Longhorn Cowfish question

K

ksprice

New member
I'm a newbie to the hobbie and my fiancee picked a fish out so that she could be a part if it. She choose a longhorn cowfish and I later found out (after taking it home) that I should have studied a bit harder.
Anyways, since she has been added to the tank her color has changed to a darker green on top with the blue spots. She's eating fine and getting along with the tank mates, but is the color change normal? I'm feeding her squid, seaweed, krill, and shrimp.

150g tank...
Any suggestions/opinions?

- kp
 
Longhorns are really not the best fish for home aquaria, they really do not adapt as well as most fish. I have found they are quite nervous and easily stressed. If stressed badly enough, they can secrete a toxin in a mucous from their skin. A similar toxin to that of a Sea Cucumber.

They need to be kept with slow swimming fish and fish that are very unaggressive. I can't stress that enough, no aggressive fish! No Triggers, Lions, some Puffers, ect. Its a really bad idea. Not only can they not compete for food with these fish, these types of fish are usually the reason Cowfish become stressed enough to release their toxin and kill the tank.

And the last problem you will have to figure out is size. They reach up to about 20"! Probably closer to a foot and a half in aquariums but big enough to need a very large tank. A 150 will not really be big enough.

Gobies are good tankmates because they are quite calm and stay near the bottom.

What in with him now?

He also should have been QT'd, they usually have ich.
 
I know I'll get reamed for this, but we (my roommates and I) have some cardinals, chromis, copperband butterfly, dogface puffer, and (here's the bad one) a Picasso trigger.
The Cowfish gets along fine so far, in fact she will take chunks of squid from the trigger and she has pecked at him too.

The nervous bit seems odd to me. So far from what I've seen she's just a very curious fish. She always follows what's going on outside of the tank.

Thanks for the info on the change of color... at least some positive information :)

I have also heard/read that with the trigger as long as it is kept fed/not hungry and is smaller than the longhorn it won't bother it (which has been the case for me so far *crosses fingers*).

Thanks.
 
I know I'll get reamed for this, but we (my roommates and I) have some cardinals, chromis, copperband butterfly, dogface puffer, and (here's the bad one) a Picasso trigger.
The Cowfish gets along fine so far, in fact she will take chunks of squid from the trigger and she has pecked at him too.

The nervous bit seems odd to me. So far from what I've seen she's just a very curious fish. She always follows what's going on outside of the tank.

Thanks for the info on the change of color... at least some positive information :)

I have also heard/read that with the trigger as long as it is kept fed/not hungry and is smaller than the longhorn it won't bother it (which has been the case for me so far *crosses fingers*).

Thanks.
 
Cowfishes are hard to keep but some of my favorite fish. I think 150 gallon will keep a cowfish for a long, long time -- as a rule they do not get much bigger than a foot in home aquaria. There are some exceptions, of course, but usually they pass on long before then.

Watch the trigger - I've seen cowfish horns snapped off by triggers and if that cowfish releases toxin you will have a big problem on your hands. I'd probably choose between the picasso and the cowfish -- otherwise, as you said, its a "keep your fingers crossed" situation.

Keep a lot of carbon on hand and if the cowfish starts having trouble swimming get it out of there -- don't wait for it to recover, because it probably wont.
 
Given your situation, I would say you"ll need to choose between the cowfish or the other fish. It' only a matter of time before a toxin release.
 
Well it wont hurt but..carbon looses its efectiveness over a period of time so make sure you change it every so often...I dont know how long its good for though..i change my carbon every month and i use 3.65L in the sump of each of my tanks and i dont have a cow fish (i did for years then it started spinning in circles head out of water and tail pointed to bottom of tank and bobbing like a fishing bobber at the same time..i put it in the QT and the next am it was dead)
 
If the cowfish is not stressed and is healthy, with COMPATIBLE tankmates, I don't see a reason not to keep it. if it releases toxins, it won't just kill its tankmates, it will kill itself too. so, I repeat, watch the trigger and the puffer. at the first sign of harassment, I'd remove the cowfish or the offending fish.

there's a good site you should look at, www.cowfishes.com
 
have you seen them as babies? talk about cute :) and only .5 inch! didnt mean to not answer your question.. just wanted to share :)

cow.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12691985#post12691985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ksprice
I know I'll get reamed for this, but we (my roommates and I) have some cardinals, chromis, copperband butterfly, dogface puffer, and (here's the bad one) a Picasso trigger.
Click to expand...

Good luck with this tank if you are able to grow all these fish to adults. This would be a pretty good stock list for a 220G.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12692879#post12692879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thepudge
Cowfishes are hard to keep but some of my favorite fish. I think 150 gallon will keep a cowfish for a long, long time -- as a rule they do not get much bigger than a foot in home aquaria. There are some exceptions, of course, but usually they pass on long before then.

Watch the trigger - I've seen cowfish horns snapped off by triggers and if that cowfish releases toxin you will have a big problem on your hands. I'd probably choose between the picasso and the cowfish -- otherwise, as you said, its a "keep your fingers crossed" situation.

Keep a lot of carbon on hand and if the cowfish starts having trouble swimming get it out of there -- don't wait for it to recover, because it probably wont.
Click to expand...

Only because people cram them into small tanks. They should easily reach 16" and live quite a long time.
 
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