FlowerHorn, anyone??

[Erich]

anyone has a flowerhorn here?
How is it, pls share some of your experience with this cichlid, I am planning to get one.
Thanks
Erich

[MalawiGuy]

Check out this thread I hope it will change your mind.
http://www.cichlid-forum.comphpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=1436&forum=8

[Nikon 187]

Change your mind?! Why a flowerhorn is one of the most personable cichlids you can get partly because they have been bred to have the best qualities of a number of fish..some people don't like hybreds but i have had many of different species including flowerhorn. In fact have 3 right now. Usually very aggressive towards other fish unless you have a very large tank

[jennigypsy]

...just as a side note...

Flowerhorns (and really any other strange hybrid created by MAN) ....please remember : for every 1 BEAUTIFUL flowerhorn you see, hundreds weren't so pretty and were 'culled'...
..I find that a cruel fact...I mean, you're breeding to get a 'freak' in the first place..but then when some of the fry weren't enough of a 'freak' they're killed...hmmm....

[GG0415]

I have 2 males right now that are both around 9-10 inches. I just traded a big female (10 inches) a few weeks ago for two cichlids because of aggression. It was in a community tank and it just won't tolerate other fishes. I'm planning on trading/selling the two males because I want to convert the tank they are using as a community tank as well. Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful but are just way too aggressive (always initiating the fight). Unless you have a big tank and you are willing to have just the flowerhorn then go for it. This is just from my experience but I would not even dare include them in a community tank.

[SoCalPat]

Flower Horns are dominant and the feng shui fish for the next 20 years. Once you have dedicated some time to a Flower Horn nothing else compares. They can be in a community, but must be introduced last.

[agez]

socalpat: your information is incorrect, it may have worked for you once- i dont doubt that. but this fish will NOT live in a comunity in ANY tank size! and if 'feng shui' is what this guy is after then great, its a good looking lab bread-crulty to animals inducing-freak fish and should look nice alone in a nice big aquarium, just watch your fingers at tank cleaning time! by the way SoCalPat- how do you measure twenty years for it to be the 'feng shui' fish? and what about arowana, saratoga, and koi?

[bevoman]

Great post Agez!

[razey]

i have a fh here, i really like the fish....it is a very personable fish. seems to have alot of char. i am running into problems feeding it....it down seem to be growing =-(

[agez]

sorry to hear that razey, must be a genepool issue, soes it have two fins? lol kidding! hope your fishy friend pulls through, try feeding live brine thats been doused in garlicX,
good luck
let me know if i can help further.

[entombed]

hmmmm another flowerhorn debate :rolleyes: . If you want the fish and can house it properly than buy it. The choice is yours. With respect to your orginal question treat them like any other large aggressive cichlid. I guess a 75g tank for a single fish. If you want to try with tank mates I reckon you will need at least a 6x2 tank. I don't keep flowerhorns but they don't bother me that other people do ( ducks head from expected backlash)

[jonah]

Originally posted by entombed
hmmmm another flowerhorn debate :rolleyes: . If you want the fish and can house it properly than buy it. The choice is yours.
That's where I'm at on the debate. I don't really care about hybrids as long as they're sold as hybrids. I don't buy them just because I prefer pure fish, but it's just personal preference.

[rowley02]

A year ago I got one only becoz the LFS owner did not inform me they were a hybrid and if I had of known what i know now about hybrids I dont think i would have purchased it. Having said that I dont think I could ever part with it as it is just like any other fish if not better in some cases. They are a very very interactive fish and are always doing somthing interesting. As for keeping them in community tanks, Ive seen it done and it looks quite good. As long as you keep them with fish of its own size it can work. Im not saying that it will work in all cases but I have seen it before. I think FH are here to stay whether we like it or not. It just comes down to personal opinioin. So instead of bagging this guys fish out, lets help him out.:D

Steve

[agez]

Originally posted by rowley02
A year ago I got one only becoz the LFS owner did not inform me they were a hybrid and if I had of known what i know now about hybrids I dont think i would have purchased it........



....... So instead of bagging this guys fish out, lets help him out.:D

Steve


good post steve, but we arent bagging 'his' fish, he hasnt got one yet! and like the start of your post says..........

his question was oriented toward "im thinking of getting one?"
but yeah i baught a trimac that ended up a horn, it was okay- but way over agressive even for a trimac! and i felt bad for supporting such trades:(

[SuperDave9x19]

Originally posted by jennigypsy
...just as a side note...

Flowerhorns (and really any other strange hybrid created by MAN) ....please remember : for every 1 BEAUTIFUL flowerhorn you see, hundreds weren't so pretty and were 'culled'...
..I find that a cruel fact...I mean, you're breeding to get a 'freak' in the first place..but then when some of the fry weren't enough of a 'freak' they're killed...hmmm....

geez i used to cull up to 75% when line breeding guppies. No worthwhile breeding program is without heavy culling. I couldn't imagine successfully raising all the Jewel fry i got in a 55 gal tank. But they were self culling viscious little fishies.

That being said, I want something that can be found in a stream in the real world not as a released exotic. My first fish were bluegill, sunnies and madtoms.

I wouldn't get Flowerhorns for that reason alone. Pshaw on that all the stuff i get is domesticly raised. It still is descendant of a natural occurring creature.

To each his own of course.

[SkyDiver85G]

Community tank + Flowerhorn = A one fish tank. <G>

[agez]

skydiver: for someone who doesnt keep one you sure seem to have an opinion, not to sound mean at all so please dont take offence. but i think with this particular fish like umbriferum, keeping it in a community can only be commented on by people who have done it in the past. this is NOT your average cichlid, nor is it a red devil or jag, this is something far different, in fact it needs no reason territory or otherwise to kill other fish.... but im sure there are always exceptions.. just saying 'comunity + flowerhorn = A one aquarium' is an inacurate representation and i would hate for this poor guy to put one in with hundreds of dollars worth of fish only to see them all slaughtered in days-minutes.

[crazyfishlady]

Read his post again agez, you guys share the same opinion.:lol:

[SkyDiver85G]

Ahhh, I did have a Flowerhorn, I do know what happens with one in a community tank thus my post. Trying not to take offense.

[agez]

sorry skydiver, thought you meant A1 as in perfect, not a ONE FISH tank. your exactly right from my experience with them too, little buggers!!!! no offence intended at all, just that i and friends of mine too have lost HUNDREDS of dollars in fish to the wrath of mtunat flowerhorns!!! wanted to save this guy the heartache. my deapest appologies man.

[SkyDiver85G]

NP, fortunately it only cost me one red lobster dinner if you catch my drift!:jaw:

[Methuse]

Agez, don't know why you have such negative feelings about flowerhorns. I think they're very pretty. I recently introduced a beautiful breeding pair that I purchased off ebay into my 50gallon long community tank. There's currently a full grown red tailed shark, 3 dwarf gouramis, and a small school of pacus.

I think everything is going to fine because I organized the tank in such a way that there are a lot of really high rolling hills of sand. Anytime the FHs decide to go after somebody they either lose site of them or drift into the sand. When that doesn't work I tap my finger on the glass and then they stop. Plus I have a really cool little plastic submersible scuba diver that blows bubbles that they don't like very much so I think it will keep them distracted anyway.

I think they're a very pretty fish and have made a very interesting addition to my tank. I believe that as long as anybody introduces flowerhorns properly into an established tank and you have interesting things for them to play with they should be fine. If only Agez wasn't always so negative, derogatory, and condecending in his replies to people maybe there'd be more lurkers like me who can share our wisdom.

[rowley02]

Methuse will those Fhs be in their for life??

[Methuse]

Well that's the plan. I make a little cave out of a cut in half coke can for them to have their babies in.

[agez]

negative, derogitory and condecending? you keep a SCHOOL of pacus and 2 flowerhorns amongs other fish in a 50 gal, planning to keep them for life and keep cut coke cans in there for caves....if we DID have more lurkers like you giving advice unfortunately peoples fish would be in dire straights and our forums would be deemed irrisponsible. i DONT mean to personally attack you, but am mereley responding to your kind words. you shouldnt hate a person for their opinions methuse, thats all i ever post an opinion.

.... and methuse, as i state in ALL my posts i never mean to offend or be nasty to ANYONE but maybe you failed to read those parts and just feel youd like to attack me personally for not sharing your love for horns, and by the way i think flowerhorns look great, ON THEIR OWN, as in MY PERSONAL experience they kill other fish. but i also have opinions of my own on hybrids, which anyone is intitled to. a forum is all about opinions, thats why we're here, i dont mean any harm to anyone and try to never step on any toes- maybe you mistake passion for aquaria for nastyness? this post was all about if a member SHOULD buy a flowerhorn for a comunity or not, the poster was aking for other members experiences and opinions, thats what i tried to provide.
but since you deemed me wrong with your 50gal expertise i will refrain from ever posting on flowerhorns again and will leave it to experts like yourself. my deep apologies methuse i stepdown from all posts like this.

[rowley02]

Methuse, no offence but I think you are going to have a problem keepin the FHs and the pacus in a 50g tank if thats what you intend on doing. And those dwarf gouramis wont last long either.

Steve

[Bubble]

Hey People,

After seeing a few Flowerhorns lately, a couple of which were pushing 12", I would have to say that keeping Flowerhorns in a 50g with other fish is not such a good idea. They may be ok in the short term while the horns are small, but when they get a bit bigger you are guaranteed problems.

I don't totaly agree with agez though. Horns can be kept in a community with other fish, as long as you have enough space and the other fish are aggressive enough to look after themselves. I have seen successfull community tanks where horns were in tanks of at least 180 gallons and in with texas, bifasciata, synspila, devils and other fish of the like.

I do however think it is important for people like agez to provide their advice on these threads so that inexperienced people such as Methuse don't put large growing aggressive fish such as horns that can grow to over 12" in with small growing fish that will eventually be killed.

[Methuse]

Hey no worries 'mate', I just love my fish and hate to think of people flushing or tossing their horns based on the kind of perpetual negativity surrounding the species.

[Methuse]

Oh by the way, if you want to know why I got a bit bent out of shape, I have been clinically diagnosed with bipolar disease. Good news is my doctor has me on really good meds, and keeping the fish really helps.

Some are saying my tank is too small? If that's the case, what should I buy? The fish all seem happy. I think the local fish store had a 150tall on sale, but cichlids like to swim I thought back and forth which is why I got the long tank.

[entombed]

Methusa,
IMO pacu's ( Colossoma macropomum ) cannot be housed correctly for its full life in an aquarists private tank unless they plan on keeping these in a large pond or pool. With a fish that has the potential to reach 90cm they are more suited to a large public aquarium. Its incredible that these fish are sold in LFS the way they are and bought by so many people unaware of the tank requirements they need.

[Rex Karr]

Hmm, this post is beginning to get rather strange. From now on keep it on topic and refrain from making any sort of personal attacks.

[agez]

sorry rex. and sorry to hear about your ilness methuse, fish are a GREAT place to start, awsome hobby, worked well for me with my own angst. as for you fh, i think personally that 150long sounds like a really good idea, also i would trade those pacu for silver dollars as they wont grow as HUGE and still do the trick! if your horns are small dont fret when the tank looks empty, theres no urgency to add fish these guys look really good full size n grow like oscars! have fun!