Longhorn Cowfish - Lactoria cornuta ???

[Oblivionis]

Does anybody have experience with keeping Longhorn Cowfish? I'm thinking about getting one but would like to hear your success and/or failure stories. Please share.

 

[Zoalander]

I'm pretty sure they are not reef safe, they can get very big (12-20 inches), if they die they may release toxins, and they look very cool.

 

[Oblivionis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6994105#post6994105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vetter1980
I'm pretty sure they are not reef safe, they can get very big (12-20 inches), if they die they may release toxins, and they look very cool.

Yes, I know all that. I'm just wondering if anybody has tried keeping one.

 

[aaronpentz]

best fish i have ever owned. very personable. I bought mine when he was the size or a sugar cube. He was about 2 inches long just starting to get his horns and then we lost him in a move. He never picked at any of my corals

 

[Pufferpunk]

They will eat crustaceons. Snails, crabs, shrimp.

 

[raytse]

I have one for about 3 months. I bought it when it is about 1.5 inches long and keep it in a 65 gallon fish only tank. Now it is at least 2 inches. Very active, eats flakes, pellets and frozen foods, not picky at all.

 

[RRafael]

I have had one and they are cool but make sure you have a good filtration becasue when they get big they go to the bathroom ALOT, looks like little suasage links lol......but they are pretty hardy

 

[Oblivionis]

Thanks everyone. Anybody else has experiance with them?

 

[RobChuck]

Longhorned Cowfish are notoriously weak swimmers in my experience. I kept a small one several years ago that did well for a few months until it got stuck to a powerhead. That incident drastically weakened its ability to swim, and from then on, I was constantly finding it stuck to a powerhead or against the overflow and always having to turn a pump off to help it. That lasted for about 4 days until I woke up one morning and found it upside down and dead stuck to a MJ 1200 (with a guard on it).

I would love to keep another one someday, but need to do alot of planning to set up an appropriate tank for one.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Healthy fish (even poor swimmers) really shouldn't get stuck to powerheads.

 

[RRafael]

Be prepared for a large bio load when they get larger......but if your filtration and flow is good they are cool fish to have and watch. Not shy at all they will eat out of your hand.

 

[Monkeyfish]

I've had one for about 5 months now. He's about 3 inches long, eats everything I offer and prefers to take food out my hand rather than look for it. The only thing to be wary of is that if they become severely stressed or die they can emit a toxin with the potential to kill themselves (if not already dead) and everything else in a moderate sized tank.

 

[Pufferpunk]

The fish can not poison itself w/its own toxins--its immune. Can wipe out the rest of your tank though...

 

[Oblivionis]

From Liveaquaria.com:

"Similar to other boxfish, the Cowfish Longhorn's skin is poisonous and, when threatened, it will release a toxin lethal to other tank members, including other Longhorns."

Other Longhorns... interesting.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I don't believe that to be true. In dealing with puffers (similar species), this isn't true.

 

[billybear22]

no i don't keep one but i did catch a 16 inch cowfish in a cast net netting for bait in tampa about 20 years ago before i knew what it was and it freaked me out i set it on the concrete cozway and it couldn't move i touched and said ,,..;;/'[ this thing is a swimming rock .lol i knocked on it it was solid as a rock klunk klunk could not believe my eyes. what i was seeing thought i had caught some prehistoric creature and was gonna get rich till they all laughed at me said thats a cow fish throw it back its no good .lol well i was just a kid but the are very cool fish but i heard hard to keep ...