Citrine888

Thank you, Codyverheyen. You like guppies? I saw your avatar and I've got a few pairs of red eye guppies snakeskin as well.

TheEssigs

Great looking fish Citrine... WOW. When I saw your fish I was very interested and went looking for some info... and found this for anyone else interested...

The Flowerhorn fish does not exist in the wild. It is a hybrid created in Malaysia during the last years of the 20th century. Exactly which species that were combined in order to form the Flowerhorn fish is still unknown, but it was several different South American cichlids. The secrecy has naturally been a good breeding ground for several rumours regarding the true ancestry of this remarkable fish, and some if the more bizarre theories claim that the first Flowerhorn fish was created in a secret Malaysian genetics laboratory where genes from the South American Trimac cichlid was artificially combined with genes from a Goldfish. More plausible theories suggest that the Flowerhorn fish is the result of selective crossings of several different South American cichlids; most likely intricate combinations of the Trimac cichlid, the Midas cichlid, the Redheaded cichlid and the Red Devil cichlid. Flowerhorn cichlids can display striking patterns on their body, and these patterns will sometimes resembles letters, numbers and signs. This has made Flowerhorn cichlids extremely popular among followers of the ancient Asian Feng Shui tradition. South East Asia has a long tradition of keeping aquarium fish in order to bring luck and happiness to the home. The Arowana has for instance been kept for centuries since it resembles a Chinese dragon ? a very strong symbol for harmony and happiness in Chinese mythology. The Flower horn does not look like a Chinese dragon, but it has still been embraced by the Feng Shui followers since it has a hump that makes it somewhat similar to the Chinese God of Longevity. The larger the hump, the more luck will be brought to the Flowerhorn fish keeper. The markings on the body also play a vital role when determining the monetary value of a Flowerhorn fish. Flowerhorn fish with markings that resemble attractive Chinese letters have been sold for enormous amounts of money. If a Flowerhorn fish features the Chinese sign for ?Luck? it will immediately become extremely valuable. This craze has been fumed by stories where Flowerhorn fish keepers have actually won money at casinos or at the lottery. You can obtain a Flowerhorn cichlid without paying a lot of money since the pattern only show as the Flowerhorn cichlid matures. Young Flowerhorn cichlids are therefore not subjected to the same type of speculations as the old ones, since it is impossible to know if they will display a desired pattern as adults. Since the Flowerhorn cichlid is an active and energetic fish, you should choose one that looks happy and lively in the fish store. You can ask to stay around during feeding time, since a Flowerhorn cichlid that does not eat food when offered is seriously ill or stressed. Flowerhorn cichlids can also be bought over the Internet. Flowerhorn cichlids are sensitive to rapid changes and you should slowly adapt your Flowerhorn cichlid to your aquarium before you release it.

COBettaCouple

cool.. very interesting article!

Citrine888

Thanks for the article! Will try to post some winners of the last fish show here in Davao for everyone to see other strains of flowerhorns.

Guzalot

Those are beautiful fish. I've never heard of the species before today

COBettaCouple

i'd not heard of them before reading this thread either. I don't know where you can find them in the US.

TheEssigs

If you are into mail-order fish, you can get them from Fish2u.com (Located in Florida). They are listed under the cichlids, in the subfolder chichlasoma and related...

COBettaCouple

thanks for the link. we'd definitely order the littler ones. they'd be a cool fish if we had a big enough tank for them.

TheEssigs

Ive been looking around, and WOW, they are crazy expensive... They smaller ones... start at like $25 bucks (more my speed) but the really WOW ones are like $120 each!

COBettaCouple

yea.. it could pay off buying them small though if you get a lucky color or pattern.

nicole

What a different looking fish.....very,very cute.wouldn't mind owning one myself.

Callum The Cat

nicole

hey callum,i have a big tank a couple of them and wouldnt mind another,aggression is good do they have to be kept on their own?

Callum The Cat

nicole

6x2 tank, oohhh the female can die during breeding...that sucks...i will have to do some research on these fish...but i reckon i will keep this tank for my discus for now.

Citrine888

it would be best if you buy them at around i inch to 1.5 inches and that would cost something like 10 - 15 usd but you have to choose a flowerhorn strain that are kok producers. By kok, i mean the hump or horn or the head. In such a small size as 1 to 2 inches its impossible to determine if the fry will grow up to have a big kok that is why when we buy flowerhorns over here at that size, we buy from 5 to 10 pcs each of the strain that we want and see which of them will grow up to be a quality flowerhorn.

So far, the strain that is tested and proven to have big koks are the phoenix and dragon strains that we have here in Davao City. Banos is a blue face dragon While Botoy is an oriental phoenix. Its also best that when you look at the plummage (the characters or flowers of the fish) you should choose the ones that are straight and that it should be even on each side.

If only my place is nearer, I could send you my flowerhorn fries, I've got lots of phoenix and dragon strains from my breeding of Banos and Botoy.

Citrine888

An 18 inches x 36 inches x 18 inches ( 1.5 width ft x 3 ft length x 1.5 ft in height) tank is good enough to keep a big fish like Banos. Its nature being territorial, it has to be kept alone or you can also put a glass divider in one tank to keep two medium sized flowerhorns.

Citrine888

Hi Nicole, you can keep a flowerhorn on a 1.5 ft. width x 3 ft. length x 1.5 ft. in height tank. It has to be kept alone because flowerhorns are territorial and very aggressive. If you want to have more than one fh, you can put a glass divider, however, you have to make sure that if you're going to keep two fh in one tank with a glass divider, both fh must be of the same size to avoid the stressing the smaller one. The smaller one will be intimidated by the bigger fish and if stressed might not really develop to its full potential resulting to stunted growth, underdeveloped kok and darker color with stress bars.

Regarding breeding of flowerhorns, to avoid the female being killed by the male fh, you can start by putting them together in one tank with a glass divider. If the female starts tubing then you can take out the divider. Initially, the male will attack the female.When it comes to breeding fh, Its best that the female should be smaller than the male fh because if the female fh sees that her mate is bigger she will be afraid to fight back and will be submissive.

Please try to visit www.fhngdabawenyo.tk on how to care for flowerhorns and other related matters to fh keeping. Most of the members there speak in Filipino and the visayan vernacular but most of us can speak english and i am sure will be able to answer any queries that you will have.