Cow fish good or bad idea

[kenziejlooft]

I want to get a cow fish I know they can release toxins if I put carbon in my tank will that help if it possibly releases toxins

 

[Roosterjack]

They are cool, to be sure. Think I read somewhere they are hard to keep, Following.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dont. Unique looking but very hard to get them to eat and if they eat, they eventually starve. Water quality must be optimal and they need tube worms to eat and will eat some coral and polyps. Also be aware that if stressed or frightened, they will excrete a poisonous mucus harmful to tankmates and coral.

 

[Cory]

I bought a 2" one long ago. He ate frozen plankton and mysis. Never had a problem with it. Clumsy swimmers though.

 

[Paul B]

They are pretty common fish and they can release toxins. Over many years I have had quite a few of them and never had a toxin problem even if they died and decomposed in the tank. That doesn't mean it can't happen.

They are also delicate, hard to get enough food in them and most of them get large.
I took this in the Caribbean.

 

[GeoSquid]

I've kept a couple types of box fish and never had any issues. I even had a spotted box fish die due to a rock collapse. I found it the next day under the rock. It was probably dead for at least 10 hours in my tank and there were no issues. I had a cow fish over a year with no problems. It ate like a pig and had no problems with a lot of flow in the tank. Very cool fish, kind of like a dog but they get big. It would spit water at me when I walked up to the tank begging for food.

 

[Dr. Jim]

I've had several Long Horn Cowfish in the past (25-50 years ago) and don't recall ever having a problem getting them to eat (even with our inferiorly designed tanks back then), nor did I ever experience a problem with toxins. And, if I'm not mistaken, I recall reading that the Long Horn Cowfish is less likely to exude toxins than other type of box fish....but not sure what more recent research has found.
I probably wouldn't keep one with corals though.....they love to nibble...even on fingers!