True or False: A Longhorn Cowfish will wipe out your whole tank if it dies?

[revhtree]

Let's tackle this old belief.

If a cowfish is stressed or dies in your aquarium it will wipe out your entire tank.

Is this true or false and why do you say so? because you read it or because you experienced it?

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[ebushrow]

From my reading I would say yes, when they die they release toxins not found in "regular" fish in the tanks and poison all inhabitants usually resulting in death.

 

[Anubias Design]

False

I've been in the industry for many years and have lost a number of these guys over that timeline in shop and importer tanks in that time and never experienced any problems resulting from their deaths.
Mark

 

[Mike&Terry]

We lost a 4 yr old cowfish in our 180g tank and if he did release any toxin, there were no adverse effects.

 

[revhtree]

We added a baby one a few days ago. Finally started eating last night!

 

[dhnguyen]

Depends the circumstances in which the fish died.

Toxin is only released if the fish is extremely stressed due to being attacked or predation. It's a defense mechanism.
If the fish died from natural causes it should not release toxin.

 

[dhnguyen]

Also contrary to popular belief, cowfish/box fish can ONLY release toxin when it is still alive. A dead cowfish does not release toxin.

I've kept several cowfish and box fish in the past for several years and have never had a poisoning incident.

 

[Cooterbrown]

false i had a 2" on die in my 10 gal qt tank and the clean up crew and damsel that he was rooming with were fine. and he got sucked up against the intake so as bad as it is I'm sure he was stressed until death.

 

[wysiwyg]

being the owner of a longhorn cowfish i would say depends on the size of the fish and the size of the tank. heres a pic of mine about 2 mnths in my tank just know getting his horns

 

[Mike&Terry]

Our cowfish was approx 4" in size and did not die from natural causes. We moved to a new house and upgraded from a 125g tank to a 180g. He was very stressed when we removed him from the 125g tank. He died within hours after the move to the new tank. None of our other fish were affected.

 

[Mike&Terry]

We added a baby one a few days ago. Finally started eating last night!

Congrats on the new addition! We LOVED ours. He was the "puppy" of the tank - very personable, curious and gregarious, lol. Good luck with yours!

 

[Young Frankenstein]

False my little fishy got caught in the overflow and dies, it did not kill anything

 

[rrromine]

well I'm going to get one .I've always thought what a cute addition it would be ,but I was afraid.thanks everyone.

 

[JackoChang]

I've read the blue box fish are the "culprits"

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[wysiwyg]

certain species of box fish are more toxic than others the longhorn and boston bean being some of the least poisonous. if you get one be careful when feeding these guys are slow feeders and wont eat as fast as your other fish

 

[Anubias Design]

other boxes

I've never had any issues from blue boxes or any other species of box or cow fish dying either. I think the whole issue is just an old wives' tale that isn't true.
Mark

 

[Ace25]

False, for THESE boxfish, but that is not to say it doesn't happen with other species of boxfish (like the neutron bomb boxfish)

 

[Acropora52]

Congrats on the new addition! We LOVED ours. He was the "puppy" of the tank - very personable, curious and gregarious, lol. Good luck with yours!

Ever tried another one? How did yours do with coral and the flow?

 

[chris13115]

I had one die where i work. What happens is they release a chemical called ostratoxin (probably misspelled it) but it releases it when it is stressed or it dies, usually this poison kills some fish, but UV sterilizers, carbon and medications prevent the poison from killing. The one at work lived alone, so it didn't wipe out everything. But what i would recommend is to acclimate it where there is little to no stress, and also 70% of the time, there is ostratoxin release in the bag. These are really nice fish to have, but can be a pain

 

[Stew18]

Can you get a tiny one in a 50 gallon? How long can you keep it before it outgrows the tank?