horned nose boxfish size

[laughing tang]

I am hoping some reefers who have owned horned nose boxfish might help us on this. We got a juvenile one a year ago, he was probably 2". He is thriving in his 150 gallon (super fun fish, like puppy in a tank). He is growing very fast, he's probably 6" from head to tail. It has surprised us that he's growing so fast and we were wondering if anyone has experience with their growth pattern and whether it might slow down.

With his current size we are going to have to upgrade his tank soon, the water fowls too quickly. We notice he mostly needs horizontal space, not so much height.

Just wondering if anyone has any insight and has kept these long term.

 

[JumboShrimp]

You must be proud to have kept him healthy, and growing! I hope someone who has owned one can share their knowledge with you!

 

[laughing tang]

You must be proud to have kept him healthy, and growing! I hope someone who has owned one can share their knowledge with you!

Thank you, yes we are. It was a hard start in hyposalinity but eventually we got him sorted out. These guys are a lot hardier than some of the other boxfish. We learned some tricks along the way. He is so worth it honestly. Thinking of getting a long peninsula tank as a room divider. Very personable, eats from our hands and flaps around in the water to let us know he's hungry. I get fresh clams and mussels for him at the harbor. He loves green algae also. We just can't find much information on these guys in captivity.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Photos to share?

 

[laughing tang]

Video from a few weeks ago:

 

[oxo]

Old post, but do you still have this fella? Extremely cool fish, there's very little out there about how most boxfishes fare in captivity. Given his high dorsal ridge, it looks like he may actually be a shortnose boxfish, Ostracion nasus, which in the wild maxes out at about a foot long.