Who here keeps a Long Horn Cowfish?
- Thread starter snowlynx
- Start date
Would you keep a Great Dane in a 300 sq. ft apartment and wonder why it leaves big craps on the floor?
The tank is too small for the fish.
To give you a HELPFUL answer, get a siphon and clean it manually every day. If you want to keep an oversized fish in an undersized tank, be prepared to spend a lot of time cleaning up every mess it leaves so the water conditions stay good. You'd have better luck, as the forum has told you, upgrading tanks.
The tank is too small for the fish.
To give you a HELPFUL answer, get a siphon and clean it manually every day. If you want to keep an oversized fish in an undersized tank, be prepared to spend a lot of time cleaning up every mess it leaves so the water conditions stay good. You'd have better luck, as the forum has told you, upgrading tanks.
TokiHacker
New member
If this is your opinion, why not just do whatever you want since you are not going to accept anyone's recommendations anyways. You asked we said. Doesn't matter if you liked it or not. You need to do what is right for the fish not your viewing pleasure.
The answer to what people do for the large amounts of waste for this fish is to have a larger setup that supports more filtration and more water volume for stability. Also, what mcgyvr said about the flow situation.
People's comments towards your situation aren't being smart a**, they are being reasonable and honest.
If you are looking for someone on here to tell you that they believe what you are doing is fine, look elsewhere.
Yes, plenty of us have made lots of mistakes. Those mistakes and successes from learning from them are what makes up most of our common knowledge about this hobby. Peoples recommendations generally aren't blind to that. It forms the basis for our discussions on this forum. But to say "you made that mistake and learned from it, so I reserve to ignore your learnings and make the same mistake even though I asked your opinion" seems pretty counterproductive.
It's your money, your fish, your tank. Ultimately you can do whatever the heck you want. But when you post about keeping a fish that requires a minimum of 250 gallons in a 10 and say you are planning on upgrading to a whole 20 gallons, don't expect many, if any, positive comments.
Not being disrespectful, just being realistic.
mcgyvr
New member
Its like when Nemo was on the edge of the reef feeling the effects of that strong current and then that surfing turtle came along and saved the day..
So I think you just need a surfing turtle..
Hal
New member
I've had two cowfish over time, both in my 250g tank with 20x turnover/flowrate with no problems. Eventually both died, and neither time did they nuke my tank. There was no noticeable effect on the tank.
A 10g is woefully inadequate for these fish. Liveaquaria recommends 250g or larger. From experience, they will get big fast. I think mine grew from 2 inches to 4 inches in about 8 months.
I found the hardest part of keeping a cowfish was giving it enough food. They are pigs. In my community tank they had a difficult time getting enough food before all the other fish ate it. I ended up hand feeding when possible.
The other thing is that because of their skeletal structure, it is difficult to tell when they are not getting enough food. Their sides don't pinch like normal fish. Combine this with them being slow eaters and it's a tough combination.
A 10g is woefully inadequate for these fish. Liveaquaria recommends 250g or larger. From experience, they will get big fast. I think mine grew from 2 inches to 4 inches in about 8 months.
I found the hardest part of keeping a cowfish was giving it enough food. They are pigs. In my community tank they had a difficult time getting enough food before all the other fish ate it. I ended up hand feeding when possible.
The other thing is that because of their skeletal structure, it is difficult to tell when they are not getting enough food. Their sides don't pinch like normal fish. Combine this with them being slow eaters and it's a tough combination.
Thanks for some great advise, including flow, etc...
Some of you get way overly excited with your comments,
not even advise. Chill out...
Duh, 12 gallon is not going to make a difference.
Thanks for those who are honest in trying to keep one
and it ended up dying.
Did I ever say I was keeping it ina 10 gallon indefinitely?
Really lame.
you fish nazi’s need to go in every home and take out
people’s fish in their 2-10 gallon tanks then to ease your ego.
Don’t forget to return it to the LFS. It is about your ego and nothing
more. Take back what? I offended some if you? Lmao
if I didn’t care, I would not even bother to be asking and
learning of ways to remove large fish poop.
Again, thanks for the feedback.
Some of you get way overly excited with your comments,
not even advise. Chill out...
Duh, 12 gallon is not going to make a difference.
Thanks for those who are honest in trying to keep one
and it ended up dying.
Did I ever say I was keeping it ina 10 gallon indefinitely?
Really lame.
you fish nazi’s need to go in every home and take out
people’s fish in their 2-10 gallon tanks then to ease your ego.
Don’t forget to return it to the LFS. It is about your ego and nothing
more. Take back what? I offended some if you? Lmao
if I didn’t care, I would not even bother to be asking and
learning of ways to remove large fish poop.
Again, thanks for the feedback.
You are hardly the first person to post on this forum in this kind of situation. Because of the nature of this hobby, it tends to be about education of responsibility and sustainability for the creatures we keep in our aquariums and their natural habitats. Because of this, people tend to react pretty strongly to these situations when they come up.
I'm not trying to be on a high horse and say you should have never bought that fish because you are supporting removing it from its habitat, because clearly I have fish, and most of those fish came from the ocean. I will buy captive bred where possible, but its not for a lot of fish. Someone else referenced this and said it should be our responsibility to do the best we can for the creatures we selfishly remove from their habitats to keep for our enjoyment. If that means not getting a certain fish, because we cant provide its requirements, then that should be taken into account. Obviously mistakes are made before education. All we can hope for is those people learn from the mistakes and become responsible practitioners of the hobby and go on to help others as they gain experience.
I dont think most meant to offend, but when you act as though you dont want to hear what the experienced people on this forum are trying to tell you, it seems
that you don't share the common values that bring many in this hobby together here. In which case, good luck, and go your separate way. Im sure that's not your stance, and you mean well, otherwise you would have left by now.
Lets get this straight though. To say that people made the comments they did for their ego is absurd. I'm pretty sure their pride doesnt care 2 licks what you keep in your aquariums, but their sense of responsibility they feel for their own animals does. All they want is for other people to have that same respect, and share those core values, otherwise this hobby is doomed, and it should be if thats the way things go.
What most people are trying to tell you is you should strongly consider moving your fish to a significantly larger aquarium, so that you are able to provide it the amount of food it requires and have adequate filtration to process the waste.
If you would like advice about a reasonable size to upgrade to for the time being while your fish grows, I'm sure there will be plenty of people willing to chime assist you. Best of luck.
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I'm not trying to be on a high horse and say you should have never bought that fish because you are supporting removing it from its habitat, because clearly I have fish, and most of those fish came from the ocean. I will buy captive bred where possible, but its not for a lot of fish. Someone else referenced this and said it should be our responsibility to do the best we can for the creatures we selfishly remove from their habitats to keep for our enjoyment. If that means not getting a certain fish, because we cant provide its requirements, then that should be taken into account. Obviously mistakes are made before education. All we can hope for is those people learn from the mistakes and become responsible practitioners of the hobby and go on to help others as they gain experience.
I dont think most meant to offend, but when you act as though you dont want to hear what the experienced people on this forum are trying to tell you, it seems
that you don't share the common values that bring many in this hobby together here. In which case, good luck, and go your separate way. Im sure that's not your stance, and you mean well, otherwise you would have left by now.
Lets get this straight though. To say that people made the comments they did for their ego is absurd. I'm pretty sure their pride doesnt care 2 licks what you keep in your aquariums, but their sense of responsibility they feel for their own animals does. All they want is for other people to have that same respect, and share those core values, otherwise this hobby is doomed, and it should be if thats the way things go.
What most people are trying to tell you is you should strongly consider moving your fish to a significantly larger aquarium, so that you are able to provide it the amount of food it requires and have adequate filtration to process the waste.
If you would like advice about a reasonable size to upgrade to for the time being while your fish grows, I'm sure there will be plenty of people willing to chime assist you. Best of luck.
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Your advise is constructive and appreciated.
It’s not absurd, some are ego and kiss ***. That’s just reality and people
in general regardless of topic.
Blatantly not taking advise, blah blah, that’s whomever their conclusion
Good for them
TokiHacker
New member
You make it incredibly hard to like you :spin1:
In all seriousness all we care about is the safety and the happiness of the fish.
When you getting that 250g? :thumbsup:
Tripod1404
Active member
Lol when somebody asks for advice than argues with the advice that they dont like and start harassing people, I immediately assume they are no good bigots who doesnt deserve advice.
Sorry for trying to help you. You are right 10G or 20G... 100g are large enough for that fish. The tank might look empty with just a cowfish, you should also add a unicorn tang.
Lucky OP has an easy name to remember so, that is a plus.
Sorry for trying to help you. You are right 10G or 20G... 100g are large enough for that fish. The tank might look empty with just a cowfish, you should also add a unicorn tang.
Lucky OP has an easy name to remember so, that is a plus.
nfrench2100
New member
[emoji897]I've got mine that's for sure
Here ya go man [emoji897] I'll share
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no kidding we all care about the fish. I don't plan to come back to this forum.
I feel bad for other's afraid to ask something because of few who have ego issues or love to kiss *** to feel better about themselves.
When I decide to get a larger tank or take back to fish store, *** is it to those who are getting so excited over nothing?
Is it as 16" fish swimming in it's own feces in the 10 gallon?
Honestly, I don't care if I am liked or not, does help the fish either way what people think or feel.
I appreciate some posts who have actually kept one and their experiences with it.
Why don't we all toss everything back in the ocean then? Most if not all your fish corals die sooner or later and you know what you have done to them.
Some of you got your nickers in a twist because the almighty reef masters have spoken and some of us speak back or blatantly refuse to listen, reef lord's forbid, :lmao:
TokiHacker
New member
Alrighty..... I was being nice and joking... I'm kind of glad to not have a person that is so negative apart of the fantastic team of helping people in the hobby. This is by far one of the best forums I have ever been apart of in this hobby.
You sir just have no class or decency for the animals you are keeping. And yes you are correct sometimes mistakes are made but when i ask a question here and they correct me and help me go in the right direction, I will not make that mistake again, v.s. Telling them they are wrong. I research before I just go buy a fish and throw it in a tank that is too Small. If I get one and put it in a tank that is not meant for it's complete growth I have a plan for a larger tank or somewhere to take it in case I need to make sure that the animal is taken care of properly.
Rant over. That was mainly because you were a SA to me. I was trying to be nice. That's all and make a little joke. No need to be so hostile towards people.
Honestly, going back and reading this thread over again the posts against keeping this fish in such a small tank are amazingly civil and respectful. Especially considering the circumstances.
OP: you are looking for a fight and appear to be completely disrespectful of the almost universally constructive criticism you received. You lashed out and then people got ugly. If you choose to not come back, I dont think your attitude will be missed. If you choose to come back, leave it behind and come to learn and grow.
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OP: you are looking for a fight and appear to be completely disrespectful of the almost universally constructive criticism you received. You lashed out and then people got ugly. If you choose to not come back, I dont think your attitude will be missed. If you choose to come back, leave it behind and come to learn and grow.
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No class, no decency, disrespectful. Friggin amazing group of people.
Where did I say to anyone they were wrong?
Where did I insult you tokihacker?
Why do you judge and conclude I am keeping the fish in this one tank or not take it back?
Not ugly comments, stupid comments, of course I will say something.
Where did I say to anyone they were wrong?
Where did I insult you tokihacker?
Why do you judge and conclude I am keeping the fish in this one tank or not take it back?
Not ugly comments, stupid comments, of course I will say something.
TokiHacker
New member
You have no class in regards to the way you handle constructive criticism, in regards for the animals life you have no decency, and your remarks are disrespectful to the people that are telling you the honest and apparent hard truth to you.
I am concluding that because you said that. You Sadie EVENTUALLY you will upgrade to a 20g. This fish needs a 200g!
You insult when you respond to a comment in a negative manner. Even tried to lighten the mood a little and talk about a bigger tank but you continue to look for a fight. The comments are not stupid, they are HONEST regardless if you like it or not.
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