New srd flowerhorn questions.

Hey guys thanks goring adding me to the group. I have kept fish off and on for 30 plus years. I recently got back into the hobby and currently have 7 different tanks of various sizes. For our anniversary my wife got me an SRD flowerhorn. He is about 4 inches long. I currently have him in a 20 long but I'm looking for a 75 gallon tank to keep him in permanently. He should only be in this 20 for a month at the most. So I am aware that this is not an appropriate size tank for him. I do water changes weekly and spot clean the tank daily. I am just worried about his color. It is better than it was when I first got him home. It just seems a little dark to me and from what I read that is usually a sign of stress. He is still a little skittish but I've been sitting by his tank just playing on my phone and watching TV for a couple of hours the last 2 days trying to get him used to me. I then feed him when I get ready to leave. Is this normal for a new flowerhorn to be a little dull in color and skittish for the first week or two or is this possibly a health issue I need to be worried about? I appreciate any advice you might have to offer.

 

I have an SRD Flowerhorn too!
1. where'd you get him? just out of curiosity
2. this is pretty normal. Tony my flowerhorn was like that too when I first got him but he is a beauty now! I would defiantly not keep him in the 20 for more than 2 months.
3. the color doesn't look all that bad but if you want him to get beautiful increase the PH with crushed coral on calcium. flowerhorns are hybrid Central American cichlids and those guys live in limestone rock water so the water is much harder than you think.
4. keep us updated! he has great form and the color on his check is a briliant red

 

Thank you for the response. I got him from a LFS 360 aquatics in Houston. My PH out of the tap is 8-8.2 so I figured this was high enough. Does it need to be higher? The GH 300 ppm and KH 180ppm are both really high as well. Our tap water is like rock according to all the fish keepers in my area.

 

Your hard water w/ elevated PH is fine for the FH.
FH's are primarily a Central American Hybrid.
The water parameters in Central America are very similar to your tap.

 

I got him from a LFS 360 aquatics in Houston

Oh… I saw a similar looking fish on this website called j4flowrrhorns. That’s where I got my flowerhorn

 

Oh… I saw a similar looking fish on this website called j4flowrrhorns. That’s where I got my flowerhorn

I don't know where my LFS gets their FH from. Could possibly be J4FH. I try to buy as much as I can from my LFS. Saves on shipping and stress on the fish plus I love having a place to go just to look at all the fish I can't keep because the wife won't let me have any more tanks.