...........Long-horned Cowfish
Other names:...........Common Cowfish Origin:......................Tropical Indo-Pacific Max size:..................20" Temperature:...........75-86 F. Min tank size:..........75 gallons Food:.........................small live foods |
The Long-horned Cowfish is somewhat of an oddity. The body of this fish is a tapering box shape. The fish is covered with bony armour leaving only the snout, eyes, fins, gill opening and anus uncovered. The base color is a faded yellow, covered by blue dots and facial lines. At the corners of the head are horn-like growths. These growths are also present on the bottom rear of the "box" body.
From the Seabeds throughout the Indo-Pacific, this Cowfish reaches a length of 20", but rarely reaches this size in the aquarium. When stressed, these fish excrete poison, and so should be settled into a new aquarium before other fishes are introduced. The Cowfish doesn't mind a brightly-lit aquarium and likes a sandy substrate with rocks or coral skelaton.
The Long-horned Cowfish moves like a hummingbird, with little movements of the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins. At first, the fish may only accept small live foods, but may later be trained to eat prepared foods from the hand. Specimens should not be kept with fast moving, aggressive fish. An open breeder, the female lays her eggs which then float on the surface until hatching.
The following information was contributed by Pop Praditbatuga.
Size: Up to 20 inches in the wild. I don't know of any individual this length
in captivity. Most that I've seen including my own are between 1 to 3 inches.
Temperature: 75-86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Water density: 1.020-1.025 (Ideal in my tank is between 1.022 and 1.023)
Feed: Brine Shrimps at first. Later will take pieces of market shrimp and
meat. Dead guppies may also be given at times. After about a year living with
other pellet eating marine fish (clowns and damsels) my cowfish now eats
pellets designed for cichlids also. However, its main diet is still brine
shrimps.
It is a pretty hardy fish. Sometimes susceptible to salt water ich
(cryptocarion) because of the purchased frozen food. I find the most effective
treatment is CopperSafe from Mardel Laboratories, Inc. Remove all carbon
filtration, change 10-25% of the water and add one ounce per 25 gallons to
water for one month before replacing carbon filters. Remove all invertebrates.
This fish is extremely intelligent and will buisily observe you whenever you
are in sight. Its expression is more interesting than the typical appearance
one would get from other fish looking for food. Do not keep with larger fish
-especially curious fish or fish that loses judgement about what it is biting
during feeding (e.g., trigger fish and puffer fish).
I have my fish in a 20 gallon tank with two live rocks, 2 clown fish, 1 domino
damsel, 1 cleaner shrimp, and one Skilter 400 with protein skimmer filter.
I have larger tanks for larger fish. I replace 5 gallons of the water every
two weeks and add two new cups of salt to maintain the correct density and
trace elements.
Caution: I read that this fish is extremely poisonous if it is injured or cut
opened. Obviously it needs it to defend itself since it moves slowly and it
has no spines. When threatened it will point its horns and then its belly at
its enemy. What that conveys - I don't know. But the short period when I had
it in a 40 gallon tank with my Dogface Puffer, it seems to make the puffer
back off. Everything in the tank would perish if the poison is released from a
cut up or bitten cowfish. If found dead, discard it carefully so that your
other pets would not have access to it. Do not bury in backyard if you have
dogs. My cowfish have been with me for over a year and is still healthy; so I
haven't experienced a dead one yet. The horns can break off and may take a
long time to grow back - and usually not as long. Avoid too many corals and
decorations or curious fish that can cause this damage.
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