baby longhorned cowfish acting a little strange

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:24 am

he eats some things.He will eat feather worms and starfish.

tri_94 · Post by **tri_94** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:26 pm

Hi there, can someone please help

In the last 2 months my cowfish changed from the colour yellow to having brown and black marking all over her body, and tiny blue spots is this normal?

My cowfish doesn’t have any white spots that I can see. But seems quiet sluggish and tired and doesn’t come to the side of the tank to see me very often anymore.

I have got some CUPRAZIN to cure any disease she may have is this okay use?

water parameters
NITRITE = 0.05MG/L

NITRATE= 25 MG/L (DUE A WATER CHANGE)

PH = 8.5

AMMONIA = 0 MG/L

Haesel

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:52 pm

Do not add any meds to your tank (especially copper-based!), without diagnosis of a disease. You need to be doing more water changes. Nitrites should be at 0 ALWAYS. Nitrates should be <20.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:58 pm

0.5 may be the lowest reading for that particular test kit.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:59 pm

Hmmm...

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:01 pm

Best to get your water independantly tested at a LFS to be safe. And doing some water changes is a good idea incase your test kits are bad and not giving accurate readings.

tri_94 · Post by **tri_94** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:10 pm

so can anyone help with me if my cowfish is sick ?

thanks
Haesel

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:18 pm

My only suggestion can be found in my previous post on the last page:

"In such a small volume of water it could very well be due to the cowfish releasing its toxin into the water.
Adding fresh carbon, doing water changes, and getting a bigger tank would be a good idea."

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 4:18 pm

tri_94 wrote:so can anyone help with me if my cowfish is sick ?

thanks
Haesel

You need a much bigger tank asap. Until then, more water changes.

tri_94 · Post by **tri_94** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:41 pm

hi there my cowfish is only 2inches, do i really need a bigger tanks right now? also what colour should she be? you can see the colour in the last picture i posted..

thanks
Haesel

sassiegemstone · Post by **sassiegemstone** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:01 pm

Check out this site about cowfishes, it may be able to help

http://www.cowfishes.com/index.html

It would help if you could get the exact species of Cowfish so you can place it in the appropiate tank.

Size of the tank can help your Cowfish live a long and healthy life.

For example, my Burrfish is only 3 inches and I thought it was crazy idea to put it in a 55 but she is happy than ever. She is actually not bored anymore and is eating like a pig.

Your cowfish could be sluggish due to the size of the tank since it feels it does not have enough room. Could be just bored too.

I feel the bigger the tank, the less changing of tanks you will need.

tri_94 · Post by **tri_94** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:25 pm

my cowfish is the long horn.

thanks

Haesel

sassiegemstone · Post by **sassiegemstone** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:13 pm

Your Longhorn is going to need a much bigger tank according to that site I suggested.

I would suggest doing some searching on your cowfish.

By the way, how did the cowfish get its name? I'm just curious.

They are interesting odd looking fish. Something I wouldn't mind owning myself but unfortuately, I can't unless I get a bigger place to live.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:43 am

What size tank is he in?Mine is in a 120g. He shows no sign of ich?

petebsbll · Post by **petebsbll** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:30 am

If you continue to keep your cowfish in that small of an aquarium you will stunt his growth and this could lead to his organs and other insides not properly growing. Best suggestion is to get the water quality stable, what type of filter/ skimmer are you using? Also once you get a bigger aquarium keep in mind you are going to need to let it cycle for atleast a month before the ammonia and nitrites will be at 0 ppm. The sooner you can get your bigger tank up and running the better off you will be.

Good luck,

-peter

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baby longhorned cowfish acting a little strange