Flowerhorn in distress

[Cameronb_01]

I have a fish, it is a flowerhorn. It keeps hiding in the corner of the tank. He is resilient but I fear that persistent introverted behaviour will damage his ego. Will reducing the phosphates do the trick? Or will I have to find alternative methods .

Kind regards
Cameronb

 

[Wills]

Fish don't have introverted behaviours or a egos thats really projecting human emotions onto them... you are describing a fish in a stressed state so you need to work out what is stressing them.

Phosphate wont be the answer, I've never heard of this even being a contender for fish health issues. Have you got a liquid test kit and if so can you post the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.

You will need to give us more info about the set up, tanks size, age of the fish, tank mates and also some info about the scape of the tank and also the room the tank is in. If the fish is not used to people walking past the tank it wont like seeing them occasionally, or if it is in part of the house where people or kids are running around the fast actions might dart around. I've heard to people having stressed fish in rooms where there is a lot of flashing lights from TV's with films or games etc.

The scape of the tank is important because a lot of flowerhorns are kept in bare bottom tanks and while there are advantages to it for them - they often bash around because of their deformed bodies and are prone to infection because of their compromised genetics. But smooth decor with cover and shelter can really help as well.

Wills

 

[Colin_T]

We need a picture of the fish, one of the entire tank, and maybe a video showing the fish and other occupants.
Video can be uploaded to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

What are the phosphate levels?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it been acting unusual?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?