flower horn

[one-envy]

i have a six in flower horn in a 55gal hexagon tank. these fish are quite territorial, there use to be another one accompanying him in the tank but i had to move him because they would fight day and night. anyways, ive gone through about 6 plecos, he keeps eating them. should i get bigger plecos, or should i just scrub the tank every week?

 

[impur]

You won't be able to keep anything with that flowerhorn. And get ready because in that small of a tank, he will most likely begin attacking your hands. I have seen people with pretty nasty scars from a flowerhorn and they had it in a 125 by itself. That fish will need a bigger tank soon, preferably at least 75 gal.

 

[smb]

I've only had 2 flowerhorns the last 3 years. In seperate tanks, mind you and both males.

I have a 10" one that is as mean as all get out. He has killed anything I've tried putting in with him. I've tried quite a few SA/CA's too. He just kills them all.

I have a 6" one also. I got him when he was 2" (I actually got both flowerhorns around that size) and he is the meanest sob that I have ever seen in all my years of this hobby. He hates everything. He "attacks" my dog when she walks by. He bangs his head into the glass over and over like he's trying to break it to get at her.

He killed a piranha a couple months ago, that I've loved so much, when I put him into the piranha's tank for a day to finish the tank he was supposed to be in.

A friend of mine had a flowerhorn that he got at maybe 3-4" and was in the tank with a jag that was 9". After 2 months the flowerhorn was 6" and he didn't like the jag being in the same 90g tank with him and he wanted to let the jag know that. The jag killed him after about 3 days of them fighting, but the thing is the flowerhorn almost seemed like he didn't care tho. It was like he would rather die fighting than sharing a tank with anyone.

Flowerhorns aren't very well liked by most cichlid enthusiasts, and I can understand why very much, but noone knows what these fish are. I've heard that they are hybrids, I've heard that they are genetically enhanced etc. The thing is, noone knows at all.

Alls I know is these guys are terrors! If you get a male, nothing can be kept with them in most cases. They hate everyone, even the person that feeds them.

 

[smb]

i have a six in flower horn in a 55gal hexagon tank. these fish are quite territorial, there use to be another one accompanying him in the tank but i had to move him because they would fight day and night. anyways, ive gone through about 6 plecos, he keeps eating them. should i get bigger plecos, or should i just scrub the tank every week?

Oh, per your question, don't try any pleco. Larger or not. I think you're deduced to just scrubbing the algea.

 

[impur]

smb i have read that they are a cross with a trimac and red devil. Not sure about the red devil part, but you can definately tell the relation to a trimac. There are more and more variations of flowerhorns coming out lately. I am opposed to them because a poor quality FH can easily be mistaken for a trimac. Then if it breeds with a true trimac, that line is bad. I really would like a true trimac in the future but the only guarantee is to buy from a respectable breeder. FH is truely a terror though, and not for a beginner thats for sure Although i'm sure they are sold to beginners all the time. Not saying anyone in this thread is a beginner, just an observation in my town.

 

[smb]

smb i have read that they are a cross with a trimac and red devil. Not sure about the red devil part, but you can definately tell the relation to a trimac.

Hi impur.

The Trimac part is for sure, imo. They have the red chests for the most part. I am not so sure about the red devil part tho. I would say a Midas and festae tho, maybe even synspilum. No flowerhorns show the bigger lips, that I've seen, like a rd. You could be right tho. Your opinion as as good as mine, and one I respect just as much.

That's the thing tho. Noone knows.

It started in the Far East and we all know that they aren't the most responsible fishkeepers there are at times. (This is no knock about the Far East personal people and their aquariums. If you take offense, I apologize to you because it wasn't meant that way)

I've even heard all this started with someone there that had a trimac and a Midas that bred in their aquarium, out of coincidence.

I'm not so sure about that, but I guess it could be true and then it went from there. After the furvor of all this dies down and the "ornamental" value of this decists, we might finally learn. Until then tho, noone knows anything about these fish for sure.