Saltwater Fish – Page 9 – Fish Laboratory Aquatics

Common Name(s)Yellow boxfish, Polka-dot Box Fish, Blue-Spotted Boxfish, Cubed Boxfish, Yellow Trunkfish, White Cubicus, Cube BoxfishScientific NameOstracion cubicusOriginRed Sea/ Indo-West PacificTemperature Range72°F - 78°FWater ParametersdKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025Adult Size15”-18”, 1’6” max sizeDietOmnivore – krill, shrimp, mollusks and sometimes algae. Dried, frozen or flaked fish Yellow Boxfish (Ostracion cubicus) Yellow Boxfish Facts: Although they release a deadly toxin, boxfish are actually very peaceful.It is similar to a Longhorn Cowfish, but these have horns while the Boxfish does not.They are found in rocky and coral reefs in Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the south eastern Atlantic Ocean. Adults can sometimes be located in a lagoon. Species Overview: As a juvenile, Yellow Boxfish really are shaped as a box with large black spots on a bright yellow body. When reaching adult size the yellow turns into more of a brownish color/greenish color and their spots decrease. Sometimes the dots can become almost a white color outlined in black. A large boxfish has dots that appear blue and yellowish seams in between plates. There is a slight distinction between males and females (only the adults) with the males being a little larger with a more purple/brown color and lighter colored dots. Although this is very rare, if a boxfish is stressed it can release a very deadly toxin called “ostracitoxin” that could even end up killing itself along with everyone else in the tank. This can also happen if it dies. You can tell if it is going to die because it becomes even slower and the colors rapidly fade. You can tell if there is a toxin in the water because you will see foam on the surface of the water, and other fish will be noticeably inactive. Once this happens it is important to remove the fish immediately and clean the tank. The toxin can even embed itself into rocks and aquarium filters so you must clean it well. Along with the toxin as a defensive measure, they also have armor plating. Boxfish are a little slow moving and if put with other aggressive fish and the other fish will get all the food first. If you feed the other fish before the boxfish this can be avoided. You need to have a very large tank (about 125 gallons) with normal water parameters (salt water), but it must be kept just right; with too much flow they can get blown around a little. Don’t forget that they like live rock so that they can eat the algae, but they also like tubeworms. Boxfish do like to eat coral so they are not considered “reef compatible”, but as long as they are well fed (they like to eat a lot) they will leave the coral alone. Yellow Boxfish also like to have a place to hide, in addition to open area to swim.