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hi there I have a problem with my flower horn .it's head has
decreased a bit I don't know why but he is active please help me
Flowerhorn concerns... rdg. 2/2/14
Flowerhorn diet, maintenance, need for research
dear sir/madam i am Denver from Bangalore India i have a 146L tank i
have two pearl FH i had separated theme for the first two days in my
tank but then i removed the division for a little while they were lip
locked i would like to know if that is a sign of mating could you
please reply and tell me all the mating rituals of FH as i am new to
this hobby and am very interested in breeding FH the two of them
aren't fighting now they are getting along with each other and
swimming together i do not see any eggs as i don't know how the
eggs look or where the female would have laid them}. is it healthy to
feed them feeder goldfish i give them about five to six fish each a
day. the male and female both do not have any lump on their head but
the owner who i bought it from said that they were male and female how
do i tell the difference. could u please write and tell me everything
you know about FH if you don't mind. thanking you, Denver drooge
<Hello. For a start, 146 litres is too small for these fish! The
chances are they are fighting. If they persist in fighting, you will
likely end up with at least one dead fish. While you might be able to
keep a single specimen alive in 146 litres if you have good filtration
and do LOTS of water changes, really these are BIG fish that need BIG
tanks. Do see here:
http://208.112.95.51/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhorns.htm
Swim bladder disorder, FH, NNS -- 06/14/07 dear sir bob i got problem with my FH it got sick a week ago. base of what i read though net i diagnose my FH got swim bladder disorder .i notice that it stomach was bulge and has cyst on it. it color become dark and fins tighten to each other also it has protruding gills. local petshop told me to use Baktapur direct. there's a little bit change it stomach a little bit become small but i 'm not satisfy to the result pls help me to cure my FH. give me the proper medication and antibiotics, and how to use it. regards, Benjo from Philippines <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhorndisfaq.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Flower horn hiding in the corner. Reading WWM -- 03/17/07 Hi Crew/Chuck, <Arun> Thanks for your previous mail. I have few doubts please answer the same, 1) My FH has great coloration and he is around 15 cm length, his hump is of medium size ( bulge curvature is not perfect round) . I am pretty sure that he is an imported one since I got it from good contacts and his coloration is really good. Is there something I can do for better hump growth? <Good water quality (frequent partial water changes), good nutrition... this is covered on WWM> 2) I am not able to judge if my FH is male or female is there some easy way for me to find the same? <Also posted...> 3) My FH loves prawns he eats 5-6 mid sized prawns but if I give him pellet food he swallows them and spits them away. I saw a local pet shop owner feed the same food to his FH but it eats it with pleasure, y is this? <Practice> 4) Is it possible for me to import some pellet food as you suggested earlier if so can you tell me some web site where I can order? <Check on the Net... query suppliers if they will ship to you> 5) If I can send the photo of my FH, the bottom part of it will it be possible for you to tell me its sex? <Maybe> Thanking you in advance, Arun <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/flowerhorns.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Flowerhorn hiding in the corner. Flowerhorn Up Keep -- 2/25/07 Hi, Your site is great and you guys are doing a great work. I have a problem with my flower horn. He is around 15-18 cm in length. I bought him a couple of weeks back and this is what I see while I observe him, 1) The fish most of the time hides in the corner of the tank. 2) If I keep a mirror he strikes at it thinking its an opponent. 3) Scratches himself on the gravel and pebbles in the aquarium. 4) Doesn't eat pellet food but eats prawns. 5) If I switch of the light he comes out and swims and that is the time when he hunts the feeding fish. 6) He generally flips his tails like shivering. I have a big tank around 150 gallons for him and I change water 40% every 10 days, I add salt and have good filtration mechanism like under gravel filter and power filter. I thought he would be infected with parasites and so gave him salt bath dip, after that he reduced scratching himself. I do the same to feeding fish before letting them in to the tank. I have a small tank where I have the feeding fish treated before putting them into the main tank. 1)My question is, is this the normal behaviour of Flowerhorn? < Pretty much what a Flowerhorn does.> 2)He doesn't seem to be aggressive against small fishes in the tank and kills them only when hungry? < He is only not hungry when he is full.> 3) What extra I could do to improve his growth and coloration? < Stop feeding him feeder fish . Get rid of the undergravel filter. Keep the water at 80 F. Vacum the gravel while doing more water change. Add a high quality pelleted food.> 4) He eats around 1 big prawn say around 5-6 grams and not more or 10 to 14 small fishes around 0.5 to 1 cm length is it a good appetite? < His appetite is fine.> 5) I don't see him very aggressive is it that he is stressed? Please advice. Thanks & Regards, Arun < He will get more aggressive as he gets bigger.-Chuck> Re: Flower horn hiding in the corner. - 03/02/07 Hi Crew/Chuck, Thanks for the help. Your answers are gr8. I have few doubts; it would be great if you can answer them. 1) Why do you want me to remove the under gravel filter, any specific reason? <The undergravel filter works by pulling water through the gravel down to a filter plate. As the water passes through the gravel the bacteria living on the gravel perform the biological filtration needed to break down the fish waste. When you have fish that like to dig like cichlids, they usually expose the filter plates by digging through the gravel to establish a territory. The water now takes the path of least resistance and goes directly through the filter plate and not through the gravel. Without a current of water going through the gravel the filter is essentially useless.> 2) Can I partition the tank and keep another small flower horn around 5-8 cm in length, I heard that they get more coloration and better hump growth when they get aggressive?( my tank dimension is ( 3.5 feet length * 1.5 feet width *2.25 feet height) < They will not develop any additional color. That is the result of conditioning and genetics. It will get them to display what colors they have more often.> 3) I use Humpy head pellets. He eats them now? < Sorry, never heard of "Humpy head Pellets". 4) Can I feed him chicken and beef heart in small pieces? < If you use a high quality food, then these items shouldn't be needed. I know long time discus keepers use to feed beef heart mixtures to discus. I would not recommend it.> 5) Is live feeding harmful other than chances of disease and parasites? < Many feeder fish have been raised in such poor conditions that they have almost no nutritional value except for being a protein source. If you take your feeder fish, treat them for diseases and feed them a high quality flake food, then they are full of vitamins and minerals and become a better food for your bigger fish.> 6) Is there any other pellet food that you can suggest me please? < I like Spectrum Food, but it not always easy to find. I use to feed MarineLand food until they quit making it.-Chuck>> I greatly appreciate your help in this regards. Thanking you once again. Regard's Arun Flowerhorn - 10/18/06 Great website and thumbs up to the crew for an excellent job, <Thanks Ivan, MacL here with you tonight. Sorry for the delay in response.> I have a few questions but I¹ll first tell you more about my Flowerhorn. I¹ve had him for three years now and always fed him a diet of pellets, small live shrimp and occasionally the frozen bloodworms that come in cubes. As of recently, he¹s been showing some worrying signs. <In the past couple of years I have really come to appreciate Flowerhorns. They have such amazing personalities and such great colors. Many people don't know the beauty of these fish.> This started about two months ago when the edges of his CHECK fins started tattering away. Nothing drastic but the edges now look thinner and jagged like. Also, his stomach is bulging out. His mood is about okay except that he is not as active as before. After surfing the net and reading your informative website, I¹ve come to realize that the live shrimp is probably the suspect. It explains the bulging stomach but I¹m not sure about the fins. Could this be a side effect or a different problem? He has stopped eating the live shrimp as well and that sort of tells me he¹s gone vegetarian, or something about the shrimp isn¹t making him too happy. <Flowerhorns don't usually "go vegan" but they do need some greens to digest properly. You don't mention the size or the parameters of the tank. How often do you do water changes? Do you have any problems with your ammonia levels?> There was mention of surgery for this kind of problem. <I believe some vets can do surgery for blockage. But the gills are not because of a blockage, its more likely that its because the tank is too small for the fish. As they grow they need more and larger room and often this is only manifested with their gills turning out and getting frayed. There are several other things that can cause the gills to fray but with a large fish this is usually the first culprit. My friends keep theirs in a 125 and recently purchased a larger tank because its was too small for the fish.> This is new to me and I haven¹t a clue as to where to begin, or even if it¹s available here in the land of smiles, Thailand. Comments from readers living in this country appreciated as well. What will happen if I don¹t treat the problem with surgery? What other options do I have? <I have heard using peas for this fish as well as for other fish to help with the digestion. How long has his stomach bulged, is he eating anything at all?> There is also a sucker fish in the tank with him. Is this okay? <Should be fine as long as the tank is large enough to hold them both. Good luck and let me know how he does. MacL> Comments appreciated. Ivan.Flowerhorn Growth Questions - 05/13/2006 Hi again, I've some questions about flowerhorns. First, what is he ideal size (growth rate) of a Flowerhorn if he reaches 1 yr., 2 yrs., and so on? And can Flowerhorn siblings be able to mate? Thanks and more power. < At one year the average size should be 5 to 6 inches for a female and 7 to 8 inches for a male. All this is dependant on temperature, food and waste in the water. Siblings do mate.-Chuck>
Flowerhorn Questions 5/9/06 I'm Patrick, a young hobbyist from Philippines. I'm recently viewed your website and found it very reliable and useful, especially the FAQs section, for other hobbyist like me. My Flowerhorn is 6 months old and he's about 4 inches. My questions are: Is that normal to his age?, < Growth rate is a combination of genetics, food, environment, and temperature. All of these seem to be good and his growth rate is very good.> Is the size of the aquarium (he's in a 5 gal. aquarium) will affect to his growth or to his size?, I'm worrying about to his size will not increase anymore. < In a tank that small the waste products will get to the point to where it will start to impair his growth. The lack of swimming room will begin to deform is body structure.> How can you tell if a Flowerhorn is an adult one, even not seeing it mate?, < It terms of defining an adult Flowerhorn, they are capable of reproducing when the male is about six inches and the females are around 4 inches.> What is the lifespan of an average Flowerhorn? < Probably around 10 years with some reaching close to 20 years.> and lastly, I'm wondering if there's a 'special swim' or alike when two Flowerhorn mate? < Flowerhorns mate in a typical new world cichlid fashion. Lots of flared gills and fins. Some lip locking and some chasing. Female lays the eggs on a rock or other substrate. Male will then follow up and fertilize them.-Chuck> Many thanks and more power to you guys, Patrick
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