Flower Horn queries.      /Neale        2/6/15 Hi, <Hello,> I am Sachin from India, have got a flower horn since 5 months now. I have kept the flower horn in a partition in the tank as their are other fishes like Blood Parrot, Arowana, Mono Angels, Dollars. I once tried removing the partition but my FH gave the other fishes a very hard time. <Indeed. These fish are incompatible. The Monos need brackish or marine conditions. The Angels, Silver Dollars and Arowana are strictly freshwater fish. The Arowana will eat the Silver Dollars and Angelfish. None belong alongside something as aggressive as the Flowerhorn.> So I moved him back to the partition. <Arowana alone needs a very large tank; 100 gallons or more for an Asian Arowana, maybe twice that for South American Arowanas. The Flowerhorn will need a 75 gallon of its own. Partitioning a tank is not the answer.> I am very confused about his sex and hump. His forehead seems to be growing and looks as if he might get one. But recently FH is growing in size but the forehead isn't. I have read all the distinguish factors between male and female FH but I am not able to identify. <Indeed. Hard to sex these fish. Some males develop the hump. Some don't. Genetics is the main factor. But the fish also needs to be in optimal conditions and growing steadily. A fish under poor conditions won't ever colour up nicely or grow a large hump.> Last night the FH started digging the sand and reached the tank bottom. It is like guarding the hole it has dug at the corner of the tank. <Probably wants to get out of the partition!> I have also removed the Albino sucker which was in the same section of tank as the FH had gone real aggressive. It was also bullying at the fishes at the other aide of the partition if they came near the partition glass. <What they do. Please READ before BUYING your fish.> This is the only FH I have got, so is it possible the FH may lay eggs without pairing with any male. <Not really, no.> Is it also possible that its a male which is maturing and has gone aggressive all of a sudden due to hormonal changes. <Male Flowerhorn cichlids are very aggressive.> Also since yesterday it is eating half the quantity it normally does. <Because he is sick...> I have attached a pic of my FH <That red tube from the anus is his lower intestine. This is a prolapse. It shouldn't stick out like that! Sure sign of intestinal infection. Do read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ParrotDisTrtF.htm Very, VERY common when people keep Parrot cichlids and Flowerhorn cichlids in poor conditions and feed them the wrong diet. Hope this helps to clear things up. Cheers, Neale.> Flower Horn queries.     /RMF        2/6/15 Please reply... Regards, Sachin. | Hi, I am Sachin from India, have got a flower horn since 5 months now. I have kept the flower horn in a partition in the tank as their are other fishes like Blood Parrot, Arowana, Mono Angels, Dollars. <Wow! Hope this tank is very large (hundreds of gallons... The Monos really like "different" water (brackish to marine as adults)> I once tried removing the partition but my FH gave the other fishes a very hard time. So I moved him back to the partition. <Good> I am very confused about his sex and hump. His forehead seems to be growing and looks as if he might get one. But recently FH is growing in size but the forehead isn't. <May well be a female; and/or not much "nuchal hump" to be grown here genetically> I have read all the distinguish factors between male and female FH but I am not able to identify. <Mmm; well; tis a relative thing... the unpaired fins not as long, pointed posteriorly... body conformation... and genital papillae at some point> Last night the FH started digging the sand and reached the tank bottom. It is like guarding the hole it has dug at the corner of the tank. I have also removed the Albino sucker which was in the same section of tank as the FH had gone real aggressive. It was also bullying at the fishes at the other aide of the partition if they came near the partition glass. This is the only FH I have got, so is it possible the FH may lay eggs without pairing with any male. <Is possible; they won't be fertile> Is it also possible that its a male which is maturing and has gone aggressive all of a sudden due to hormonal changes. <Ah yes> Also since yesterday it is eating half the quantity it normally does. I have attached a pic of my FH <Best to keep separated from the other fishes here. Bob Fenner>

Flowerhorn, incomp./Neale   3/11/11
Hi! My name is Matt, I have had a Flowerhorn (short body, unknown gender) for the last two weeks in a 40 gallon tank at 78* and have been feeding him and his tank mates Omega One Super color with good results. Now onto the dilemma, last the Flowerhorn was perfectly fine swimming with the Salvini,
<Psychotically aggressive, more often than not.>
Synspilum,
<Can be aggressive as well, and much, MUCH too big for this aquarium.>
red jewel,
<Needs completely different water chemistry to the Central American cichlids listed above. Where those need hard, basic water, this West African species needs soft, acid water conditions. They CANNOT be kept successfully all in the same aquarium.>
and my catfish.
<Some sort of Plec, I assume, which will need 55 gallons just for itself.>
This morning when I got up it was hiding under a log and not eating (every morning usually first on to eat) so I got curious and noticed his tail was floating upward when he tried swimming around (didn't help the synspilum was picking on it a bit this morning, usually co exist fine in my tank).
<These fish WILL NOT tolerate one another.>
I decided to put him in the net to let him be alone at the top of the tank,
<Isolating fish this way usually ends up with a dead fish. Remove to another 55+ gallon aquarium, understanding that Flowerhorn cichlids need 75+ gallons once mature.>
and I did a 25% water change. a little later I saw the salvini come close to the net and the flowerhorns' tail started floating up again but when I got the salvini away he was back to normal.
<Again, aggression.>
I fed him a pee and it seemed to help some, I haven't tried Epsom salt yet but its next, ANY suggestion's would be greatly thanked.
Sincerely,
Matt
<These fish cannot be kept together. A single pair of Cichlasoma salvinii might be kept in 55 gallons. A single Vieja synspila needs 100+ gallons (they reach 30 cm/12 inches in length within a year or so, and can get even bigger in time). Do, please, read about the needs of these species and act accordingly. What you have here WILL NOT work. These fish will kill each other until you're left with one cichlid and perhaps the catfish. Cheers, Neale.>
Flowerhorn, incomp./RMF   3/11/11
Hi! My name is Matt, I have had a Flowerhorn (short body, unknown gender) for the last two weeks in a 40 gallon tank
<Will need more room in time>
at 78* and have been feeding him and his tank mates Omega One Super color with good results.
<Needs supplementing>
Now onto the dilemma, last the Flowerhorn was perfectly fine swimming with the Salvini, Synspilum, red jewel, and my catfish.
<Which sp. is this last?>
This morning when I got up it was hiding under a log and not eating (every morning usually first on to eat) so I got curious and noticed his tail was floating upward when he tried swimming around (didn't help the synspilum was picking on it a bit this morning, usually co exist fine in my tank).
<No longer; need separating>
I decided to put him in the net to let him be alone at the top of the tank,
<... not long-term>
and I did a 25% water change. a little later I saw the salvini come close to the net and the flowerhorns' tail started floating up again but when I got the salvini away he was back to normal.
I fed him a pee and it seemed to help some, I haven't tried Epsom salt yet but its next, ANY suggestion's would be greatly thanked.
Sincerely,
Matt
<A bigger system, perhaps two. Bob Fenner>

Compatibility, FH  -- 08/22/10
Hi
<Hello,>
After researching all over the internet and coming up with some but not many definite answers I come to you to see if you can give me the answers I'm looking for
<Will try my best.>
I'm wondering if three 3 inch female convicts would/could be safely kept with a 5 inch female Flowerhorn cichlid
<Depends on the size of the tank. Should work fine, but there will be some competition for living space. How sure are you about the sex of the Flowerhorn? At this size, I'd be surprised if you could be 100% sure unless you've inspected the genital papillae. Male Flowerhorn cichlids don't necessarily have longer fins or bigger nuchal humps than the females. Being
hybrids, it's virtually impossible to be sure of anything about them really; size, behaviour, or colour.>
the tank is an 80 Gallon 48" x 24" x 18", water temp is 78*, PH is 7.8 and 8, sand substrate with rocks lots of hiding places.
<Should be adequate.>
need to know ASAP or should I just put the cons in my 30 gallon till I get another tank cycled for them?
<I must ask, why do you want to keep Convict cichlids? Outside of laboratories, where they're extremely useful, these cichlids don't have much to recommend them. Other Amatitlania species are more colourful and/or interesting.>
Many thanks
Chris
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Compatibility   8/22/10
The Lady that is offering the FH has told me its a female. I know not very helpful,
<Indeed. Ask her how she knows.>
I'm going to go see the fish this afternoon. the tank I have is actually a 90 gallon I'm going to shoot the convicts over to another tank and keep the 90 for the Flowerhorn, there really is nothing I can keep with the FH is there
<They aren't particularly friendly fish, no. Females are better than males in regards to tolerance of tankmates. One problem is that their behaviour is difficult to predict. So whereas you can be fairly certain how a Firemouth or an Oscar will behave, with hybrids such as Flowerhorns, "Mixed African Cichlids", and Blood Parrots you really don't know. Broadly, a Flowerhorn behaves more or less like Cichlasoma trimaculatum, so what works for that species should work here. But most do end up being kept alone in small tanks, where a small tank is really anything below 150 gallons or so.>
as that may change my decision to keep one of these guys.
<Do think very carefully before accepting this fish. A 90 gallon tank could make a great home for quite a busy community of Tanganyikan or South American cichlids, and with a bit of thought, might also house a nice selection of Malawian, Victorian or Central American cichlids. Setting aside one tank for a bad-tempered fish like a Flowerhorn that will mostly
sit there doing nothing is a big investment of resources. A female Flowerhorn doesn't even have the upside of being particularly pretty, whereas male Flowerhorns, for all their flaws, can be quite attractive in an artist's palette sort of way. Likewise, Convicts are very "blah" when it comes to fun. They're the cichlid equivalent of lab rats really, useful,
fast-breeding, but not particularly colourful or entertaining. I'm mentioning this because it's one thing to see a nice fish, but quite another to be stuck with it for the next 10 years.>
Again thanks ever so much for the answers.
Chris
<Glad to help. Cheers, Neale.>

a little question pls.. FH comp., repro.   6/21/10
gud day wwc!
<Hello,>
I have a male and a female FH and planning to pair them, there where a time I tried and for a day I think they get along with each other until a few days they where fighting.. biting each other..so I separate them for the mean time..is there a right timing for pairing FH?is there a technique pairing up my FH?
<There are no guarantees any two cichlids will get along. Males can kill females they don't like. Also, sexing these fish is very difficult. The size of the hump is not reliable. Nor is colouration. You MUST go by the shape of the genital papilla. Best approach is to rear a group of six or more juveniles together, and let them pair naturally. Alternatively, if you have adults, use egg crate to divide the tank into two. Leave the fish like that for a few weeks. If they get along, you will soon be able to see. If the male is constantly aggressive, then he is rejecting that female.>
hope you help me with this..
thank you in advance.. [?]
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: a little question pls..
oh ok..thank you wwc..
<You're welcome.>
more power..[?]
<Indeed. Cheers, Neale.>

Male Cichlid Beating On Female Cichlid, FHs    12/6/09
Hello, can you please help me. my female Flowerhorn was attacked by my male Flowerhorn. so I removed the female Flowerhorn from the tank. now she is badly injured and can hardly move around. Do you know if there is anything I can do, to help nurse my female Flowerhorn back to health. Thank You.
< Usually the female is smaller than the male. Experienced cichlid keepers place a piece of plastic pipe that is only big enough to allow the female in and not the male. This gives the female a place to escape from a eager
male looking to breed. In the wild the male is looking for a female willing to spawn with him. He chases or kills the unwilling females and tries to attract another that will. If the pipe is not too attractive then others have been using ZooMed Aquarium Logs too. These have the additional advantage in that they float and allow the female a chance to get to food more easily. Now that the female is damaged you need to carefully nurse her back to health. Luckily cichlids are pretty hardy creatures and things may not seem as bad as they first appear. First keep the water very clean. High nitrogenous waste levels will lead to diseases that will kill if going untreated. Do lots of water changes and keep up on the filter cleaning.
Treat with an antibiotic called Nitrofuranace. It will work against disease causing bacteria and fungi. Add a little salt to the water. This will put a slime on the fish to keep parasites off. Look at some of the water conditioners that have some sort of wound control. Use these when changing water. When your fish acts hungry then go ahead and feed her. Good luck.-Chuck>

Ask a question, FH comp.    4/28/09
I have a 3 foot tank with only a 2-3 inch flower horn. please tell which other fish are compatible with it.
<None. For a start, this fish will quickly outgrow this aquarium. Adult Flowerhorn cichlids can get very large, 20-30 cm/8-12 inches. Water quality needs to be very good, otherwise they are prone to diseases such as Hexamita, much like any other cichlid. They are also territorial and potentially aggressive.>
are Oscars or parrot cichlids compatible?
<In a sufficiently large aquarium, Oscars could possibly be combined, though Flowerhorns do prefer hard water whereas Oscars are soft water fish. Flowerhorns are too large and violent to be combined with Parrot cichlids. While Parrots can be aggressive, their deformities make them poor fighters, and stronger cichlids can cause them serious damage. Flowerhorn cichlids are, in short, best kept alone.>
Thanks
$and£ep
<Think about the fish you already have before worrying about tankmates. You need an aquarium 275 litres/75 gallons in size just to keep a single Flowerhorn cichlid healthy. Cheers, Neale.>
Thanks a lot!
$and£ep
<You're welcome. Neale.>

Ask a question... More re FH comp., stkg.     5/1/09
Hey im Sandeep. I have a 2.5 feet tank with only a 2inch Flowerhorn. my tank looks kinda empty. i wont to know if i could add a tiger Oscar of the same size? Thanks
<Easy one this! No. You can't. Your Flowerhorn cichlid will [a] grow quickly, [b] will outgrow the tank you have; and [c] is highly aggressive when mature and would take apart any other fish kept alongside it in such a small aquarium. Cheers, Neale.>

Ask a question - 05/03/09
are Flowerhorn compatible with parrot cichlids? thanks
Sandeep
<No, for the same reasons as listed last time you asked this question!
Cheers, Neale.>

Flowerhorn compatibility and tank safety-ness Using An Old Saltwater Tank for a Freshwater Aquarium - 6/21/08 Dear Crew, I have this 10 inch Flowerhorn in a 16 gallon. < Wow this is really tight.> I'm planning to put it in a 75 gallon in the following days. < Good idea..> Would it be compatible with a 4.5inch Pleco with many hiding spaces?] < Normally Plecos hide during the day and come out at night. It should be Ok.> One more question is , the 75 gallon once housed saltwater fishes, but was wiped out by mercury (the fish broke the thermometer/hydrometer). Its been washed but I heard mercury is very dangerous, would you consider this 75 gallon safe to keep fish in? < Mercury is not used in thermometers. <<Was used in aq. thermometers years back. RMF>> So it should be ok after it is thoroughly cleaned.-Chuck> Thank you.

Please help, FH reading... comp.    4/22/08 I recently bought a Red Cherry Flowerhorn (I believe that's what it's called) We had it in a tank with an Oscar both are about the same size, about 4 inches, they we're fine the first day but on day 2 the Flowerhorn started picking on the Oscar. <Very typical> We ended up putting the Oscar in a separate tank to make sure he didn't get killed. Should we keep them separated, or was something like that normal? <The latter> Also since we've had our Flowerhorn it's eyes have changed from the orangish/ reddish color they were when we got it to a medium/light blue for a while and then back to the reddish/orange once again. Is this normal? What causes that happen? <Can change, mostly a matter of our perception though, reflection from the rear of the eyes... Bob Fenner> Thanks so much!!!

Flowerhorn With Stingray - 02/06/07 Hey! Guys! Keep Rocking! I have a 30 x 15 x 15 tank with a Flowerhorn in it! The guy is around 5".I was thinking of adding a stingray to it! All I need to know is: 1) Do they stay along together? <The Flowerhorn is very territorial and eventually would fight and pick on the stingray.> 2) Does the ray stay in a bare bottom tank or fine golden sand is MUST? < Stingrays come from sandy to muddy bottoms. They like to cover themselves with sand to hide. He would feel stressed in a bare tank.> 3) Is it as hardy as the Flowerhorn or it requires fine water conditions? < The stingray usually do better in soft acidic water. The Flowerhorn doesn't care about water chemistry.> Thanks in advance. Regards < Overall I would not recommend putting these two together.-Chuck> <<Aside from that, this is vastly too small of an aquarium for any species of