Flowerhorn question, repro. 6/27/11
im having female Flowerhorn for how many days regularly it will lay eggs bcz it layed eggs bt I dint c it again wn can I expect it to lay eggs plz tell me this sir
thank u sir
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/FHParrotCichArtNeale.htm
Details much like Cichlasoma trimaculatum, except fertility is very low.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/flowerhornreprofaq.htm
Unless you plan to breed on a commercial scale, these are not cichlids worth breeding. Much easier, better choices. Do also fix your English if you write again; it's fine if English isn't your first language, but using "txt speak" is annoying and difficult to understand. Cheers, Neale.>

About Breeding
Breeding Flowerhorns 1/18/11
Hi, This is vj again thanks for replying for my previous question.
One of my friend has 2 Flowerhorn male and a female both are of about 5 inches they are kept in 2 different tanks, we just wanted to know are they ready to breed if yes what should be done and how should we take care of them. Can you please send me picture of Flowerhorn eggs?
Thanks, Vj
< The best way to get Flowerhorns to breed would be to get six small individuals and let them grow up together. As they mature the males and then the females create a pecking order with the dominant male usually breeding with the dominant female. Forcing a pair together is pretty risky.
If the female is not ready to breed then the male may kill her. Provide a cave or pipe that the female can get in but not the larger male. Feed them well and keep the water temp around 80 F. If the female is not ready she can hide in the pipe. Jaw locking and some flaring is normal but do not leave them alone. The male can quickly damage the female if she is not ready. Sorry, don't have pictures of Flowerhorn eggs but they look similar to substrate spawning cichlid eggs. If you Google cichlid eggs you can probably find cichlids breeding with eggs.-Chuck>

Urgent .. FH Breeding. 10/17/10
Hi WWM .. My name is Sam .. My tank setup according to guidelines of a local aquarist is as follows ..
- Tank size : 3ft x 1ft x 1.5ft.
<Much too small; a pair will need 100 gallons, at least.>
- Flowerhorn Breeding pair .
- Gravels.
- Mechanical, Biological, Chemical filtration system.
Flowerhorns have successfully mated. And have also had bred once. After female laying eggs I had removed the divider and also removed the female also. All was fine until on the 2nd day the eggs were gone. (Most probably eaten by Male). Why did this happen ? When approximately the next breeding session occur ?
Sorry for wrong English, Thanks in advance .. :)
<Hello Sam. The thing with Flowerhorn cichlids is that they are hybrids. In the wild cichlid breeding behaviour is reinforced over the generations. In other words, only those pairs that work together can successfully rear a brood of fry. So each generation gets better and better. In aquaria this doesn't happen if the aquarist removes the eggs and rears the eggs himself. Flowerhorns are almost always bred this way, and the sad truth is that they are TERRIBLE parents. Pairs are not very stable, and aggression by the male
towards the female is common. If you want to watch cichlid breeding behaviour, Flowerhorns are a very bad species to use. If you want to breed Flowerhorn cichlids, then after spawning you MUST remove the eggs. Place the eggs in another aquarium with an airstone nearby to create a gentle current of water past the eggs. Remove infertile eggs (usually white rather than grey) because fungus can destroy an entire brood within days. Methylene blue is commonly added to the water to prevent fungus. Most cichlids will breed again within a month, but it depends on how well the female is fed. The male will want to breed within days, but the female needs to "fatten up" on the best possible diet you can give her, typically live mosquito larvae, bloodworms and earthworms, though wet-frozen foods will do as well. For some reason, flakes and pellets don't bring females into breeding condition as quickly, but they do work eventually. Obviously,
don't use live feeder fish or any other risky food, such as Tubifex.
Cheers, Neale.>

mystery behind eggs, FH repro. 8/8/10
It has been five days since my Flowerhorn laid eggs,
<... should have hatched out by now... if viable>
but today I couldn't see any eggs and Flowerhorn are acting very strange (like something it is protecting in its mouth).
<Are not mouthbrooders... can/do move young about orally at times though>
I thought that it was the wriggles .could that be possible and also I want to know what to do further?
<Stay observant; wait for next spawning event. Bob Fenner>

Flower longhorn
Flowerhorn Questions, dis, breeding/sexing... -- 7/12/10
Hi, I have to say I've been reading your articles and found it very useful.
I have a couple of question
1) My flower longhorn recently attracted some type of infection, and have got some of capsule from the aquarium to treat it. I have to take him out every two days to treat him for 4 hrs. He now looks a lot better but have a split open wound across his forehead which before antibiotics had white fluffy stuff showing. It doesn't have the fluffy stuff now but a wide hole, will that heal back together?
< The white fluffy material was a fungus that is now gone. The wound will probably heal but there probably will be a scar.>
2)will my longhorns breed in a 125 gallon tank with 5 bloody parrots and a Arowana?
< When they decide to breed they will probably have no problem chasing the other fish away?>
3) I have what I thought was a male and female but recently saw the smaller one developing a hump and top and bottom fins to be longer then his middle fins, can it most likely that it is actually a male not a female?
< Longer fins are usually sexual characteristics of a male.-Chuck>
Thanks,
Florida

Re: Flower longhorn
Flowerhorn Sex Determination 716/10
Thanks for your responds. After asking you about the male and female I went to look at the female that has male features and it had a vent tube sticking out, can it possibly be a female?
<Both sexes can have tubes sticking out. The females would be much thicker and fatter than a males tube.>
The tube been there now for 2 days. Its not really long and kind of fat and round with a little black on the tip. Its chasing my parrots to the other corner of the tank and digging a hole in the gravel so I put a clay plate there.
< Sounds like you will find out shortly if eggs are laid.-Chuck>

Re: a little question pls.. FH repro. 6/25/10
hi wwc! my FH just laid eggs now a few hours after introducing a male. I think it was 9 hrs ago..the male is about four inches so as the female.
when I checked on the tank I found out that the female was biting and attacking the male and guarding the eggs.
<Happens sometimes.>
those this mean that the male failed to fertilize the eggs?
<Possibly, but could also mean she wants to rear the eggs on her own.
Because Flowerhorns are hybrids, their behaviour is very difficult to predict. Normally, Central American cichlids are what we call "biparental spawners", meaning both parents look after the eggs. But Flowerhorns have been cross-bred and inbred, so sometimes they are psychologically screwy.
They very rarely make good parents, and usually eat their eggs. So breeders normally remove the eggs and rear them manually. This requires an aquarium at least 10 gallons in size, a filter, a heater, and some methylene blue to
prevent the eggs become fungused. Put an airstone near the eggs to increase water movement around them.>
if so, is there a way to fertilize the eggs like taking them out in a different tank with a male on it?
<No. Once the eggs are laid, they quickly become "hard" and sperm can't get into them anymore. They have to be fertilised immediately.>
this is my first time to have a FH eggs.
<Now is the time to think what to do with the eggs. Selling Flowerhorn cichlids is difficult in some places. Here in England, very few aquarium shops will accept Flowerhorn fry because nobody wants them. In other places
Flowerhorn cichlids are quite popular. So whether you wash the eggs down the drain, or else rear them yourself in a separate aquarium will depend on your local circumstances.>
thank you..
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: a little question pls.. 6/25/10
oh ok ill do that..separate them in another tank. thank you wwc! you really are a helping hand. good day to you and thanks again..
<Glad to help. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: a little question pls.. FH repro... no reading 6/27/10
hi wwc!
<We're WWM, not WWC.>
I would like to ask why some of the eggs of Flowerhorn are white?
<Usually it means they were not fertilised.>
does this mean that it's not fertilized?
<Can be. Flowerhorn cichlids are hybrids, and like most hybrids, their fertility is low. Plus, sexing Flowerhorn cichlids is hard, and sometimes even the fish themselves get confused. Sometimes two females will lay eggs together, and obviously these will not be fertilised. If you want to learn to breed cichlids, Flowerhorn cichlids are not a good choice to start with.>
thank you and more power!
<More capital letters would be nicer! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: a little question pls.. FH repro. f' 6/28/10
Ooops.. Pardon my address to you.. I know its WWM but since I'm talking to a person (crew) not to a media so I address it like that.
<Oh, I see, Wet Web Crew... okay! Forgive me.>
hehehe
Anyways thank you for the advise..I'm not really breeding, but since I have males and a female that laid eggs I decided to take my chances hoping to have fry of my own..[?]
<Possibly, but generally not easy. You need a big aquarium, and probably egg-crate to create a divider between the male and female. If they accept each other and are ready to spawn, you'll see the female's genital papilla extended. Remove the divider, let them spawn, and then separate them again.
Remove the eggs, rear manually. Do see Paul Loiselle and others on breeding aggressive cichlids.>
Thanks WWM crew![?]
<Cheers, Neale.>

Pl Help Flowerhorn Sexing 6/24/10 Hi WWM Crew I am having a Flowerhorn . He is housed in a 2x1x1 feet tank. Approx 25 gallons. I have done the venting of my fish but I am still unable to determine the sex of the fish. < Looks like a female to me.-Chuck.><<And this volume is too small for this fish. See WWM re. RMF>>

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.>

Flowerhorn Gender Sexing Flowerhorns 5/18/10 Can you please tell the gender of my Flowerhorn?..Thank You! < In the first photo there is some reflection/glare in the vent that makes it difficult to see. The second photo is needing a little better focus to be sure. By looking at the length of the ventral fins, the vivid coloration on the flanks of the fish and no distinct differences in the openings in the ventral area, I would say that this fish looks like a male.-Chuck> Flowerhorn Gender Can you please tell the gender of my Flowerhorn?.. Thank You! <... please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhornreprofaq.htm Bob Fenner>

yet another Flowerhorn needs sexing 3/25/10 Hello again crew, I'm sending a photo of my Flowerhorn while venting please can you tell me whether it is a male or a female. Thank you. <It's a girl! Please do learn how to tell these fish apart. We've sexed a few of your fish already. It isn't difficult to do yourself. Cheers, Neale.>

Re Need help and response as soon as possible. FH repro. I think 3/25/10
Hello and thanks for the previous reply.
But I have a problem with breeding, actually the female is dancing by wagging its tale but the male is hitting on the glass partition as the female comes closer.
<Aggression; normal. The male will be aggressive to the female. Try removing the partition and see what happens. Watch carefully. If they display and spawn, you're fine; if the male becomes aggressive, then restore the partition. As stated several times now, a glass partition is not a good idea. Use egg crate or plastic mesh instead.>
Otherwise its busy transporting stones. Its been only two days they met.
Please help me out.
Thank you.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Need urgent help. Not. FH reading 3/20/10
Hello crew,
My question is that my Flowerhorn has its dorsal fin bigger than its tail so is it a male?
Thank you.
<... usually the unpaired fins are longer, more pointed on New World Cichlids. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhornreprofaq.htm
Bob Fenner>

Setting up a pair, FHs -- 03/18/10
Hello crew,
I have a male FH and I want to buy a female to breed.
Q.1:What things should I look for while buying a female to breed?
<Quality. If you're planning to breed fish for profit, then you want the best possible female you can get. The idiot approach is to throw two second-rate fish together and hope for the best. The wise approach is to have a sharp idea of precisely what features you want the offspring to have, and choose parents that have those features. If those features aren't clear on females generally, then find the father of the female, or find some of her brothers, and see if they have the feature you want. Don't bother buying a "cheap" female if she lacks quality: selling cichlid fry is
difficult, and most shops are inundated with poor quality fry. So you'll lose money doing this. In fact unless you are 100% sure you can sell the fry, don't bother breeding cichlids at all.>
Q.2:After I have bought the fish should I keep it in the same tank by immersing a glass partition or in an other aquarium where they could only see each other?
<Not a glass partition, no. That will (obviously) block water flow from the filter and the heater. Use plastic egg crate instead. Get a copy of Paul Loiselle's excellent book "The Cichlid Aquarium" before you do anything else if you have no idea how to introduce two big, highly aggressive cichlids to one another. Otherwise, if you do this wrong, the male WILL kill the female.>
Q.3:How much time does the eggs take to hatch?
<Varies according to water temperature, but the eggs should hatch in less than 5 days.>
Thank you.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Setting up a pair... FH repro. 3/21/10
Q.4: What should be the temperature of the water for the fry?
<Cichlids normally breed at a temperature slightly higher than normal maintenance temperature. So for Central American cichlids, 25 C is good for maintenance, and perhaps 28 C for breeding. After spawning you can let the
temperature drop down to the normal maintenance temperature. The fry will be fine at that temperature.>
Q.5: How much time does it takes for a FH pair to be left together? How will I know whether they have accepted each other?
<You don't leave the pair together at all, unless they're obviously sharing parental duties. Use egg crate to create the two compartments in the aquarium. You can cut a hole in the egg crate that allows the female to pass through but not the male, if the male is bigger than the female.
Otherwise, leave the egg crate in place, and because the two sexes can see each other, they may "flirt" with each other, exhibiting pre-mating behaviours. If they do, you can slide out the egg crate and watch what happens. If the two fish coexist, you're fine. If the female is chased, put the egg crate back. Usually males reject females because the females aren't sexually mature or ripe with eggs, in which case more time and better feeding will help. Introducing two sexually mature cichlids to each other is VERY risky in the case of Central American cichlids, and careless owners can easily end up with a dead female. The size of the tank is critical here, and be sure to provide some shelter for the female, e.g., flowerpots.>
Q.6: Can I set a pair of a 19cms male with a 10cms female?
<Depends on whether the female is sexually mature and ripe with eggs. Follow the protocol described above or (in more depth) described in Loiselle's "The Cichlid Aquarium".>
I am really very thankful to you,
Thanks again.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Setting up a pair, FH repro. 3/24/10
Hello again,
<Hello,>
You told me about an egg crate to be used as a partition but I have put a glass partition to separate the FHs, will it be OK?
<No. Glass dividers stop water flow, prevent even distribution of heat, and prevent the filter cleaning wastes from water throughout the tank.>
Secondly you told me to make a hole in the egg crate partition (which can only allow the female to pass) will it be fine if I make that hole in the glass partition?
<Don't use a glass divider. Use egg-crate (or something similar) that allows water to flow through the tank while keeping the male and female apart. Plastic mesh of some kind might work if you can't find egg-crate.>
Thanks for helping me so much.
<Happy to help. Cheers, Neale.>

My FH male or female 2/16/10 Hi WWM Crew, My name is Musa, I have a Flowerhorn of 16cms. I want to know whether it is a male or a female, it carries stones from one place to another and digs circles. It does not have a ribbon type dorsal fin. Please check all the photos. Thank you. <Hello again, Musa. As I think I've said about 17 times already, you can't sex Flowerhorn cichlids reliably from photos. Both sexes can have humps. Both sexes can have bright colours. Both sexes move stones about. The ONLY reliable way to sex ALL specimens is to examine their genital papillae. This is sometimes called the "spawning tube". Look behind the anal fin. On males this is long and pointed, and on females short and blunt. Cheers, Neale.>

Pl Identify the Sex of my Fish -- 02/25/10 HI WWM crew First of all thanks for the prompt replies given by you to my queries. <Happy to help.> I am having a Flowerhorn approx 7 inches in length. I have taken a few pictures of the fish while venting. can you please confirm the sex of the fish. <Looks like a female to me.> My other query is knowing the amount of waste these cichlids make is it advisable to keep the fish in a bare bottom tank and avoid the gravel for effective cleaning of the tank. <Fish hate bare glass. Or rather, they hate light bouncing off bare glass. So if you do decide to go this way, don't light the tank from overhead. Keep the tank dimly lit, e.g., by adding lots of floating plants. Cheers, Neale.> Venting pics of Flowerhorn Hi WWM crew First of all thanks for the prompt replies given by you to my queries. I am having a Flowerhorn approx 7 inches in length. I have taken a few pictures of the fish while venting. Can you please confirm the sex of the fish. < Looks like a female to me.-Chuck> Pl help Sexing Flowerhorns By Venting 3/4/10 Sir I am having a Flowerhorn since last 6 mths. He is approximately 5 inches in length. I am attaching venting pics of my Flowerhorn. Is it possible to identify the sex of the fish. Thanks < Looks like a female to me.-Chuck> Pl Id my fish... FH, again... 3/8/2010 Sir, Having The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ <I think you hit the "send" button too soon. And for some reason, I feel a Flowerhorn question coming on... Cheers, Neale.> Pl Id my fish Hi CREW I am having a Flowerhorn since last 8 mths. He is approx 6-7 incher. I am attaching the venting pics of the Flowerhorn . Can you take a look and help me to identify the sex of the fish. Also the strain of the fh is zhenzhou. Will it be able to develop a nuchal hump after its current age, if it is a male fish. I would appreciate if you would help me in the regard. Thanks in advance <Hello again. This appears to be a female. Females have small, broad, rounded genital papillae, whereas males have longer, narrow, pointed genital papillae. This works for practically all cichlid species, not just Flowerhorns. Cheers, Neale.>

urgent response.
my 6cm FH just laid eggs without a male what should I do? I want to hatch them. 2/13/10
<Cichlids don't normally lay eggs without a male, and without a male to fertilise them, they won't hatch. They're infertile, and will soon rot, so remove them from the aquarium before that happens. Cheers, Neale.>

FH behaviour
Flowerhorn Sex 2/10/10
Hello crew Musa here. I'm very thankful to you people in raising my Flowerhorn.
Actually my problem is that my FH is 5.5 inches long, it is developing its hump.
The shopkeeper said he(Flowerhorn) is a male because it has a hump. But since last week my FH has started to pick stones in its mouth and transport them to other side. Today I asked my friend about it and he said that its
definitely a female. Please help me out in this and also tell me the reason behind the transport of stones. Thank you very much.
< Your Flowerhorn is probably a male. He has started to mature and get his hump. He is also starting to set up a territory by rearranging the tank to his liking.-Chuck>

MY Flower horn has bred.. I NEED URGENT ADVICE!! 2/1/2010
MY FLOWERHORN JUST BRED, The Female only laid 20 eggs, she is 3 and half inches long. is that normal?
<It is not uncommon for cichlids to spawn when not full size. They reach sexual maturity long before the reach their adult size.>
the 20 eggs survived and now living with father in separate tank, they are 1month old now.
<OK.>
the father and the fry are acting odd.. they all floating vertical on top of the water.. it looks like they trying to float and look out of the water, or they are suffocating and trying to get air. they been floating like that for 1 day now.
<Clearly, the aquarium has poor water quality or the wrong water chemistry.>
I have changed the water twice a week. and still acting like that.
<Water changes are part of what you need to do, yes. But there are other issues. Make sure the aquarium is big enough, at least 55 gallons, and realistically 75 gallons or more. Make sure the filtration is adequate.
There should be (must be!) zero ammonia and zero nitrite. Nitrate levels should be below 20 mg/l. Water chemistry needs to be hard and basic; aim for 10+ degrees dH, pH 7.5.>
Question1: WHY DID FEMALE ONLY LAY 20 eggs?
<Could be any number of reasons, not least of which most of the eggs could have been eaten by one or other parent. Check also water chemistry (crucial for egg-laying species of fish) and water quality (fungus consumes eggs
very quickly in foul water). Females must have a healthy, balanced diet. A mix of good quality cichlid pellets plus some green foods (like cooked peas) will do nicely. Do not live foods likely to cause nutritional or health problems, e.g., feeder fish.>
Question2: Why are the father and baby floating vertical ' looking like they need air?
<Almost certainly poor environmental conditions.>
Question3: What ph level is the best for my Flowerhorn? I bought the test kit.
:I tested water and hardness is max and ph is yellow around 6. I need urgent help on this plz!:
<Seems your water is too acidic. You need hard, basic water. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/FHParrotCichArtNeale.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>

Flowerhorn male or female 1/31/2010
How do you know whether a FH is a male or a female.
<You need to inspect the genital papilla of a mature fish. Males will have longer, narrower papillae than females.>
send photos of both
<We don't send photos. Cheers, Neale.>

Sexing Flowerhorns -- 01/12/2010
Hi Chuck, I have a Flowerhorn for the last 6 mths. I want to know that whether is there any other method than the venting method to determine the sex of the Flowerhorn. I know about the venting method and seeing the nuchal hump (but that is also not 100 percent foolproof because if the fish has good genes the female will also display hump). Can you please guide me on my query.
<Males are generally larger with longer fins than the female. When they are together as a group it becomes easier to compare.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn... sys., repro. 12/22/09
Hello again guys,
<Hello,>
I'm Moosa,
<Yes you are.>
I wanted to know that what should be the temperature of the heater for a FH normally, for increasing hump size, and for breeding.
<The best all-around water temperature is 25 C/77 F. There is no point raising the water temperature except for breeding, in which case aim for 26-28 C. Warmer water contains less oxygen but speeds up metabolism. This
is a bad combination, which is why it is avoided. Nothing, repeat NOTHING, will make the hump bigger than its genes allow. Provide good water quality and a balance diet, and the hump will get to its proper size.>
Thank you.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Babies of Flowerhorn 12/20/2009
Hello crew,
<Hello Moosa,>
My name is Moosa. I'm very thankful to u guys, I got two FH and I'm scared that after they laid eggs they'll eat them as it happened before so can you please help me out.
<Egg-eating behaviour is VERY common with inbred cichlids. On fish farms, breeders rear the eggs manually. Always. So over time, the "bad" parenting genes aren't selected against. Whether the parents are good parents or bad parents, it makes no difference. In the wild, only good parents produce offspring. So in the wild, it makes a big difference. Anyway, inbreeding makes things worse. Breeders choose parents they think look nice, but pay no attention to behaviour. End result: fish that might look nice, but are very stupid. You can see this with all sorts of intensively farmed cichlids, most notoriously with Angelfish, which almost never rear their fry successfully. So, if you want to breed these fish, you will need to pull the eggs out and hatch them yourself. Move the eggs to a very clean
aquarium with an air-powered filter, and add anti-fungus medication (Methylene blue) at 50% the normal dose. Change 25% of the water daily.
Once the fry are free swimming, you should be able to feed them brine shrimp nauplii and/or commercial baby fish food.>
Thank you.
<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>

Identify Flowerhorn at first look 9/30/09 Sir, how can we identify FH male and female at first look? <You can't. Mature males *tend* to have larger nuchal humps, but that is not obvious until the fish is a year or two old. Normally, you sex them the same way as other non-dimorphic cichlids: by examining the genital papillae. Females have a short, blunt papilla only obvious within a few hours of spawning, whereas males have a longer, narrower papilla that should be visible 24-48 hours before spawning.> Can i keep 1male and 1female FH in same tank? <No.> I have a FH i don't know is it male or female how can we show its pic to u? <You can't sex them from photos. Cheers, Neale.> Is it male or female <As I said before, you cannot sex them just by looking at a photo. You can wait a few years, and maybe the male will grow a bigger hump (though lots of males don't). Or you can look at the genital pore when a pair get close to spawning. But that's it. They're essentially impossible to sex otherwise. Cheers, Neale.>

Can a Male FH will be this much calm during breeding? 6/24/09
Hi, i am Ram.D from India,
<Hello Ram>
i have a male Flowerhorn, about 18 months old...
The fish looked very healthy and active for about 10 months, but after that it slow down,
mostly staying at the tank corners and not taking food...
<Mmm, unusual...>
For feeding i use good quality HUMPY HEAD pellet food only, while the fish was small i stopped feeding the live foods.
occasionally i feed flesh of shrimp. Recently, it stopped taking that too....
<What re the system?>
My FH fish tank size is about 4 feet in length and 1 feet in breath...
One day accidently one gold fish slipped into the FH tank and my FH not even bothered to chase that little gold fish...
i thought this behaviour is because of the stress or something like that....
So, couple of days back, i bought a female Flowerhorn and hoped that they two will breed.
<Yikes... I do hope you have a good physical separator... a partition to keep them apart>
The female is little smaller than my male Flowerhorn...
To avoid the territorial fight and initial aggression, i separated both fishes with a glass partition
<Ah good>
for about 2 days, and then i removed the partition.
For about 30 min.s they both looked ok and they both rubbed the body and not seemed to be in any kind of tension.
But suddenly the female Flowerhorn started to attach my male FH, Female FH started to chase the male FH to the corner of the tank.
Biting the tail and charging at the body...after sometime the male had blood in lips, almost looked like it is going to die...
So, i separated the both and i don't know what to do....
<Keep them separated... in another tank if you can>
Can u please help me out in this case, was my Flowerhorn is suffering with any disease?
<Maybe just emotional/psychological>
or is it natural that a male FH can be this much calm?
<Mmm, yes>
or is this aggressive behaviour by a female FH is normal during the breeding?
<Can be>
Looking forward for your advice..
<Best to keep in two aquariums where they can see each other, try re-introducing them in a month or so... with the same protocol you list...
In a larger system if you have it, when you can be present to separate them if their interaction becomes too agonistic. Bob Fenner>

Re: Can a Male FH will be this much calm during breeding? 6/25/09
Hello Fenner,
Thank you very much for your advice and suggestions.. sure i will try out your advice.....
Ram.
<You're welcome Ram. BobF>

Flowerhorn breeding Issues -- 10/24/08
I have had my pair of Flowerhorns now over a year and a half, both in which I have had since they was about one inch in length. They Now are both over the ten inch mark, They have breed multiple times in which I have only seen one time that the eggs have hatched into fry and then slowly but surely eaten by the female.
<Extremely common with inbred cichlids; see especially Angelfish for a similar phenomenon. Many cichlids need to "practise" breeding to get it right, but inbred forms often seem incapable of getting breeding done naturally, surely because humans have interfered so often by pulling the eggs and rearing them artificially. In the wild Nature favours those cichlids that can "get their act together", but without that pressure in captivity, those hard-earned skills fade away with each generation. In any case, not much comfort for you, but there are some things that might help. The use of target fish has been discussed by Loiselle and is worth considering. Essentially you place a fish in the tank that isn't actually a threat, but is perceived as one by the parents. This strengthens their bond, hopefully to the degree they breed properly. To work, you need a big tank where the target fish is safe to swim away. If the tank is too small, there will obviously be scope for much death and mayhem. Do try and read one of Paul Loiselle's books to fully comprehend the theory before putting into action. If you get things wrong, you're essentially chucking some poor fish into a lions' den.>
Since that time they have breed and laid eggs but they have never hatched any since the first time they breed. I've even went as far as removing the only other fish in the tank which are two Plecos which both are about 6 inches in length.
<Plecs do of course eat fish eggs, both in the wild and in captivity. They are incompatible with breeding cichlids, not least of all because Plecs forage at night, when cichlids have minimal defences.>
My aquarium is a 75 gallon I have two power heads feeding a underground filter and I also have magnum 350 canister filter running on the tank. The Ph in the tank runs from about 7.4 to a 7.0, I've even done water changes on the tank.
<That's a lot of pH variation; remember, the pH scale is exponential, so small changes in terms of numbers on the scale actually mean big changes in terms of what your fish experience. These are classic hard water cichlids, so your job is to raise the carbonate hardness and so ensure pH sticks at around 7.5 within minimal variation.>
Even after all this has been checked and maintained they still have not produced like most cichlids. I understand that they are not your typical cichlids but they still have the same background as the others. Is there anything I can do to help them along or is this something that just happens? If they never spawn anything that is cool but would like to experience actually having more Flowerhorns possibly even better looking fish than the parents.
<I have to confess to not being wild about hybrid cichlids generally, not least of all because their behaviour is -- almost by definition -- unpredictable. Really the only practical thing you can do (if target fish don't help) is to keep swapping out adults until you find a pair that works. The reality is that you're in the same situation as angelfish breeders: you wait for the fish to spawn, and then you grab the eggs and rear them yourself the minute they're done.>
Brent
<Good luck, Neale.>

Flowerhorn, breeding 9/27/08 Hello, I'm writing you from Switzerland. <Hello, from England!> I started to have few FH at home for the past 6 months. Most of them come from Thailand. Although I can say that I have quite an experience in breeding fishes ( I have successfully bred discus for more than 12 years) I haven't been able to breed any of my FH. <Cichlids -- as you know -- don't necessarily breed when we want them to. The only reliably method is to keep a group of juveniles, and then let them pair off naturally. Flowerhorn cichlids are difficult/impossible to sex when young; such dimorphism as their is (nuchal hump for example) is unreliable and only apparent on old males anyway. Furthermore, Flowerhorn cichlids are, by their very nature, inbred. With all cichlids, the more inbred they are, the less well they perform as parents. The problem is that the traits breeders prefer, such as bright colours, do not necessarily go along with good behavioural traits. Angelfish exemplify this, with cheap Angels almost never being able to successfully rear their offspring on their own.> I have kept few fishes with separators but as soon as they are together they are fighting very badly. <Absolutely typical for any Central American cichlid, let alone ones as large as these. Do review the writings of Paul Loiselle, among others.> The only pair which seems to tolerate itself is not showing any interest for breeding. <May well not. If the female does not consider the male worthwhile, she won't breed with him. End of story. The male may get frustrated, in which case he will attempt to drive her out of his patch. Do also consider the size/age of the fish, presence of appropriate spawning sites, presence of target/dither fish, and so on. Paul Loiselle has written a great deal on these issues (for example in "The Cichlid Aquarium", an essential book for anyone keeping these fish.> They are well fed. Water parameters are fine and filters are clean. <All these things will help. Do review the topic of spawning triggers with regard to cichlids, in particular diet and water temperature changes.> Any tips to help the situation???? <Nope. You're in same boat as many, many others.> Patrick <Have patience, and experiment swapping out males with other males. Cheers, Neale.>

FH Pairing Flowerhorns Reacting To Red Light -- 03/08/08 Hi to all the crew, I'm Lance from the Philippines, sorry if I just sent you a trial mail just now. I was trying to send you my query since this afternoon but failed so I tried to look for another way. Anyway here are my questions. I have this FH that I bought from different owners. I am not sure if the pair are male and female. I have read some of the reply that you have made to most of the people asking you and I have compared some facts regarding this issue. The other one is that I'm sure that it is a male for it's hump that is quite visible than the other one and the round shape of the body which is full. The other is with a long face and flat belly. Is this a female? < The best way to determine if you have a pair is to examine the genitals. It is also called venting. Take the fish out of the tank and look at the belly of the fish. Just at the base of the anal fin you should see two openings. If the two openings are the same size then that should be a male. If one of the openings is much larger than that should be a female. Secondary sexual characteristics would be longer more pointed fins on the male. The female would be smaller and not have a hump on her head.> This FH has been in the tank for 3 weeks now without partition. They have been able to coup with each other very well until last night that I have decided to change the light from a regular fluorescent lamp to a colored one which is RED. As soon as I have turned on the light they both became so uneasy and start biting each other. They have been biting and locked lips or jaw whatever you call them and can not separate for maybe around 10 minutes. I decided to separate them with a partition and still they are banging their heads on the glass portion as it they were attacking each other. As a result they have both scratches on their heads and lips some on the side. Anyway, I was afraid that this can lead to serious injury as one of your articles said. So what I did is that I turned OFF the RED light that I have installed and for a surprise they stopped for that behavior. I read also from your articles that this are some of the signs of mating so what I did is that I just turned off the light. I was not really convinced regarding the light so this morning I turned ON again the RED light and they went back to the attacking behavior. So my question is that does LIGHT affects FH? Specially the RED color? secondly is that the one that I have described a FEMALE? Thanks and more power on your sight, really helps people like me who are fascinated with this variety. Actually I have already 4 of them. Those pair that I put in the tank are 6 inches by the way. I'll wait for your reply, Godspeed Lance < What is very interesting about your question is the effect of red on your Flowerhorns. One of the cichlid species that makes up the Flowerhorn is the red devil. This red coloration seems to indicate dominance to other non red red devils. It appears that the red coloration projected with the red light has stimulated this behavior between your two Flowerhorns. If they are a pair and are thinking about spawning then the color of the light really shouldn't matter.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn Cichlids Mating, Chuck's go 12/29/07 Hello, First a little info on my tank. It is 75 gallons, with 4 fish in it (varying sizes). One convict cichlid of about 3 inches, one wolf or jaguar cichlid of about 4-5 inches (not sure which one it is and two Flowerhorns, of which I'm not sure of any specific classification. One I would assume is of common origin (3-4 inches) (S/he is greenish in the background and reddish on the belly, with a yellowish tinge on the face, and flowers all down the side as well as on the dorsal fin.) and the other I was told at the fish store is a Trimac Flowerhorn (6-7 inches) (S/he is completely orange with white spots throughout his/her body. I've attached photos. I don't know what is going on in the tank. Less than two days ago, the "Trimac" was chasing the other Flowerhorn all over the tank, like he had a mission to kill the fish. Now, they are actually free swimming around without a care in the world together. They've been moving a lot of gravel around as well. Is it possible for different species of Flowerhorn to be attracted to one another? < Flowerhorns are a mix of three different true cichlid species. This leads to lots of variation between the possible color forms available. All are capable of reproducing with one another.> I'm also not sure what sex they are. I believe that the smaller one is female and the larger one male, but I'm unsure. I originally thought that the larger one was female, due to the lack of Nuchal hump, but now I'm not so sure. < Males are typically larger with longer fins. The hump on the forehead stores fat and its appearance is a combination of genetics, nutrition and environment.> I haven't seen any lip locking but they have been doing something that I have never really seen any of my fish do. The only way I can describe it is as if they are shaking or shivering. Its like they are shaking they're head or something, but it's not just their head, it's their whole body. I originally thought that they were sick, but now I believe it may be some sort of mating behavior, but I haven't read anything from any web site stating that it is a characteristic mating ritual or behavior. < This display o shaking is part of the courting ritual.> I have read though on your web site that you suggest removing the parents from the tank, but I was curious as to why. I have previously bred convicts and I never removed the parents, yet the parents never ate the babies. They actually guarded and protected them, until they were probably about 1/2 inch in length and then they continued trying to spawn, without eating any of the fry from the first generation. I was under the assumption, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the assumption the Flowerhorns were cichlids and that cichlids were magnificent parents. <Flowerhorns are a cichlid hybrid but still spawn in a typical cichlid substrate manner. Not all pairs are able or willing to provide the same level of care of their eggs and fry as your convicts. To guarantee that you get some fry I always recommend moving the fry away from the parents.-Chuck> If you need any further information I will gladly provide what I can about my tank situation. Thank you in advance for all of your knowledge and expertise. I would greatly appreciate a quick response. Orlando, Fl Jeff Flowerhorn breeding behavior, RMF's go 12/29/07 Hello <Jeff> First a little info on my tank.75 gallons, with 4 fish in it (varying sizes) 1 convict cichlid of about 3 inches, 1 wolf or jaguar cichlid of about 4-5 inches (not sure which one it is. and two Flowerhorns, of which I'm not sure of any specific classification. <See WWM re this cross> One I would assume is of common origin (3-4 inches) (S/he is greenish in the background and reddish on the belly, with a yellowish tinge on the face, and flowers all down the side as well as on the dorsal fin.) and the other I was told at the fish store is a Trimac Flowerhorn (6-7 inches) (S/he is completely orange with white spots throughout his/her body. I've attached photos. <None came through> I don't know what is going on in the tank, less than two days ago, the "Trimac" was chasing the other Flowerhorn all over the tank, like he had a mission to kill the fish. but now, they are actually free swimming around without a care in the world together. they've been moving a lot of gravel around as well. Is it possible for different species of Flowerhorn to be attracted to one another? <Not a different species> I'm also not sure what sex they are. I believe that the smaller one is female and the larger one male, but I'm unsure. I originally thought that the larger one was female, due to the lack of Nuchal hump, but now I'm not so sure. I haven't seen any lip locking but they have been doing something that I have never really seen any of my fish do. (the only way I can describe it is as if they are shaking or shivering. like they are shaking they're head or something, but it's not just their head it's their whole body. I originally thought that they were sick, but now I believe it may be some sort of mating behavior, <Me too> but I haven't read anything from any web site stating that it is a characteristic mating ritual or behavior. I have read though on your web site that you suggest removing the parents from the tank, but I was curious as to why. <So they don't kill the other fish present?> I have previously bred convicts and I never removed the parents, yet the parents never ate the babies. they actually guarded and protected them, until they were probably about 1/2 inch in length and then they continued trying to spawn, without eating any of the fry from the first generation. I was under the assumption, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the assumption the Flowerhorns were cichlids. <Oh, they are...> and that cichlids were magnificent parents. If you need any further information I will gladly provide what I can about my tank situation. Thank you in advance for all of your knowledge and expertise. I would greatly appreciate a quick response. Orlando, FL Jeff <Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhornidfaq.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Flowerhorn breeding behavior... 12/31/07 View full size <No pix... need to be attached...> These are the parent Flowerhorns.? I thought they were both female.? but now I'm not sure...please help me.? thanks.? My Flowerhorn eggs have started to turn white...is that fungus?? <Likely so... could be infertile...> if a few of the egg get fungus will all of the eggs get fungus?? what should I do? <Read... on WWM, elsewhere re... Maybe start here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlvstkind2.htm the third tray down... Bob Fenner>

Want to breed Flowerhorn 12/25/07 I have tried to breed many fishes many times but I could not do so I don't know any thing about how to take care of them and till know which ever fishes I have brought such as goldfish, fighter, mollies, guppies, etc. die in a month or less. <Well, before buying any more fish, do buy A BOOK! None of the fishes listed here are terribly difficult to keep. Goldfish can live 30 years when properly cared for; if yours died within one month, then you've kept them for 0.27% of their possible lifespan. Not good.> once even I brought a pair of male and female Flowerhorn for breeding, even they led the eggs, but both of them died. now I am having five small Flowerhorns they may be up to one inch. <Hmm... typically when breeding fish, the idea is to have healthy fry and healthy parents. In any case, do review the requirements of fish before keeping them.> tell me how to take care, how much and how I should feed them, how much water should I change every weak? how to clean the tank? I am having an underwater filter and a power filter in my tank. <See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhorns.htm And linked articles.> my tank size is 36 inches in length, and 12 inches in breadth, and it's height is 15 inches. <Too small...> please tell me everything I need to know. please reply soon. thank you in advance. <No time to tell you everything! Read, review the articles here and the many, MANY books on cichlid aquaria. Once you've mastered the basics and have specific questions, feel free to write again! Cheers, Neale.>

Breeding Flowerhorns 11/15/07 I am confused. I have a pair of Flowerhorns that I am trying to breed. I keep them in a large tank with a separator. Every 3-4 weeks the female turns almost black with large stripes and becomes very aggressive to the male on the other side. I have tried everything, when I open the gate they lock lips and they look like they are very passionate to each other. The male never fertilizes the eggs that the female laid. I have keep them together until it's obvious they were hurting each other but the eggs were never fertile. After I put the separator back in the tanks and they are on each side of the tank the female takes very good care of her eggs but within a few days they turn white and need to be removed. What am I doing wrong? I am afraid the leave them together any longer as I am afraid someone will die. Any help would be deeply appreciated. Thank You Deni <Flowerhorns are a mixture of three different cichlid species. They are a man made cichlids that are not found in nature. Many times a female will lay eggs alone or with another female. Just by matching up a pair does not guarantee that they will be compatible. I think that you are doing everything right and you unfortunately don't have a compatible pair. Try to lower the water temp to 75 F for a couple of weeks to take them out of the mood and see if they get along then. If they do you can slowly ease the water temp back up to 82 F and get them to breed. Normally I would recommend six small juveniles and then let them grow up together and they would normally pair off.-Chuck>

Flowerhorns Courting Tough On All -- 10/01/07 I have a very large male Flowerhorn who I just recently pared up with a female. They did exactly as expected. I kept them separated in the same tank with a separator when her tube came down I opened the separator and they looked like they found true love they were locking lips and encircling each other this lasted about 1 hour and finally they went there separate ways and did not fight at all, she did not lay any eggs although she was cleaning her area off to prepare for laying eggs. They both looked kind of beat up although neither one was really aggressive to the other. Today I woke up to my male with his eyes protruding like they are ready to explode I never saw anything like this is he sick? Or did she do something to him I tried to stay in the room during there mating and neither one really was in any danger or I would have ended it. When will she lay eggs? Her tube is still down and will my male be ok? Thanks so much Dennis < Do a 50% water change and clean the filters. The courting ritual is usually tough on both sides. If the female was not tough enough the male may have killed her. Keep the water temp at around 82 F and you should see eggs soon. The pop-eye on the male may have been caused by stress during the courtship ritual. He has bacteria growing behind his eye and they have created an pocket of gas that is pushing his eye out. In a hospital tank treat with a combination of Nitrofurazone and Metronidazole. Some salt added to the water can't hurt either.-Chuck>

Sick Baby Flowerhorns 7/21/07 Please help, I was given about 30 baby flowerhorns. I put them in a separate tank at 80 degrees. All water conditions are perfect I do water changes everyday and they are dying. They look like they have a skin disease of some sort but it does not resemble ick. What am I doing wrong? I have many other tanks of fish and none are ever sick. How should I care for these little guys? Thanks for the help < Hard to tell. Cichlids are really pretty tough. First check the water for ammonia and nitrites. Readings should be zero for both. If the water is Ok then they may have a bacterial infection from the previous tank they were raised in. Baby cichlids grow very quickly and generate a huge bioload . Under crowded conditions they become ill very quickly. they may have been ill before you got them. If the water is good and they are eating then I would recommend an antibiotic like Nitrofurazone. Follow the directions on the package.-Chuck>

Need help... FH repro. 5/13/07 Hi guys! I need some help. My FH is around 1 1/2 y/o. She laid eggs every month but stopped (for 5months now). Her tubes shows every month and her stomach enlarges, but she never laid her eggs. Is it possible that there is a block somewhere? <Yes... but much more likely "something else" at play here... Lack of a male, water quality stimuli (temp., level, dilution of metabolites...)... "Cues"... perhaps a lack of conditioning is playing a role here as well...> Her stomach continues to enlarge. My fish also does not eat, and read in your site to put Metronidazole in the tank... it worked, then after a week, she will not eat again...its like a cycle....i treat her... gets better and then she'll get sick again. I also noticed that even though she does not eat, her stomach still gets bigger. What do i do next? Hoping you could help me out guys. Thanks in advance!!!!! <... Water changes... Please re/read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhornreprofaq.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Breeding Flowerhorns 3/30/07 I recently brought a pair of flower horns from Thailand (a male and female), male slightly bigger than the female (the male is about 6 inches long, the female 4 inches long). Now I see the male and female attacking together. Few hours, I saw the male has some scars on his body and the female get scratch at her mouth (upper lip). Should I now remove the female or is this a temporary action by mating???. Thank you in advance!!! How do I know male and female are matting??? I am using divider. Can you show me clearly and step by step for breeding??? < Although Flowerhorns are not a real species, they still spawn like the cichlid species that they were derived from. Usually these cichlids have a test of strength in which there is some flashing of fins and some jaw locking to determine suitability to mating. This courtship can get pretty rough. If the female does not pass the test or is not ready to mate then she can be killed by the male. If she passes the test the pair will pick an area to spawn. They will clean the area and chase all the other fish away. If they are properly conditioned and the water is around 80 F then they will lay a few hundred eggs on some substrate. They both will guard the eggs for three days. Then the eggs will hatch. In three more days the fry will have absorbed their egg sacks and become free swimming. At this point they need to be fed baby brine shrimp, microworms and finely crushed flake food. The fry should be removed before the adults decided to spawn again or they will eat the fry.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn Cichlid Eggs 1/10/07 Hi! What do Flowerhorn eggs look like and how will I know if my fish is laying eggs? em-em a. Villanueva, md < Flowerhorns were derived from substrate spawning Central American cichlids. The small eggs would be laid on a hard substance like a rock, log or even the side of the glass. They would be about a 1/16th of an inch and clear. The parents will be guarding them and keeping them clean. Depending on the size of the parents there could be thousands of them laid at one time.-Chuck>

Undergravel Fish? 11/7/06 Hello, <Hi Mark, Pufferpunk here> I have this problem with my Flowerhorn fry. They seem to always try to get under the gravel. A lot of them are not getting back out. I want to try to vacuum the gravel but afraid that I might crush the fry while doing it. So, is this a big problem or the fry should be able to get themselves out? Please, need help fast--don't know if they can survive that long under the gravel. <Are you speaking of below the undergravel filter plate? I can't imagine anything else you might be referring to, unless your gravel size is huge & they are being caught between the pieces. If you are referring to the undergravel filter plate, the same thing happened to my Cory catfish fry. I took the down tube out & lifted the plate by the hole slowly, letting the gravel drop to the side. All the fry were fine after that. Please correct me if my assumption is wrong & describe the problem better. Also, it would be good for the fry to have some fine-leaved plants (live or fake) to hide out in. ~PP> Thank you very much, Mark

Fry Caught in Gravel 11/8/06 Sorry if I wasn't clear before but I meant that they were getting caught in between the gravel (no under gravel-filter). I will leave the tank empty next time though, I think it is too late for all my fries. <I corrected in your earlier email, it's spelled, "fry"> I took the mother out for a day and when I put her back with her fries, she started to eat the rest of them. <Yup, other than mouthbrooders, cichlids will eat any fish they can fit into their mouth--even they're own.> I'm pretty sure I'll do better next time. <I suggest finer gravel. ~PP> Thanks a lot, Mark

Flowerhorn Genetics - 10/22/06 Hi guys awesome website and info. I will make this brief. I have a few breeding pairs of Flowerhorns, trying new things and pairs. I have a few red dragons with brilliant color. I see these Thailand and Philippine Flowerhorns in all different strains. What are they crossing to make the red so bright and covering the whole body? < The Flowerhorn itself is a cross with at least three species of cichlids. One of them is the Red Devil. The amount of red is a genetic trait but the color can be intensified with breeding and diet.> I realize a lot of this is genetics. Is it red devil? < Bingo!> My newest breeding project is a red dragon FH crossed with blood parrot. I have seen offspring of these and they are gorgeous producing a rich color. Guess my question is...What are they crossing with the Flowerhorn to produce these colors? Especially the whole body covered. < I would suspect that they are being line bred and selecting for the intense color. The adults can have as many as a thousand fry so selecting a red fish would be easy after a couple of generations.> Also strains like pearl of the orient, with the body full of pearls. You know what is crossed to make that? Could it be a Texas cichlid? Anyway, any help or input would be greatly appreciate thanks...Alan < I haven't personally seen this fish, but crossing a Flowerhorn with a Texas cichlid would not be very difficult.-Chuck> Bloated Flowerhorn 9/12/06 Hi, I have a Flowerhorn. I noticed that my fish didn't eat for a few days then the stomach got bigger (bloated stomach). How do I treat this? What's the best medicine? Regards, Sam < Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Treat with Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace or Clout. Follow the directions on the package. Lots of info already on WWM website. Google bloat or dropsy.-Chuck>

Male Flowerhorn Breeding cycle? 8/18/06 Dear WWM, I recently succeeded in breeding a pair of Flowerhorns that I have (blue dragon ZZ and a ZZ). It has been a week since the male fertilized the eggs, <Mmm... http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&ie=UTF-8&q=breeding+flowerhorn+cichlids> I want to know how long before HE can spawn with another female? <... not likely... neotropical cichlids for the most part "mate" with only one partner...> For example I know that Female Flowerhorns can lay eggs again in about 4-6weeks. Can a male Flowerhorn breed with a new female every week, or 2 weeks? or 4-6weeks or ???? <More likely to kill it> I ask this question because my other female Flowerhorn seems like she is ready to lay eggs in a week or so, because she is cleaning the rock in her tank. <May "lay eggs" by itself. Please read the first few citations on the search/link above. BobF> Thank You, Rodney.

Breeding Flowerhorns 7/24/06 Hello Bob ! <Actually, it's Pufferpunk here today.> I am getting sick of wasting money on flowerhorns pair. I have bought many flowerhorns pair after watching them doing well from several days but when I purchase them at put them into my aquarium they start fighting. At first I was having a 4'l X 2'h X 2'w tank, so I thought that to enlarge the tank would be a good idea to stop them from fighting, so I made a tank of the following size: 10'l X 3'h X 3'w but this idea also failed. Many Flowerhorn killed their own mate. Till now I have purchased more than 75 pairs of flowerhorns. <Over 150 dead huh??? Kinda defeating the purpose of breeding them? Some fish are just too aggressive to be kept together. I suggest keeping them in 2 separate tanks that are directly next to each other, so the fish can see each other. When they display breeding interest (female will drop down a ovipositor tube), try putting them together for spawning but watch them while they are together. Any sign of aggression, they should be separated again. Eventually, with patience, you will have luck this way. ~PP>

Reproduction, Flowerhorn 6/17/06 How long does the egg of a Flowerhorn hatch, <About four days at tropical temperatures... if fertile> how does it hatch <The apical end of the attached eggs rupture, the young wriggle out> and how do we prevent the female fish from eating its eggs? <"Keep them satisfied", little outside activity, separate from the eggs/young. Bob Fenner>

Raising Flowerhorn Fry 6/3/06 Hello! My female Flowerhorn laid eggs and my male Flowerhorn got to fertilize it in time. Now the eggs are hatched it's been a week since the eggs have been laid. What are the factors that will aid the growth of my Flowerhorn fry? thanks < Clean water, good food and reasonable temperatures. Ammonia will definitely impede growth. So will nitrites and nitrates but not to the same extent. With lots of fry it is easy to overcrowd a tank. You will need very good filtration and lots of water changes. You will need a food that is high in protein. The water temp should be at least 80 F for good fast growth. Too much higher than that really starts to impede the waters ability to hold oxygen.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn pair behavior Respected sir/ madam, I recently brought a pair of flower horns from a local dealer (a male and female), male slightly bigger than the female (the male is about 8-10 cm long, the female 5-6cm long). Now I see the male attacking the female and the female has some scars on her body. should I now remove the female or is this a temporary action by the male. Hope to get a reply soon. < Remove her to another tank or he will kill her. Many times pair bonds are broken when fish are moved and need to be reestablished. Try dividing the tank and keep each one on its own side. When the female is ready to spawn she will begin to start to flare back at the male. You can try and put them together for a short time and see how it goes. Be aware that he can decide to kill her in just a few hours so only put them together when you are home watching them. Eventually when they start to breed again you can start leaving the female with the male, but there is no guarantee when large cichlids begin to breed.-Chuck> Thanking you , Rohan

Re: Separated Cichlids Respected sir/madam, I wish to thank you for giving me the solution for my problem so soon. I have as suggested by you. I have divided the tank into two by placing a glass piece in between the two, hopefully this solves the problem. One other thing I wish to ask is I was thinking of introducing a albino parrot fish with the male flowerhorn (of the same size), do you think its safe to do so & what are the signs to look for to separate them. Can I maintain the flower horn on dry worms alone. Well I once again thank you for your suggestion. Thanking you, < Big cichlids get very territorial, so much to the point that they don't even like some people in the same room with them. This makes them very personable but also a pain to match up with other fish. You can try and put them together. Rearrange all the decorations and put them together at night. It is best to do this if you are going to around for awhile to see how it goes. If they don't like each other you may need to get another tank. -Chuck> Rohan

Flowerhorn questions from India Hi, my name is Rohan, I am an aquarist from India. I have mailed a few times and have been fortunate enough to receive quick and very good responses from you to which I am very grateful and thank you. I have a pair of Flowerhorns. I have a few enquires to ask you, concerning the about two. 1) When do I know that the Flowerhorns are ready to breed? < The male and female will be flaring at one another, their tubes from the anal region will become more prominent and they will have cleaned an area to lay their eggs.> 2) Whats the average size of the male & female when they are ready to breed? < They can breed as small as 4 inches.> 3) I have noticed that my female FH changes her body colour often (from pale to dark green), is this a cause for concern? < Flowerhorns are an artificial man-made fish. Their colors are a reflection of their mood, food and genetics.> 4) when going out for the week end how much should the fish be fed. < None. I never feed my fish while I am out of town for a week or less. Fish are cold blooded so I lower the water temp. to 75 degrees to cool them down and lower their metabolism so they won't be as hungry and will not breed or tear each other up while I am gone.> and lastly, 5) I read in a website (not yours) that you can underfeed the FH not over feed is it true? < You can always overfeed or underfeed your fish. I feed only enough food so that all of it is consumed in a few minutes once a day. Over feeding creates internal bacterial problems like bloat and dropsy. If you check out our website often then you have seen these emails with people who have fish like Oscars that are bloated and lethargic. These people thought that they could not over feed their Oscar.-Chuck> Hoping to get a reply soon. Thanking you, Rohan

Differential Flowerhorn growth Hi, This is a hobbyist from India. I have a pair of flower horns which I bought a month ago. I would like to ask the following questions : 1> I have noticed that the growth in the male is faster than that of the female is it natural or is some thing wrong with my female FH. < It is not unusual for cichlids to be sexually dimorphic according to size. The cichlids from which Flowerhorns were developed have larger males.> 2>I would like to know whether flower horns( in general any fishes) sleep, if they do when do they. 3>should I switch off the light in the aquarium during the night? < Fish sleep or at least rest. The lights should not be on all the time and they will benefit with a rest6 period.-Chuck> Hope to get reply. Thanking you, Rohan

BREEDING FLOWERHORNS I have a three 3-month old flower horns. They have separate water tanks. One of the fish laid hundred of eggs yesterday. Do I have to put one male fish to make sure the eggs will hatch or these eggs will hatched by themselves? < Only in very rare instances will the eggs become viable.> How will I know their sexes? < Males are usually bigger and have longer fins.> How long will it take the eggs to hatch? < If the eggs are fertile they will hatch in three days at 80 degrees F.> How will I know that the eggs were not fertilized. Hope you can help me. MAR PANGAN OF THE PHILIPPINES < In a day they will turn white and probably develop a white fungus over them.-Chuck>

How to breed Flowerhorns Hello! I have a pair of flower horns. When I put them in the same tank, it seems that they are mating coz each of them are flaring to each other. After a day or two, I saw the eggs on the hatchery. However, after laying eggs, I noticed that my pets are now fighting? Which should I leave in the hatchery, the male or the female? For how long should I place one of them on the tank where the eggs were laid? Please help on this matter. I've been experimenting 4x already and up to now, I can't them to hatch their eggs. Hoping for your immediate response. Thanks! Dale Dwayne < Flower horns are a man made fish that have been developed to show certain traits that are favorable to the Asian culture. If you want to save the eggs then they can be taken away from the parents and hatched artificially. Fill a 5 gallon tank with the same tank water that the parents are in. Remove the rock or stone with the eggs and place them in the 5 gallon tank with an airstone to provide aeration and current. Put a few drops of Methylene blue in the water to inhibit any fungus growth. Keep the water at 80 degrees. In three days the eggs will hatch and they will turn into a little wiggly mass of fry. At the end of three days the fry will have absorbed their egg sack and they will become free swimming. At this time they can be fed newly hatched brine shrimp and finely crushed flake food. If after a few attempts all the eggs die (Turn white) you either have two females or an infertility problem.-Chuck>

Baby Flowerhorn/red rose fish Hello, My Flowerhorn and red rose bred for the 2nd time and the eggs hatched 1 Dec. I removed the parents cause the 1st time they ate the babies the same day a few hours later. What should I feed them? < They will become free swimming in a few days depending on the water temp. At that time they can be fed baby brine shrimp and finely crushed flake food.> And the best way in a 55 gal tank. < When the fry become free swimming they will gather into a little school. The fry food can be dropped over them. they will feed as the food slowly drops down around them.-Chuck> Today I gave them a little red Tubifex worms. Thanks, Leo

Flowerhorn Hello, I have a male Flowerhorn and female Rose flower that mated and laid eggs. The Rose is swimming across the eggs in a rubbing motion while the Flowerhorn approaches periodically. Which eggs are fertile the white or clear and how long will it take for the eggs to hatch? < The clear eggs are fertile and the white ons are dead and need to be removed by the female before they fungus up and destroy the rest of the eggs. They should hatch in three days at 80 degrees. Three days later the fry will become free swimming after absorbing their egg sac. At this time they need to be fed baby brine shrimp and crushed flake food.-Chuck.> Thanks, Leo
Re: Flowerhorn Hi Chuck, Thank you for your timely reply. What if the female does not remove the white eggs....should I try to do something? Today is the 3rd day! <Flowerhorns are actually a cross between a few different fish so it may not be that unusual to have a few non fertile eggs. If the eggs are fuzzy then they should have some Methylene blue or some other antifungicide added to the water. Add an airstone to the area to increase the water circulation. You could always use a 5 gallon aquarium and remove the eggs an continue to hatch them artificially. You should be seeing some wiggles by tomorrow.-Chuck> Leo
Flowerhorns hi Chuck, You are right the wiggles appeared this morning however very hard to see unless you focus. It is like vibrating gel! The female [Red rose] is scooping the fry in her mouth and spitting them back out. what does this mean? < She is probably cleaning them and moving them around.> The Flowerhorn sometimes picks in the area of the hatchery but eats what it puts in its mouth. The hatchery is now mixed with sand which is the tanks bottom glass. Could the fry survive without the parents if I take them out. <Sure. Fill another container with the same tank water and then get some clear air line tubing and siphon the babies to the new container. When they become free swimming, (in about three days), they can be fed baby brine shrimp and crushed flake food.-Chuck>> Is it safe to remove them of course using the same tank water. What do I have to feed the fry? Sorry for so many questions and emails first time grand-pa! Leo
Flowerhorns Hi Chuck, What will the young fry eat for the first 2 weeks? < The parents are not required and they can be fed crushed flake food and baby brine shrimp until they get up to 1/4 inch. Then they could be fed flake food and fine pellets.-Chuck> Do they need their parents to feed them? Leo

Flowerhorns Mating Greetings, Well, I've got a cichlid which I called Canon. After that, I've got a flower horn who is Dranzer. I put them in the same tank, a ten gallon tank with a divider in it. A couple of days later, I found some eggs on Canon's part. I didn't mind it because it might not hatch. But three days later, it was filled with white fungus and was swept away. Another days later she laid eggs but the eggs were also filled with fungus. How can I keep fungus away? < The fungus is usually the result of infertile eggs.> Can a Flowerhorn and a cichlid mate? < A Flowerhorn is a man made cichlid that is a hybrid between three different species. It is possible it could breed with another Central American cichlid.> How can my Flowerhorn get good colors and a protruding head? < With good nutrition an good water quality you can get some pretty good results as long as the fish has the genes for those traits you desire.> How can I breed fishes? < Breeding cichlids is actually pretty easy. Make sure you have a pair and set them up with warm clean water. They will usually do the rest and even raise the fry.-Chuck> Hope for your reply, Nikki

Crossing Flowerhorns? 7/7/05 We have an A-quality female Flowerhorn that started laying eggs without any encouragement. We also have a mature, good quality male Midas. Weve read that crossing these two will still produce Flowerhorns. We know the breeding process is a rough one but were getting conflicting info from folks ³in the know. Since they seem to be very happy with each other (by their terms, anyway) should we separate them at all until eggs are laid and fertilized? <Female Flowerhorns will lay their eggs on a substrate and they need to be fertilized pretty quickly by the male to be any good. You need to keep both in the same tank.> And how long does it take for that to happen? < If a pair is ready to go then a female could be ready to lay in as little as a week, depending on her size and the water temp.> Does she need to rest? < She can lay eggs as often as every two weeks depending on how well she is conditioned.> He keeps her swimming a lot. But they have both been cleaning the slate. How soon do we need to remove the Midas once the eggs are laid to keep the risk to her minor? < After the eggs are laid and fertilized by the male then he can be removed right after spawning.> A local Flowerhorn shop lets the male/female raise the fry together. Is this unusual? < No not really. The parents will lay the eggs and guard them for three days until they hatch. Then they will hatch and become free swimming three days later. After that then they should be removed because the parents will be getting ready to spawn again and eat the fry.> We also have a young Flowerhorn that we believe is a male but he¹s too small for her right now. Would it be better to wait until he is larger instead of pairing her and the Midas? < Depends on what you want to do. Cichlids don't like to switch partners once their set up.> We¹ve heard that breeding pairs can get grumpy if split up and put with a different fish. Do they really know the difference? < Absolutely!> Is there a book on Flowerhorns that we could purchase? Thank you. Erin & Russ < There is a book that has been published a few years ago. You can check on eBay or Amazon.-Chuck>

Identifying Flowerhorn fry 8/20/05 Today I went into the pet shop in Chinatown, Manhattan, NY. I was looking to purchase some Flowerhorn fry's about 1 inch or less ... the pet shop guy showed me some "Flowerhorn fry" that were with parrot fish fry but to me when looked at the "Flowerhorn fry" they didn't have red eyes, very dark coloration, some spots, and really looked like some sort of other cichlid ...... my question is how do you tell apart Flowerhorn fry from other cichlid fry? What are the major or key distinctions to look for if any? thanks a lot. < At one inch Flowerhorns look like the fry of red devils from which they are partially derived. They may range in color from solid red to grey with stripes. This makes it very difficult to determine if you truly have a Flowerhorn. I personally buy fish from breeders if I am concerned about genetics. In this case I would ask the store to guarantee that they are truly Flowerhorns. If they are not, make sure you bring them back for a full refund. If the store owner declines then you already have your answer and you don't need to waste your time and money on a fish you have no interest in.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn Questions 9/3/05 Hey, WWM, Chuck, I was just told by my friend that I should put crushed coral into my Flowerhorn tank, because it promotes the hump growth and fish health by balancing the ph... or increasing it? < Crushed coral is simply calcium carbonate. In acidic water the shells dissolve and help buffer the water and keep it from crashing (Becoming too acidic). It may stabilize the pH and thus keep your Flowerhorn healthy. Especially if you live in an area with soft water.> Well I searched your forum and I couldn't find an answer... I want to know is Crushed Coral good for Flowerhorns? < In soft acidic waters it is probably beneficial to have crushed coral in the tank.> Are Flowerhorns hard water or soft water fish? < More hard water than soft water.> Can Flowerhorns survive in high ph water? < To a point. I would not go much higher than 8.> What are some signs that a female Flowerhorn is ready to spawn? < Heavy belly with a thin tube protruding from the anal region. The pair will usually be seen cleaning an area and chasing away other fish.> Can I put a Pleco or cat fish with my male Flowerhorn 8 inches big? < Big Central American cichlids are very territorial of their spaces. I probably would not risk it. Chuck> thank you very much

Pairing Up Flowerhorns 9/5/05 Dear, WWM, Chuck, I recent bought a male (huge hump, long fins, about 8inches) and what I think is a female (very little or no hump, short fins, fat belly, about 6inch), from separate owners. I have them in there own tanks, and they cannot see each other. I wanted to try an breed them, so, today I tried putting the female in the male's tank (hoping that they would pair up), but instead they immediately started fighting, by locking there mouths together, I watched them do this for about 5 min.s and saw the female was getting her mouth bitten up. So I took her back out and put her into her own tank again. I have seen that kind of fighting between male Bettas and sometimes when I am breeding Bettas also. My questions are... Can put these 2 fishes that are use to living in separate tanks, together to breed? < Playing match maker with adult Central American cichlids is very very risky. I would get some plastic egg crate used in home improvement store for lighting panels and make a divider out of it. Put the male in one side and the female in the other. This way they can see each other but not get to each other. If the female lays eggs the male can still fertilizer them fro quite a distance away.> What are the mating rituals of Flowerhorns? (like what kinds of things do they do before pairing up or mating? What are signs of mating?) < Courtship can be pretty rough. Lots of flaring and mouth locking. If they are compatible and the female is ready to breed then after the tug a war they will begin to clear an area for the female to lay eggs. The eggs are laid on a flat surface with the male following closely behind the female to fertilize the eggs.> How do you know when they are doing this ritual or fighting? < Sometimes it is difficult to tell. When one fish plainly gives up and runs for cover then it is time to get the loser out or they will be killed.> What is the average time for this mating ritual to take place? < Could be hours or days depending on the water temp and how closely matched the two fish are.> One of my friends has a pair, and they don't fight or anything, they defend there hole they dug in the gravel. I really want my 2 Fh's to live like that, am sure I have more questions, but I can think of them right now... I will have to send another email, but I'll wait for your reply on this one... Thank You So Much, you guy's are the best. < Compatibility among cichlid pairs is a touch and go thing. They may be fine one minute and then at each others throat the next. Good Luck.-Chuck>

Male Flowerhorn Sterile? 11/22/05 Dear WWM crew, I had written to you about breeding Flowerhorns, before, but after a couple of tries at breeding, with no success I have a couple more questions to ask... Is my male Flowerhorn seems to be sterile...? <Maybe> The reason I ask is because my female has laid eggs twice and they all just died after 4-5days! <Could be you have two females even> I would like to know, how do I know if a male Flowerhorn is Sterile? <Mmm, your present observations> My male has a tube thing near the anus, but its black at the end of it, and its shriveled up... am not sure if that's a physical sign of an infertile male... <Mmm, no... though shape, size is often sexually indicative> What would be a good Visual way to know if a male is infertile? <Not possible... can/could be tested (most likely through sacrificing the fish), or somehow testing the fish through "stripping" and a microscope... But/and often cichlids don't "do it" correctly the first few tries...> Can Female Flowerhorn eggs be infertile? <Yes> I guess it would be hard to know if its since it lays the eggs....but if there is any way to find out, I would like to know about it. (you can check my site, and look at the album to see pictures of the fish, am not sure if that would help) Thank You Rod http://www.rodsfish.com <I am cc'ing Chuck Rambo here (he's been out of town a while) as he knows much more than I re such matters. Bob Fenner>

Breeding Flowerhorn Cichlids 1/20/06 Greetings! I am Leo Ilagan of the Philippines. I'm a new flower horn hobbyist and I would really appreciate it if you could help me out with some of my questions. First, Is it true that I can breed two flower horns even with a divider between them and a small space beneath it? < Yes, it is possible to breed substrate spawning cichlids using the divider method. This is often done with plastic egg crate type material purchased from a hardware store in 4'x2' sheets.> Second, is it still necessary to put gravel, plants, rocks or any other form of decoration in my tank? < Some aquarists have had better luck using a flower pot or a rock as a focal point for the spawn. It not used they will lay the eggs on the glass and then they cannot be removed and hatched artificially.> Third, I have a flower horn who remains small even after a month and I would like to ask if after separating him from the larger ones, could he still grow to his potential size and form? < Females stay usually smaller than the males. You could also have a "runt" that genetically will not grow to the size of the others.> And last, does chipped skin or scales grow back after being bitten by fellow flower horns? < Usually the scales will grow back but maybe not as nicely patterned as the original scales .-Chuck> Hope you can help me and I'm glad I found your website. Many thanks in advance. Breeding Flowerhorns - 1/30/2006 Hi, I've been reading your forum and it has informed me a lot, but still there are some questions that I have to ask. I am trying to breed my flower horn fish. I have a 35 gallon tank that has colored pebbles on the bottom with a 4x2 inch pot in the female side. I know that I have a pair with me right now and I did put them together in the same tank for almost a year now (with no divider), yes they would fight sometimes, some times I see my female getting worked but lately I noticed that the female has a big tummy with the straw sticking out her tummy, she was very red, and I saw the male got worked pretty bad, he lost his tail fins and scales. As a matter of fact he really got weak, so I divided them with a glass divider, now they mind each others business. The female had a big tummy for almost a month now and she lost the straw under her belly I don't see no eggs, but I see a pebble like cocoon that I know it came from her. My question is, how long before she would lay eggs and what is that cocoon like thing that I see on the bottom of the tank? By the way it is color white and is about half an inch looks like a pebble but am sure its not. When can I take out the divider and would the eggs mature even they are separated by a divider? Please I've me more info on hoe to successfully breed my flower horn.. I really need a lot of help, this is my first time to own a fish, any kind of fish. Eriq < To get the fish ready do a 50% water change, and clean the filter. Get the water temp up to 82 F. When you are going to be home for awhile to watch them, pull the tank divider and watch them. If they start to act like a couple then you can leave them alone for awhile. If they are going at it then you will need to separate them and try again later. Don't know what the pebble thing is. Get it out of the tank.-Chuck>