My new Boxfish!

[Florence]

I have just got a Boxfish, Ostracion meleagris female, her name is Mama Cass. She is right now in the biggest of my quarantine aquarium (I have two).

I am in the process to setup at Boxfish aquarium. I hope to get a male later to go together with Mama Cass, then both will have their own aquarium.

Beside that I have a 75 g. reef with 7 fish, including a puffer.

I have read all I can find on the Internet and in my books, but I want to learn more. Her is pictures of Mama Cass, she came yesterday, and she already swim towards me when I come in the room

 

[fdavila514]

very nice... just like a puppy! HI MAMA CASS!

 

[Avi]

The fish in the Boxfish "family" are particularly susceptible to ick, so it's a good thing that you're quarantining them. They're very interesting to watch and just be sure that your water quality is good. They have the potential to release a toxin when very highly stressed to there should always be a protein skimmer on the tank that they're in or the toxin could kill the boxfish that releases it and any other fish in the tank. The odds of this happening aren't all that great, but they aren't negligible either, so keep the water quality high and keep that protein skimmer working since that would work to remove the toxin if it is ever released.

 

[sjsoto]

good looking fish best of luck finding the male...

 

[flameangel]

I've researched the web looking for more info on their care but didn't find too much info and even less user experiences. There's some good reading on wetwebmedia on boxfish by Bob Fenner:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/boxfishes.htm

I got a pair back on July 15th where the female has been eating very well from frozen to pellets and been gaining some weight but the male is much more picky and I think he's actually been lossing weight.

Here's a picture

This was at the 1 month mark

Hope you enjoy your new addition as much as I have.

 

[Bob 1000]

Very delicate fish, is it eating yet??

 

[WikedTechniQuezZ]

Very very nice fishes i love the colors

 

[reefnewbe]

Nice fish
(color pattern & shape are awesome)

 

[flameangel]

I feel you stand a better chance if you can find smaller specimens where they will be easier to get started with prepared food. The 5" Bluespotted boxfish is very picky where the 3" female will eat pretty much everything I put in the tank.

Recently I got 2 small Ostracion Solorensis (Scribbled boxfish) ranging from 1 3/4 to 2 1/4" and been picking on rocks since day one and slowly eating small frozen food. I think it's best to start them in a established tank where there are plenty of pods for them to feed on.

Here's one of the female

 

[Domboski]

Small boxfish are much easier to get eating prepared foods. The problem with small Male's of the species discussed in this thread is I think they are all born females and then change to male when larger. So in other words you won't find small males. Males are more difficult to keep than females anyway. It's probably better to get two small females and hope one changes to a male

Try starting them off with chopped cocktail shrimp. I've had very good success with it. Once they start eating cocktail shrimp aggressively they usually will move onto mysis, squid and other prepared foods including pellets. If you're lucky you can get them to eat mysis first but they are too small in the longrun anyway. For real picky eaters you can try different types of sponge.

Regardless of sex, a stressed boxfish wont eat. If you see them pacing along the glass constantly they are not happy and probably wont eat.

A skimmer will not do anything against their toxins. I experienced this earlier this year with a Whitley's box. I was running an ASM G4X on a 120 and the fish in my tank were dropping one at a time until I ran carbon. It's best to keep fresh carbon running on the tank. It removed the toxins quickly.

If you get a male but don't have a female, there is a good chance a sex change will happen unless a female is added to the tank. Also, just because you have a male and female, that doesn't mean you wont experience some aggression between the two boxfish. If you notice excessive aggression you should split them up or toxins may be released into the system killing them both.

Boxfish are one of my favorite fish but they are delicate. If you put in the time and make sure they are happy they will be fine.

Good luck and keep posting the pics!

 

[Bob 1000]

I was waiting for you to see this thread.. You are the experienced guy,,lol..

 

[flameangel]

Domboski,

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. Yes, I run carbon and that seems to be the recommendation. And yes the male was not happy early on where he was pacing in front of the tank but has settled in more and swims around looking for food then now. I also came to readings that said toxin deaths is usually experienced in early stages such as from shipping stress and new additions in aquariums but not a major factor once they are established in the aquarium. I don't have enough experience to say one way or the other but curious as to how long you had your Whitley's box? That's the next pair I would like to try and I missed the pair LA DD had earlier in the year.

Thanks again for your valuble inputs.

 

[Domboski]

I had my male somewhere in the 6-8 month range. Apparently the fresh squid I bought was bad and he got sick and stressed. It took me two days to find out what was causing the fish deaths. When he stopped eating and wasn't acting normal I knew it was him. As soon as I took him out and ran carbon things were fine including fish that looked half dead bounced back with a vengeance.

I've had many boxfish including the Meleagris pair

 

[Domboski]

I was waiting for you to see this thread.. You are the experienced guy,,lol..

You should have gave me a heads up :lol2:

 

[Florence]

Hi all, thanks for the great info, this is really great. I will now get a small female to my new female. THe first one nuked herself, do to stress, I guees, just after she got home, and she was not keen on eating.

The new one eats all, mysis, atremia and pallets. She is very outgoing, if you can say that of a fish