Page 1 of 1

Boxfish/Cowfish wipeouts

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 6:29 am
by Mirrorpad
Hi.

Has anyone got any first hand experiences with a Cowfish/Boxfish dying within their system? Did this result in a loss of any other fish within the system? and if so what size was the fish and what size tank was it living in?

Read quite a bit and there is a few that suggest that this occurs if the fish is 8-10"+

Thanks

Re: Boxfish/Cowfish wipeouts

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:13 pm
by El Scorpio
Certain species of cowfish can release ostracitoxin into the water if the fish is stressed out or feels threatened, making other fish sick. This is a response mechanism though - the fish doesn't release the toxin upon death, although if it was under stress at the time of its death then it is likely that the water has been contaminated.