# Flowerhorn dominating 90G tank HELP!



## PhillyCichlidLove (Jan 15, 2007)

So I new this time was going to come eventually, but I never taught it would occur so soon.

The situation - I have a 4 - 5 inch Flowerhorn that has decided to claim the entirety of my 90 gallon tank to himself. This is putting serious stress on his tank mates as he will not tolerate the sight of any of them. His tank mates arent push over either (JD-Male, GT-Male & Con female) but they all get completely dominated. The fish all cower in their various caves while Grapefruit (the flower horn) swims back and forth. At times, it almost seems as if he is hunting the other fish. It has gotten so bad that the other fish will not even come out during feeding time. Is their anything I can do stop this, or do I have no choice but to send grapefruit packing? The fish are all still juvi's, and there is room for all of them in the tank, but unfortunatelly it doesnt seem like the flowerhorn wants friends. Suggestions??

Another question; I am assuming most people here will tell me to get rid of the flowerhorn. Will doing so just create an opening for another one of my fish to step up and take over the entire tank? Or will peace finally be restored to the community? (My guess / hope is that the JD would become the boss. He seems to only be aggressive when provoked, and has already established dominance over the GT even though the GT is an inch bigger) I understand the concept of territories, I just dont want another fish claiming all 90 gallons as their's.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I would think a 90 Gal could make a nice home to a GT, JD and Con... I don't think you will have such problems after the FH is removed...

FH's just don't tolerate tankmates well... your situation doesn't surprise me at all...


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## misplacedsooner (Apr 13, 2007)

I had a flowerhorn do the same to one of my tanks a couple of years back, he hunted down and killed everything. I think as he gets older and much bigger he will get more aggressive, thats my experience anyway. with what you have otherwise I believe one will show dominance but not take over the tank as long as you dont have breeding pairs. just my 2 cents.
mike c.


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## westwood8183 (Jun 15, 2003)

Yep, they can be nasty. There's not much you can do about it besides rehoming the flowerhorn or getting another tank. In a 90 the other fish you have probably won't stand much of a chance as the fh gets older, as you've already seen. If you remove the fh the other fish will probably be fine in that size tank.


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## BIG_CICHLID (Apr 26, 2007)

You can always try and shift all the decor about in conjunction with a good sized water change! This creates the element of "new territories" for your fish to claim. This should put your FH on ice for a little while, BUT, if he's gonna be dominant he's gonna be dominant even after the change. Good luck and keep us posted! 

BC


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

lol, yea this might buy you an extra 15 minutes or so...


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## sawboy (Sep 18, 2006)

Buh bye Flowerhorn. Or buh bye to everyone else. Won't work together.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

Hey... FYI - I second the notion that a GT, a JD, and a Con could co-exist in a 90... Maybe not as a forever home (a 6 foot tank would be better), but it could work for quite awhile...

I have a Severum, a JD, and a Con in a 90 and it works okay right now partly because the Sev is the benevolent ruler of the tank and keeps everybody in line (for now) without so much as a tattered fin (I hope it stays balanced - but I plan for a 135 or larger someday soon anyhow)


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Ummm.... I've got an 8" female FH dominating an 800 gallon tank. Good luck with yours :thumb:


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## RobD213 (Mar 2, 2006)

Yeh i agree with most of the above, re arranging wont do anything worth while. Its too small a tank for its current occupants Im afraid.


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## lilmixedboy (Aug 18, 2006)

yea my dad's 240 is dominated by a 3.5 inch flower-horn.

My 2 cents is to *get a jewel* i prefer a five spot jewel ,but a regular red one will due. in my experience they always kept fish in check. i had one about a third the size of a male con take over half the tank no joke. for some reason he put on a half a inch in about 3 weeks.

yea u can always try jewels. cuz they can hold their hold,dont let fish bully them, but are not a-holes like fh.


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## garbage (Apr 29, 2007)

PhillyCichlidLove said:


> So I new this time was going to come eventually, but I never taught it would occur so soon.
> 
> The situation - I have a 4 - 5 inch Flowerhorn that has decided to claim the entirety of my 90 gallon tank to himself. This is putting serious stress on his tank mates as he will not tolerate the sight of any of them. His tank mates arent push over either (JD-Male, GT-Male & Con female) but they all get completely dominated. The fish all cower in their various caves while Grapefruit (the flower horn) swims back and forth. At times, it almost seems as if he is hunting the other fish. It has gotten so bad that the other fish will not even come out during feeding time. Is their anything I can do stop this, or do I have no choice but to send grapefruit packing? The fish are all still juvi's, and there is room for all of them in the tank, but unfortunatelly it doesnt seem like the flowerhorn wants friends. Suggestions??
> 
> Another question; I am assuming most people here will tell me to get rid of the flowerhorn. Will doing so just create an opening for another one of my fish to step up and take over the entire tank? Or will peace finally be restored to the community? (My guess / hope is that the JD would become the boss. He seems to only be aggressive when provoked, and has already established dominance over the GT even though the GT is an inch bigger) I understand the concept of territories, I just dont want another fish claiming all 90 gallons as their's.


You want to keep the flowerhorn and get him a tankmate he cant kill, *** got one suggestion that a gave another in a different thread. If you are willing to get a bigger tank, you'd need at least a 125G or better, get a Black Shark, an adult if you can find one, your flowerhorn might tey to mess with him once maybe twice but he will learn real fast messing with a black shark is a bad idea. *** got a BS With a full grown Red Devil, the Devil stays out of his way. Black sharks are the bigger meaner versions of the red tail black sharks and can hold their own with ANY cichlid. The problem for most is that they dont have a big enough tank for em as they can reach up to 22 inches however, the Black Shark is one fish your Flowerhorn will not be able to push around, here's a video of an adult I found surfing the net, notice the size of him when the owner puts his hand up to the tank next to it:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rick.clark/C ... chla11.wmv


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Now that guy needs a bigger tank


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

Can you imagine how much water that guy loses a day :lol:


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Garbage ---Yes, black sharks are suitable tankmates for large CA. Had a large black shark with large CA 20 years agao but they definately get big and need space. Mine was insanely aggressive. I remember my BS with out much fin most of the time as it harrassed a large RBP almost non-stop. My male blackbelt too, it chased and chased until finally the blackbelt started to stand up to it rather than running from it. My BS did not mess with my female dovii or female RD that ruled this tank. FH gets its genes from trimac and RD, and I know what some female RD are like, as all of mine have been amongst the meanest , nastiest fish I have ever kept. A suitable tankmate for large CA in 6 ft. or larger tanks, and because its a non-cichlid, usually of less interest to a cichlid. But also likely, though not nessesarily, a fish that would end up subordinate to an FH.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

I currently have a young male "low-grade" FH ( about 7"). It is very unlikely a purebred trimac and therefore a "low -grade" FH. I first got trimacs around 1988. My male trimac killed both his siblings in a 100 gallon tank at a very tiny size with in a week of getting them. My current "low-grade" FH reminds me of my old male trimac and is similarily aggressive , but unlike my old male trimac, it did not kill its siblings ( I gave the 3 extra "low-grade" FH to the pet shop 2 months ago).
For a 90, your better off keeping the JD, GT and con. Suitable tankmates for an FH will likely require more space than a 90.


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## PhillyCichlidLove (Jan 15, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I ended up selling my FH to a lfs for $65 in fish credit (he is gonna try and sell him for $130)

So I removed the fish a few days ago but his effects are still being felt on the tank!  Everyone is trying to establish dominance in the tank but none of the fish will stay in "open water" for any kind of extended period of time. Whats even worse is now they are all petrified of me as well  hiding as soon as I approach the tank. Will this behavior subside, or am I stuck with a bunch of freaked out fish now? Should I add a new fish into the tank? I would love to get an EBJD for my male JD. Would that be a bad idea? Perhaps I should just get some ditters instead?

Full Stock List

1 JD - Male
1 GT - Male
1 Con - Female
1 Jewel (the small ones)
1 Big Pleco
1 small clown loach (havent seen him in 2 days) :?


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## lilmixedboy (Aug 18, 2006)

ohh u got a jewel eh?

i am so excited over that fish(i need 2 get a lyfe)

i say that is stocked well some dithers you could add would be gourami


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## garbage (Apr 29, 2007)

bernie comeau said:


> Garbage ---Yes, black sharks are suitable tankmates for large CA. Had a large black shark with large CA 20 years agao but they definately get big and need space. Mine was insanely aggressive. I remember my BS with out much fin most of the time as it harrassed a large RBP almost non-stop. My male blackbelt too, it chased and chased until finally the blackbelt started to stand up to it rather than running from it. My BS did not mess with my female dovii or female RD that ruled this tank. FH gets its genes from trimac and RD, and I know what some female RD are like, as all of mine have been amongst the meanest , nastiest fish I have ever kept. A suitable tankmate for large CA in 6 ft. or larger tanks, and because its a non-cichlid, usually of less interest to a cichlid. But also likely, though not nessesarily, a fish that would end up subordinate to an FH.


I guess it depends on the shark, my BS definantly dominates my Red Devil, my jack dempsey, and everything else nasty that *** got in there. There is no question he is the king of the tank


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Every black shark I ever had was an A-HOLE. My wife hates them, but I still like them....  Simply because I'm an A-HOLE


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## garbage (Apr 29, 2007)

TheFishGuy said:


> Every black shark I ever had was an A-HOLE. My wife hates them, but I still like them....  Simply because I'm an A-HOLE


Black sharks are just too bad a$$ not to like


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## moua (Aug 10, 2004)

get a pacu. eventually your ciclids will become the best of friends due to the common enemy, the pacu.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

No, please don't get a fish that grows to over 30" and weighs more than 40lbs.


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## PhillyCichlidLove (Jan 15, 2007)

There is no way I would get a pacu, I know better then that!  Funny we should be discussing black sharks because when I was the lfs I saw one for the first time on sale. Very cool looking, but given its eventual size I decided to pass. I ended up getting some Giant Diano's a second clown loch and a cobalt lobster! The thing is soo cool looking I couldnt pass him up. Unfortunately it seems he is very happy with the piece of pvc piping he found and chooses not to come out of it when the lights are on :?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

I'm afraid that blue lobster may become a meal when it molts.... or possibly sooner  I feed my cichlids cratfish now and again and I had one survive to get quite large.... Untill he tried to move to a different rock and molted :x


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## thedevilscandy8 (Sep 16, 2008)

My FH chased my 2 plecos out of the tank befor he was even 4 inches. He is the most incredible fish I've ever had though!!! He's very calm and loves to be petted. He also eats from my hand every night. He's well over 6 inches now. I wouldn't trade him for anything. He's as important to me as my cat and dog. Can you say that for the "other" fish in your tank??? You should set him up in his own tank. You might be surpised at what an awesome fish he'll be to keep!!!


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

though this is one of the common things with flowerhorns, all 8 of the previous flowerhorns of mine have never caused this problem in my tanks. but honestly, choose the flowerhorn or the ohers if your specific flowerhorn doesnt want tankmates then dont make him tolerate tankmates.


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## Sammich Bite (Mar 23, 2007)

the thing with FH's is you cant judge them by any kind of textbook description, since they are technically not a particular species of fish. you have to judge them as individuals on a per fish basis. what works for one FH owner may be completely irrelevant for another. *** owned many FHs over the years and all have had very distinct personalities, from aggressive to docile, murderous to hilarious.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Sammich Bite hit the nail on the head with just about every cichlid. Which is why it's so hard to give advice on who can go with who... They're all different...


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