Yellow Box Fish

[lilacamy931]

Me and my partner needed to kill some time before his appointment at the opticians and so decided to go into the LFS.

Having a good look round pricing tanks, looking at the stock etc. We came to the small marine section of fishies and there were long horned cowfish and bright nemos etc. We noticed a really cute tiny 1 inch lionfish and were amazed at the size. Anyways looking at the top tanks and this half an inch baby yellow spotted boxfish peeks out at us, the most adorable thing I have ever seen! Absolutely sweet with oodles of personality, I wanted to take a pic on my phone but he kept playing hide and seek, wanting to see us but not liking the phone kept holding up.

So I have read they get up to 18 inches, is this true in captivity? I am wondering as our local ocanarium that we have visited on more than one occasion every year for the last 7 years have them in the same tank, and they have never been bigger than I would say 7-8 inches... Just wanted to know what the largest one anyone has seen is and what their growth rate is like?

Really considering getting such a cutey, though would obviously do my research first and would need to save to set up a marine tank.

I am aware of the fact they would excude poisons when stressed or close to death, so if was to get one would probably have it by itself with say shrimp etc ( I have a dwarf puffer only tank and am currently setting up a planned SAP tank so prepared for species only).

If the darling is likely to get up to 18 inches then I will have to pass on the cutey as want a porucpine puffer in the long run in a 100 gallon.

Thanks for reading!

 

[ben1987]

i have seen one about 12" long. They dont like high flow so not ideal for a full on reef tank. This fish would take a couple of years to get big though i reckon.

 

[Colin_T]

The biggest I have seen is about 6inches. They don't get to 18inches as far as I'm concerned. Be a pretty impressive sight if they did.

They do well if you get one that is feeding well. Small ones usually adapt well to the aquarium.

They eat shrimp so you do not want too put them in a shrimp tank. They will get along well with small peaceful fishes that won't hassle them.

As mentioned the fish will release a toxin into the water when stressed or dieing. But this can be removed with carbon, and the fish rarely release it. If you do get one then don't add the water from the bag into the tank because the water in the bag will be full of the stress chemical. Once the fish has been acclimatised then scoop it out and add it to the tank. Then tip the bag of water out onto the garden.

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that both! The recommended tank size I have seen is 100 gallons but I was presuming that this was based on the 18 inch size. Does anyone know proper recommendations, is this the right size?

Ah had not read up on diet that much yet - lol, not shrimp then.

 

[Ren&Stumpy]

In my view you dont buy a fish like that unless you are equiped to houe it at its full adult size.

Having people say "ive only sseen them to 6inches" doe not constitute good advice in my view. They're full grown size is around 20" therefore you house it going on that size of course only my view.

My wife and I were looking at getting one to house on its own due to the toxin reasons, however, after researching it and seeing its true adult size we decided that currently we could not house it, even on its own.

 

[lilacamy931]

No that is fair enough, I just find it incredible that they would reach that size as have always seen them at LFS or oceanriums.

I would really really really love to see a full sized one! The half an inch sweetie I hope will go to a good home, such a cutie.

There is good news on some brief research that there is a boxfish that gets to maximum size of 6 inches and would need about 50 gallons from what I have read, very pretty blue colour though can not imagine easy to come by. Thanks for all the information input, perhaps I will have the 100 gallon for him by the time I get around to it, though do imagine will be getting my dream beautiful porcupine puffer when this time comes

It would be great if I could foster fish to have the experience on their way to their new home (just a dream though - please don't think anything of it )

 

[bagu]

is it true that these guys release toxins when angry in the tank that kills corals and all other fish?

gotta say they are cute

 

[ben1987]

is it true that these guys release toxins when angry in the tank that kills corals and all other fish?

gotta say they are cute

not necaserily kill them but it does relase them when stressed or dying

 

[seffieuk]

Have to agree with you, they are indeed cuties as long as you have a good skimmer working then it should be fine if s/he released any toxins

Borrowed from PFK

Common name: Yellow box fish
Scientific name: Ostracion cubicus
Pronounced: Ostra-syon cue-bike-us
Origin: Indo Pacific: East Africa, Red Sea to as far as the Hawaiian islands.
Stocking: Single fish, or sexed pair in a very large tank.
Size: Up to 45cm/18" in the wild, usually around 15cm/6" in captivity.
Price: �10-15 for a 1-2cm fish.
Aquarium: Could damage corals and other invertebrates in a reef tank when large, but poses little threat while small. Best in a fish-only tank containing live rock.
Diet: Feeds mainly on algae, molluscs and sponges among Acropora heads within sheltered reefs. Takes brine shrimp and gamma shrimp readily.
Breeding: Not yet bred in captivity.
Notes: Pea-sized boxfish look cool when young but they don't keep their looks and can, potentially, get very large. They become darker, drabber and more elongated as they mature, with a pattern of paler dots with a dark outer ring on a darker background. Boxfishes can release toxins into the water when attacked which can kill other tankmates. Keep them only with peaceful fishes.

Seffie x

 

[BecciMac1987]

*goes off to google huge box fish*

 

[lilacamy931]

many thanks for that PFK article, that is what I thought about captivity but of course you can not predict if they would saty around 6" or if that is there growth being stunted.

LOL - I went on Youtube and the biggest I could find both captivity and marine was 6 inches. Really want to se a large one!

 

[bagu]

i cant imagine such a cute thing getting so big lol

 

[Jonny967]

I've got one around 5" long now, i bought it at around 1" long one year ago. Small boxfish are terrible swimmers but once large enough they are fine in a high flow tank as their tails are quite solid with a good fin, mine can't half motor around the tank.
I would expect mine to finish growing somewhere around 8" but i could be wrong. As for the toxins don't believe everything you read it is extremely rare for a boxfish to release them i knew someone who found theirs stuck to the powerhead when it was little - the fish wasn't damaged nor did it release anything.

 

[lilacamy931]

can I ask Jonny why you would expect to finish growing around 8"? Just out of interest. Also is the yellow spotted boxfish species or a different one?

 

[Alex Brown]

Just for your planning, I had one of these which was less than 1cm square, it was such an awesome little guy! However, I came home one day and he had been sucked onto one of my powerheads

If you buy a little one, defently make sure your powerheads/pump inlets are suitable. With my experience I noticed that they arnt the strongest swimmers. The fish was fine for a few days after but then I found him dying on the sand one morning where I moved him into a QT. I didnt notice any die off in the display tank, maybe because he was so small.

I would 100% have one of these fish again though, but would make sure that my tank was large enough to keep one at adult size, and all the pumps had guards.