Boxfish not eating

[Max H.]

I have a yellow boxfish and when I give him pellets he doesn't seem to be eating them. I'm feeding them at night so i'm not sure if he eats them during the night off the sand. Does anyone have a boxfish that can help me

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have a yellow boxfish and when I give him pellets he doesn't seem to be eating them. I'm feeding them at night so i'm not sure if he eats them during the night off the sand. Does anyone have a boxfish that can help me

@southerntnreefer had one and I believe all he fed was frozen or clams broken open. Maybe he can chime in and help ya out.

 

[dhnguyen]

Pellets are probably not the best food for box fish especially if they aren't trained to eat pellets. You need to feed them fresh or frozen.

I would feed chopped up clams, squid, shrimp, frozen mysis, live black worms and frozen blood worms.
They also should be fed several times a day and not at night. These fish are not nocturnal and are way more active during the day.

 

[southerntnreefer]

@southerntnreefer had one and I believe all he fed was frozen or clams broken open. Maybe he can chime in and help ya out.

Thanks @Eagle_Steve mine was a fatty. He loved Rods frozen krill, and clams or mussels on halfshell.

May i ask @Max H. what is he housed with, size of tank etc. They are a bit slower feeders, so care has to be taken to make sure they will get something until they grow and learn to compete. Mine would chase away the others twords the end of that tank ( i rehomed him and sold the system). Hed also feed from my hand. Id try something a bit more substantial than pellets. I would go to my local grocer, buy a bag of mussels, throw em in the freezer for safe keeping. Id then pop one open and let it thaw in tank water for a few, and then throw it in. The whole tank went nuts. If not Try Rods frozen Krill. My Box looooved that, and wouldnt turn that down ever.

 

[Max H.]

Thanks @Eagle_Steve mine was a fatty. He loved Rods frozen krill, and clams or mussels on halfshell.

May i ask @Max H. what is he housed with, size of tank etc. They are a bit slower feeders, so care has to be taken to make sure they will get something until they grow and learn to compete. Mine would chase away the others twords the end of that tank ( i rehomed him and sold the system). Hed also feed from my hand. Id try something a bit more substantial than pellets. I would go to my local grocer, buy a bag of mussels, throw em in the freezer for safe keeping. Id then pop one open and let it thaw in tank water for a few, and then throw it in. The whole tank went nuts. If not Try Rods frozen Krill. My Box looooved that, and wouldnt turn that down ever.

My boxfish is in a 32g tank (the fish store said it was a big enough tank). And i'm feeding him omega one small pellets.

 

[southerntnreefer]

My boxfish is in a 32g tank (the fish store said it was a big enough tank). And i'm feeding him omega one small pellets.

Do you know what type of boxfish it is by chance? That will help for sure. Mine was a cowfish and was in a 220 as they get huuuuge!

 

[dhnguyen]

OP said yellow boxfish so likely one of these

 

[swiss2]

Get brien or mysis and soak in garlic extract (you can by in LFS or Amazon) and then try to feed. Works for me ever time.

 

[dhnguyen]

My boxfish is in a 32g tank (the fish store said it was a big enough tank). And i'm feeding him omega one small pellets.

How big is the boxfish? What other tankmates?
As stated previously boxfish and cowfish are rather slow swimmers and can't really compete for food especially when they're smaller. They also fare much better in lower flow tanks.

I have kept several cowfish and boxfish in the past for years. They do best in species only tanks.
The key to success is diet and pellets just won't cut it.

 

[Max H.]

How big is the boxfish? What other tankmates?
As stated previously boxfish and cowfish are rather slow swimmers and can't really compete for food especially when they're smaller. They also fare much better in lower flow tanks.

I have kept several cowfish and boxfish in the past for years. They do best in species only tanks.
The key to success is diet and pellets just won't cut it.

He is 1.25 inches and he is in a tank with 2 black storm clowns

 

[Max H.]

Do you know what type of boxfish it is by chance? That will help for sure. Mine was a cowfish and was in a 220 as they get huuuuge!

It is a spotted boxfish

 

[dhnguyen]

He is 1.25 inches and he is in a tank with 2 black storm clowns

He's still pretty small then.
I would highly recommend target feeding him with fresh and frozen food as suggested previously and you need to do it soon. Your fish is probably starving and will soon start having issues and be susceptible to infection and parasites.

 

[Max H.]

What kind of frozen food do you suggest for small boxfish?

 

[dhnguyen]

What kind of frozen food do you suggest for small boxfish?

mysis shrimp, chopped up clams and squid, chopped up raw shrimp, chopped up small pieces of raw fish, etc...
If you can find live black worms at the LFS they love those too but I wouldn't feed them exclusively on this.

Krill might be a bit too big for this little guy since they have tiny mouths.

 

[dyno]

He's tiny he needs frozen food that can fit in his mouth. Brine shrimp and small mysis would give him a chance. But a small Tom's acclimation box on Amazon. Drill holes in it and place it inside on the edge of your tank. Put him in there untill he starts eating. He won't have much of a chance otherwise in all honesty.

 

[Alexopora]

Thought I should add my observation, so others that are looking for info on boxfish will have more to refer to. I noticed mine absolutely loves hunting the sand for worms. Its absolutely entertaining to watch mine blow the sand and slurp Medusa Worms, those long tube making worms and even those small red feather dusters. Also I do supplement with frozen mysis since I feed my corals and starry dragonet mysis as well so Im always well stocked with frozen mysis. I keep mine with corals mostly lps and some sps and do notice it consistently exploring and hunting for worms that are hiding beneath the corals.

Tank has generally gentle flow towards the bottom as to not infuriate the lps. So my boxfish navigates around and hunt easily without being blown away by the flow. Also most of the corals in this tanks have frags of them in other separate tanks so I’m prepared should the boxfish nuke the tank but I believe with no aggressive fish to pester it and my powerheads are securely covered with a guard, I foresee a very low possibility of it getting agitated. That being said, if you arent prepared to lose your corals at a potential nuke, keep the boxfish in a fowlr. But i do notice generally, fish do behave alot better among corals. Like my damsels, they are less shy and do forage and display interesting behaviour like guarding or swimming in an out a particular coral.