearly as much without them.

enjoy your cow.

ps-- i wonder what their natural diet is?
 
pmrossetti said:
They don't belong in your reef you mean. I love herms and wouldn't enjoy a reef nearly as much without them.

enjoy your cow.

ps-- i wonder what their natural diet is?
Click to expand...

They don't belong in any reef. Like all crabs they are opportunistic predators. That means coral too.
 
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