# Pics of my FlowerHorns



## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

Decided to purchase a male and a female, I have them separated with a divider at the moment. allot of flaring and dancing at the divider haha.

http://s859.photobucket.com/albums/ab154/slh2099/Fish/

Anyways here is a few pics of the pair, i will try and take more later.


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Nice looking pair :thumb: I hope they get along for you and you can remove the divider at some point. What kind of FHs are they? Good luck with them, keep us posted. opcorn:


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

Honestly I have no idea, the female is allot nicer looking, but the male has a very cool personality. I've already got the female eating out of my hand which is cool, but sadly the store they were at was feeding them gold fish for the last 6 months. So I figure before I let them spawn ect, I'm going to feed them some higher quality food get them a little more healthy.

To me the male looks really like a trimac, and im honestly not sure what kind they are. The two have bred in the past, but im not sure if i should remove the divider yet, any tips on how to do so is very welcome :-D


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

Both flowerhorns are of the ZZ type (Zhen Zhu).

not a bad pair, only real thing I would prefer is a bigger nuchal on the male.


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

Thank you Gage  and yah I would like a larger hump on him also. The females breeding tube looks like its starting to come out also, but I don't know if I want to breed them this early


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

worst come to worst feed the fry to other fish lol.


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

lol yah there the only fish i have at the moment haha. what is the best way to go about moving the divider? wait a few days?


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

Yeah, maybe wait a few days then remove the divider but stand by just in case you know?

I really, really like your female she's awesome! :thumb: You should enter her in the flowerhorn contest in this forum...


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

I removed the divider today and they locked jaws did the whole over dramatic cichlid mating ritual. I eventually separated them due to the female was just to relentless towards the male, so I separated them and now they are back to the divider flaring each other ect...


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Ya I thought your male has strong Trimac genes too. I love his color, I wish mine had that much yellow/gold on him. Your female is a real beauty. I would take my time with removing the divider, let them get to know each other. It's just sweet when you have a breeding pair that get along and you don't have to use a divider. If they are like most cichlids when it comes to breeding it will take them a couple of times to get it right. By then you should have them in great shape by feeding them the healthier diet. By the way gage is our resident expert on FHs around here. He gives great advise on thier care and such.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

lol, expert? no, no such thing as an expert, as no one knows everything there is to know about fish (even though some act like they do...)

regardless, it is extremely difficult to spawn flowerhorns because of the aggression level, therefore it is recommended that:

1) install a proper divider (one that is unable to be knocked over)

2) should usually have the female 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the male (some even use 1/3 the size), because a female that is ready to breed, when at the same size as the male (give or take a bit) will rip him to pieces, therefore I think you will have a horrid time breeding these 2, not impossible, but takes a lot of attention and patience.

3) have a divider that has open gaps in it so the 2 can recognize each others hormones, otherwise when introduced to each other they are just another fish in the tank, which could lead to something as serious as the death of the fish your trying to breed.

4) feed special foods, Blood Worms is a common favorite among hobbyists, but M.Y.S.I.S. shrimp, Krill, Uncooked market shrimp, etc all work fine as well, but blood worms is more natural for the flowerhorn.

5) your fish should afterwards (can take a while) have the breeding tubes out.

6) when female is ready to lay eggs (and I mean close, within an hour) let them together, the hormones from the female carrying eggs is usually enough to make her except him.

7) this step is important, make 100% sure you are home once the male has fertilized the eggs, because you will need to remove him right afterwards. because the time for pairing up was not given, the female will likely (not always, but likely) keep the male away from the eggs, very aggressively, which can result in the death of the male.

8) once the eggs have hatched and are free swimming, take them away from the mother and put them in there own tank.

9) start feeding fry something tiny like infusoria, then after a bit of growth (a few days) newly hatched or frozen Baby Artemia (Baby Brine Shrimp).

make sure you do daily 50% waterchanges on the fry tank to ensure proper, healthy growth.

usually I would recommend a hole in the divider for the female to run away through, but in this case she is big enough it will likely be him running if anything, breeding females are severely aggressive (much like in humans  )

Good luck, if you have questions post em, I will answer as well as I can .


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

gage said:


> breeding females are severely aggressive (much like in humans


 :lol: :lol: Ha ha very funny gage very funny :lol: :lol:


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

Thanks Gage haha you are a fountain of information :-D. the females tube is slowly coming out i think, not too sure. The divider has small holes for water circulation, is that enough for the hormones? And the male has started digging allot lol, hes slowly rearranging the tank to his liking haha, I'm going to have to get a 55 for the female because I honestly don't see the divider ever coming down between these two, but you never know. And it looks horrid separating a 90 galling between 2 fish haha. They've been accepting pellets thank god, i was worried i would have to gut load some feeders but I've been lucky that way.
And LIl mamma your red devil is a beauty  does he have allot of personality?


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Thanks, he has tons of personality. That pic on my avitar is him at about 4" or 5" now he is 13" and his hump is huge! This is him now, I hope you don't mind the pic on your thread.








I am very proud of Fedor


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

No I don't mind at all  he's beautiful, how old is he?

So you're an mma fan i assume haha?


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Thanks, I bought him in Nov. of 07 and he was about 4". So I figure probably 2 years old now. Yes, I do love MMA just not the Dana White fixed fights. The old Pride fights were the best. Fedor's fight team is called the Red Devils so I thought it fit him. He was labeled RD at the LFS but he has turned out to look more Midas than RD. But I think the name still fits him. He is one tough, big softy :lol: Just like the real Fedor.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

slh666 said:


> Thanks Gage haha you are a fountain of information :-D. the females tube is slowly coming out i think, not too sure. The divider has small holes for water circulation, is that enough for the hormones? And the male has started digging allot lol, hes slowly rearranging the tank to his liking haha, I'm going to have to get a 55 for the female because I honestly don't see the divider ever coming down between these two, but you never know. And it looks horrid separating a 90 galling between 2 fish haha. They've been accepting pellets thank god, i was worried i would have to gut load some feeders but I've been lucky that way.
> And LIl mamma your red devil is a beauty  does he have allot of personality?


you will never have to resort to feeders, the fish will not starve itself to death and eventually will take what is available.

the holes in the divider will be fine, no worries there.

however, even bonded pairs of flowerhorns will seldom live peacefully together permanently, they are often too territorial to live with anything, even a partner.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

lil mama said:


> gage said:
> 
> 
> > breeding females are severely aggressive (much like in humans
> ...


am I _wrong?_


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

gage said:


> lil mama said:
> 
> 
> > gage said:
> ...


That statement can go both ways!


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## Leucistic Guy (Jul 8, 2009)

Wow!!! Fedor is a monster,he fits the name to a tee.
I'm a huge MMA fan as well, Yeah Dana White is trying to be like WWE's Vince McMan(sp).
If it wasn't for the Fertita's he wouldn't be where he is now.I hate how he tried to take all the credit.
UFC fighters don't fight as much a fighters in Japan.

I don't usually name my fish but,I'd luv to name mine Fedor as well, but I don't think mine will be a spectacular as yours.
Maybe I'll name him *"Aleksander" * instead.


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Thanks Leucistic Guy. Sorry slh666 I didn't mean to highjack your thread


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

Lol its fine haha don't be sorry.

Well heres the latest update. The male has started digging like nuts lol.

I am guessing this has to do with the females breeding tube coming out more now.

I've been feeding them Krill and Blood worms gage mentioned and it seems to be working out good .

My only question, when do you know the female is ready to lay eggs?

Ps- my tank looks like **** cus of the digging LOL. haha I love cichlids!


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## slh666 (Jun 10, 2007)

well i have eggs now :d i had the male and female together after she laid them so i think i might have let him over too late, i've removed him and now I'm waiting to see if he did, if not ill learn for next time, and try pairing them up earlier.

Right now she's tending to the eggs there is a couple hundred of them heh. 

PS Gage thank you for the info on them, its much appreciated, if you want any of the fry let me know


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

=D> Congrats on the eggs! :thumb: I hope they hatch for you. Nice work, keep us posted. opcorn:


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## Leucistic Guy (Jul 8, 2009)

lil mama said:


> =D> Congrats on the eggs! :thumb: I hope they hatch for you. Nice work, keep us posted. opcorn:


x2
Congrat!!! :thumb:


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## joeleitz (Mar 8, 2010)

He is a lovely fish! Have you started to breed your flowerhorns yet and how is that going? How many fry have they had and did most of them survive? Are you breeding them to sell the off-spring or mainly just for the love of it? I haven't had fish for a long time but I'm thinking about getting back into it. It was so relaxing to watch them.


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## Chicklette (Mar 4, 2010)

All I have to say is JEALLOUS! Just gorgeous, nice and plump. I can't find FH in my area at all. No matter how many stores I go to they never ever have FH and I want one really bad.


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