Cowfish update w/PICS

[seanothon]

Had him with no trouble for about 5 or 6 months now. Getting bigger and bigger all the time. Developing great blue spots all over him. Still haven't decided on something else to put in with him. I may just have him be the only fish in the 90gl. His only other roomates are a Snowflake eel and a White-Legged hermit crab.

[Uncle Salty 05]

These guys are definitely cool. I had one for years, he would always get excited when he saw me and come to the front glass like a puppy.
I really miss that lttle guy.

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Glad to see you're having luck with this little bugger. What size was it when you got it and what size is it now? I've had mine for almost 4 years now and I know what you mean when you say they just keep growing.

[got2envy]

I just got one last month...one of the coolest fish I have owned so far.
he is only about 3" big right now

I have with him a snowfalke eel, fu manchu lionfish, green filefish, unk. scorpion fish and a royal gramma...what a crew lol

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I'm not sure if this is necessarily the case but I've heard that people usually have really good luck with them for about the first year or so and then once they hit that 12 month mark they just stop eating or waste away. Again, I'm not entirely sure if this is true but I have a hard time believing it considering I got mine when it was about 1.5" and now he's pushing 6-7"

[seanothon]

It was about 2.5" when i bought it and is around 6" now

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Oh wow, he grew that fast?!?!?!

[seanothon]

Yeah. I am power feeding him (tossing spectrum pellets in every time i walk by the tank) and his is in a 90gl essentually to himself. This probably accounts for his quick growth

[Shane Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Dante_JoseCuerv

I'm not sure if this is necessarily the case but I've heard that people usually have really good luck with them for about the first year or so and then once they hit that 12 month mark they just stop eating or waste away. Again, I'm not entirely sure if this is true but I have a hard time believing it considering I got mine when it was about 1.5" and now he's pushing 6-7"

This happened to me. I had my Longhorn Cpw for 14 months. Every night I would feed the fish an hour before lights out. He always came to the glass and spit water at the surface. Sometimes the water would shoot 3 or 4 feet out of the tank. The night he died he came to the glass like normal and ate like a pig. I woke up at 4am for some odd reason. Whenever I catch myself up at odd times I shine a flash light in the tank to see what interesting critters are there. The first thing i saw was my 6+ inch cow fish laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. I nudged him with a net, he was already gone. His body was perfect, there wasnt a mark on it............

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Yeah. I am power feeding him (tossing spectrum pellets in every time i walk by the tank) and his is in a 90gl essentually to himself. This probably accounts for his quick growth

Yeah, that might have something to do with it. I feed mine everyday, PE mysis, Hikari Spirulina Brine, dried nori from the asian market, clam, plankton and a few other things. He eats like a champ after all these years.

This happened to me. I had my Longhorn Cpw for 14 months. Every night I would feed the fish an hour before lights out. He always came to the glass and spit water at the surface. Sometimes the water would shoot 3 or 4 feet out of the tank. The night he died he came to the glass like normal and ate like a pig. I woke up at 4am for some odd reason. Whenever I catch myself up at odd times I shine a flash light in the tank to see what interesting critters are there. The first thing i saw was my 6+ inch cow fish laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. I nudged him with a net, he was already gone. His body was perfect, there wasnt a mark on it............

Sorry to hear that. As I said before I have no idea why this is since my cowfish has been with me for 4 years and just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I think it might be parasites or something like the BSJs used to have.

[seanothon]

I certainly hope I don't loose mine at the 1 year point.

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I certainly hope I don't loose mine at the 1 year point.

So far everything seems to be ok. Once you get to that 1 year mark keep an eye on it. If it begins to act strangely or stops eating (whether eating much less or completely) you might be at the end of your luck. All that being said though I hope you the best of luck. Cowfish and boxfish have such wonderful personalities so it's no wonder we get attached to them. Best of luck with your little one! Keep us updated!

[seanothon]

He acts like he will never stop eating. In fact, that is the reason i bought him in the first place. When I saw he at the store, I put my finger against the glass and he went after it. I decided I had to have him after that

[ChadTheSpike]

Very, very cool!!!

They are such awesome fish. One of the tanks I used to do maintenance on had one for 5+ years, one of the most personable fish I have ever seen.

[seanothon]

Originally Posted by ChadTheSpike

Very, very cool!!!

They are such awesome fish. One of the tanks I used to do maintenance on had one for 5+ years, one of the most personable fish I have ever seen.

It is very notable fish who beggs all day for food and will rush to the glass anytime it sees you

[BuckeyeTodd]

Originally Posted by seanothon

It is very notable fish who beggs all day for food and will rush to the glass anytime it sees you

Is it a similar personality to the porcupine puffer?

[freeswimmingfis]

I loved my cowfish, had him for a few years in a 110 long with a few other cool fish. He died overnight without warning too. Very sad.
I always wanted another, but not to sure about putting one in my reef tank...

[seanothon]

Originally Posted by freeswimmingfis

I loved my cowfish, had him for a few years in a 110 long with a few other cool fish. He died overnight without warning too. Very sad.
I always wanted another, but not to sure about putting one in my reef tank...

Man... you guys are worrying me. Have any of you had experience keeping large puffers with a cowfish? I am considering getting a stars and stripes puffer that has been sitting at my LFS for a while. The only problem is that the puffer is close to twice the size of my cowfish and i don't want any harassing

[SaltLifer]

I had one for a couple years and he did very well in my 90fowlr.he met his demise when we had a 4day power outage,the only fish I lost. My hippo tang bugged him some but the fish does have horns and they know how to use them,I was wanting to get another one and I have a dogfaced puffer.From what I understand both fish have a posion sac which means if the die you must get them out of the tank as soon as 4hours.or posion will be released into the tank and kill everything.On the upside I was told most fish don't bother them too much because of that.Feeding might be a problem since the puffer is not supposed to eat everyday,good luck feeding the cowfish without the puffer getting some..lol this post makes me miss that little guy.

[seanothon]

Originally Posted by SaltLifer

I had one for a couple years and he did very well in my 90fowlr.he met his demise when we had a 4day power outage,the only fish I lost. My hippo tang bugged him some but the fish does have horns and they know how to use them,I was wanting to get another one and I have a dogfaced puffer.From what I understand both fish have a posion sac which means if the die you must get them out of the tank as soon as 4hours.or posion will be released into the tank and kill everything.On the upside I was told most fish don't bother them too much because of that.Feeding might be a problem since the puffer is not supposed to eat everyday,good luck feeding the cowfish without the puffer getting some..lol this post makes me miss that little guy.

yeah i was concerned about the puffers greedy attitude when it comes to eating