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FAQs on the Flowerhorn Cichlid Behavior

Related Articles: Flowerhorn Cichlids, Cichlid Fishes,

Bigger Better Flowerhorns 4/24/08
I have 6 Flowerhorns and I was wondering how come they don't have humps at all?
I asked the store where I bought it from, he told me that he never fed it hormones, so today decided to buy hormones which where called super luohan. I waned to ask for your opinion if that product really works? The store told me that it will help the Flowerhorn grow hiss head. Is that true? I also bought another product FAST COLOUR for enhancing there color. What other product do you recommend in buying for my Flowerhorn to grow there head?
What live food should I feed it? What other strategies should I use for it to grow?
Is there any specific way to enhance their growth and color quicker?
If you have any good recommendations and advice please let me know.
I would like other opinions rather than hearing it from the store.
Thanks for your time Chuck.
< The hump on the forehead is a fat storage device for male Central American cichlids. Since the Flowerhorn is a cross between numerous species of cichlid, the mechanism for enhancing the hump should be the same. To bring out the most in both color and the hump of the male fish you need to feed you fish often with quality foods. As a base I would use the best pelleted food I could find. In the U.S.A. I would recommend Spectrum or another high quality cichlid food. I would supplement this wish my own home made fish food. The recipe can be found in a book by Ad Konings titled "Enjoying Cichlids" by Cichlid Press. It a mixture of peas and shrimp that could be modified to have more shrimp that peas to increase the protein content. I would feed it three times a day but make sure all of it is eaten in a few minutes each time. Keep the water clean with frequent water changes. Keep the nitrates under 20 ppm to keep you fish at the peak of health. Clean your filters often too. The last thing that many aquarists fail to mention is lighting. Strong bright light will bring out very vivid coloration on even very young fish. I have never tried hormones. I know that they can temporarily boost colors but soon fade when the hormones are removed.-Chuck>

FH Pairing
Flowerhorns Reacting To Red Light – 03/08/08
Hi to all the crew, I'm Lance from the Philippines, sorry if I just sent you a trial mail just now. I was trying to send you my query since this afternoon but failed so I tried to look for another way. Anyway here are my questions.
I have this FH that I bought from different owners. I am not sure if the pair are male and female. I have read some of the reply that you have made to most of the people asking you and I have compared some facts regarding this issue. The other one is that I'm sure that it is a male for it's hump that is quite visible than the other one and the round shape of the body which is full. The other is with a long face and flat belly. Is this a female?
< The best way to determine if you have a pair is to examine the genitals. It is also called venting. Take the fish out of the tank and look at the belly of the fish. Just at the base of the anal fin you should see two openings. If the two openings are the same size then that should be a male. If one of the openings is much larger than that should be a female. Secondary sexual characteristics would be longer more pointed fins on the male. The female would be smaller and not have a hump on her head.>
This FH has been in the tank for 3 weeks now without partition. They have been able to coup with each other very well until last night that I have decided to change the light from a regular fluorescent lamp to a colored one which is RED. As soon as I have turned on the light they both became so uneasy and start biting each other. They have been biting and locked lips or jaw whatever you call them and can not separate for maybe around 10 minutes. I decided to separate them with a partition and still they are banging their heads on the glass portion as it they were attacking each other. As a result they have both scratches on their heads and lips some on the side. Anyway, I was afraid that this can lead to serious injury as one of your articles said. So what I did is that I turned OFF the RED light that I have installed and for a surprise they stopped for that behavior. I read also from your articles that this are some of the signs of mating so what I did is that I just
turned off the light. I was not really convinced regarding the light so this morning I turned ON again the RED light and they went back to the attacking behavior. So my question is that does LIGHT affects FH? Specially the RED color? secondly is that the one that I have described a FEMALE? Thanks and more power on your sight, really helps people like me who are fascinated with this variety. Actually I have already 4 of them. Those pair that I put in the tank are 6 inches by the way. I'll wait for your reply, Godspeed Lance
< What is very interesting about your question is the effect of red on your Flowerhorns. One of the cichlid species that makes up the Flowerhorn is the red devil. This red coloration seems to indicate dominance to other non red red devils. It appears that the red coloration projected with the red light has stimulated this behavior between your two Flowerhorns. If they are a pair and are thinking about spawning then the color of the light really shouldn't matter.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn Growth 2/3/08
Hello sir or madam, I would like to ask these questions. I know Flowerhorn is a hybrid and their growth differ from one to another within the same species. But I hope you can answer me in general. When do flowerhorns reach their max size?
< Cichlids in general have a pretty good growth spurt when they are little and then start to slow down a little when they get older. They can be forced by keeping their metabolism up by keeping the water at 82 F. Any nitrogenous wastes like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate will also inhibit their growth. They will probably really start to slow down after a couple of years.>
When did the hump start to grow?
< The hump on the forehead is a fat storage device usually associated with males. After about 8 months when the fish 's growth starts to slow down you may start to see the beginning on the hump on the forehead.>
When did they attain their max hump size? Thanks.
< Probably after the they have stopped growing and all the excess food goes into fat storage and is not utilized for growth.-Chuck>

Growing A Hump On A Flowerhorn 3/6/07
Hi Guys, This is Ramanan. Pls find the attachment of my FH. I hope it is a male b'cos of its colour. Pls help me in growing his hump. I am feeding him with XO HUMPY HEAD, E-SHRIMPS and XO STARRY. Regards Ramanan
< The hump on your male Flowerhorn will increase as he ages. This is a fat storage device. I am not familiar with the food items you are currently feeding him.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn hiding in the corner. Flowerhorn Up Keep – 2/25/07
Hi, Your site is great and you guys are doing a great work. I have a problem with my flower horn. He is around 15-18 cm in length. I bought him a couple of weeks back and this is what I see while I observe him,
1) The fish most of the time hides in the corner of the tank.
2) If I keep a mirror he strikes at it thinking its an opponent.
3) Scratches himself on the gravel and pebbles in the aquarium.
4) Doesn't eat pellet food but eats prawns.
5) If I switch of the light he comes out and swims and that is the time when he hunts the feeding fish.
6) He generally flips his tails like shivering.
I have a big tank around 150 gallons for him and I change water 40% every 10 days, I add salt and have good filtration mechanism like under gravel filter and power filter.
I thought he would be infected with parasites and so gave him salt bath dip, after that he reduced scratching himself. I do the same to feeding fish before letting them in to the tank. I have a small tank where I have the feeding fish treated before putting them into the main tank.
1)My question is, is this the normal behaviour of Flowerhorn?
< Pretty much what a Flowerhorn does.>
2)He doesn't seem to be aggressive against small fishes in the tank and kills them only when hungry?
< He is only not hungry when he is full.>
3) What extra I could do to improve his growth and coloration?
< Stop feeding him feeder fish . Get rid of the undergravel filter. Keep the water at 80 F. Vacum the gravel while doing more water change. Add a high quality pelleted food.>
4) He eats around 1 big prawn say around 5-6 grams and not more or 10 to 14 small fishes around 0.5 to 1 cm length is it a good appetite?
< His appetite is fine.>
5) I don't see him very aggressive is it that he is stressed?
Please advice. Thanks & Regards, Arun
< He will get more aggressive as he gets bigger.-Chuck>

Re: Flower horn hiding in the corner. - 03/02/07
Hi Crew/Chuck, Thanks for the help. Your answers are gr8.
I have few doubts; it would be great if you can answer them.
1) Why do you want me to remove the under gravel filter, any specific reason?
<The undergravel filter works by pulling water through the gravel down to a filter plate. As the water passes through the gravel the bacteria living on the gravel perform the biological filtration needed to break down the fish waste. When you have fish that like to dig like cichlids, they usually expose the filter plates by digging through the gravel to establish a territory. The water now takes the path of least resistance and goes directly through the filter plate and not through the gravel. Without a current of water going through the gravel the filter is essentially useless.>
2) Can I partition the tank and keep another small flower horn around 5-8 cm in length, I heard that they get more coloration and better hump growth when they get aggressive?( my tank dimension is ( 3.5 feet length * 1.5 feet width *2.25 feet height)
< They will not develop any additional color. That is the result of conditioning and genetics. It will get them to display what colors they have more often.>
3) I use Humpy head pellets. He eats them now?
< Sorry, never heard of "Humpy head Pellets".
4) Can I feed him chicken and beef heart in small pieces?
< If you use a high quality food, then these items shouldn't be needed. I know long time discus keepers use to feed beef heart mixtures to discus. I would not recommend it.>
5) Is live feeding harmful other than chances of disease and parasites?
< Many feeder fish have been raised in such poor conditions that they have almost no nutritional value except for being a protein source. If you take your feeder fish, treat them for diseases and feed them a high quality flake food, then they are full of vitamins and minerals and become a better food for your bigger fish.>
6) Is there any other pellet food that you can suggest me please?
< I like Spectrum Food, but it not always easy to find. I use to feed MarineLand food until they quit making it.-Chuck>>
I greatly appreciate your help in this regards.
Thanking you once again. Regard's Arun

Flowerhorn Not Swimming Or Eating 11/12/06
Hello, I chanced upon your website while looking for a cure for my sick flower horn fish, but was unable to find any similar cases. I have a flower horn fish that is about four years old. Two weeks ago, it stopped eating, following a bout of fin rot. It no longer has fin rot, but has a swollen mouth and swims vertically, with its mouth facing the bottom of the tank. It does not have a distended body, or have any other obvious symptoms. I have tried changing the water (50% of it) every week, washing the filter, vacuuming the bottom of the tank, and putting a little salt in the water, but nothing works. It is still refusing food, and hardly swims at all. I really have no idea how to cure it or what to do to make it feel better, and am really hoping you guys could help! Thanks very much. Lirong Lim
< Take him out of the water and look down his mouth for an obstruction. He may have swallowed something or something is choking him like a bit of plastic plant or wood.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn Asleep on the Job 10/11/06
hi, good day to you all.
uh, my fish keeps lying on it's side (i have a Flowerhorn by the way) but when i turn the lights on, it swims well, normally. why is that so? and my other Flowerhorn, (they are many, given to me) swims upside down, though not most of the time. could you explain this to me too?
thank you for any response on this matter.
Cecille
<<Please provide details of the tank, test readings (ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte), any changes in the tank recently, and I will gladly help. Thanks. Lisa.>>

Lonely Flowerhorn? - 09/14/06
Hi! Good day to you all! I'm Cecille from the Philippines.
<<Hello, Cecille. Tom from the U.S. (Michigan, specifically)>>
Uh, I have managed to put two FHs <<Flowerhorns, just so folks know, Cecille.>> together and they seemed to get along well, they do not fight, it was great.
But one of my FHs died =( and its tank was emptied, and so I decided to take the other FH and place him into a tank of his own.
<<Sorry to hear about your pet, Cecille.>>
It's been about a day now and the other one seems to go along well. But the other one seems quite lonely to me. Is that even possible?
<<In a certain sense, it is, Cecille, but not in the way that we humans feel "loneliness". Fish are creatures of habit like most all animals are and, once adapted to specific circumstances/situations, do not readily accept changes in their lives. The loss of its tank mate along with the new aquarium has, no doubt, left your Flowerhorn stressed to a degree. There was a psychological attachment there rather than an emotional attachment. In other words, the Flowerhorn you lost was part of the remaining Flowerhorn's environment and, one that it was accustomed to. Your pet's "world" changed in two ways and now it's struggling to re-adapt. In truth, if you had left it in its old tank, there probably wouldn't be as large a degree of change in his behavior.>>
He just stays at the bottom of the tank and hardly eats.
<<A typical reaction to change, Cecille. It happens even when it's for the better sometimes.>>
Why is this so? Is he just not used to being on his own tank? Will he get used to it?
<<Don't worry. As long as he's healthy, he'll adapt and come around to being himself again. Be patient and, be attentive to him. Seeing you (particularly with food he likes) will bring "normalcy" to his life again.>>
Thanks in advance. Any response will do.
Cecille,
<<Hope this helps, Cecille. Best of luck to you. Tom>>

Sleeping Flowerhorn Night Pattern - 07/30/06
Hi to all crews of WWM, I just want to ask about my new Flowerhorn. Is it normal that when the lights are off, (I think he is sleeping) that there are black markings in its body and a black mark around his pupil??
< Fish normally take on a different pattern when they are asleep so they are less obvious to a would be predator.>
What live plants can you suggest me to put with my Flowerhorns fish?
< Plastic. All others will be torn up and eaten.-Chuck >
Thanks, I hope you reply soon! God Bless to your website!!

Cramped Flowerhorn 7/25/06
Today I noticed that one of my male Flowerhorn is being getting dull from several months and the size of his head is also not increasing. I have kept him in 2'L X 10"W X 1'H Tank. He is about 7 inches. I have put lights on his tank, whenever I turned on the lights his colour gets dark and when the lights are off, his colour looks good. Please help me with this.
<No wonder your fish isn't well or growing properly, you have a 7", very large bodied/mass fish in a 12 gallon tank! Check the water parameters, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates & pH. Your fish needs a much bigger tank, it's stunting in there. ~PP>

Flowerhorn Growth Questions - 05/13/2006
Hi again, I've some questions about flowerhorns. First, what is he ideal size (growth rate) of a Flowerhorn if he reaches 1 yr., 2 yrs., and so on? And can Flowerhorn siblings be able to mate? Thanks and more power.
< At one year the average size should be 5 to 6 inches for a female and 7 to 8 inches for a male. All this is dependant on temperature, food and waste in the water. Siblings do mate.-Chuck>

Flowerhorn help PLEASE!!
Hello, I think this is one of the most informative sites for Flowerhorns!
I need help about my Flowerhorn (Louis).
I've had him for about two wks now, and you'd think that it'll be already used to its environment. but it still gets flared black stripes. whenever someone walks in the room. I have Louis in a 10 gallon tank, with mint green rocks,
and one plant/rock thing. When you peek in the room, I'll see Louis swimming around, all white with its black spots, but when he senses someone walking in the room. or coming. it darts to its rock and its stripes come out, I don't
think it is hurt...it did jump out of the tank once, but even before that, the stripes would come.. what does this mean?
< This is the fishes fright pattern and it is trying to blend in with its surroundings.>
This is the second Flowerhorn I've had, the first one died, because it was a JUMPER and jumped out of its tank *twice.. the people who sold me the fish, never heard of Flowerhorns jumping, but so far, all the Flowerhorns I've brought home have jumped! I am considering returning him and getting more blood parrots, but I really love the way Flowerhorns look.. I am pretty frustrated!
I feed my Flowerhorn floating pellets and bloodworms. PLEASE HELP!
< Feed a very small amount of food every time you walk up to the tank. After a while she will associate you with food and will not be afraid any more. Try not to make too many sudden moves until your fish settles in. Give her an area to hide and she won't jump out.-Chuck>
NuNu

Flowerhorn pair behavior
Respected sir/ madam,
I recently brought a pair of flower horns from a local dealer (a male and female), male slightly bigger than
the female (the male is about 8-10 cm long, the female 5-6cm long). Now I see the male attacking the female
and the female has some scars on her body. should I now remove the female or is this a temporary action by the male.
Hope to get a reply soon.
< Remove her to another tank or he will kill her. Many times pair bonds are broken when fish are moved and need to be reestablished. Try dividing the tank and keep each one on its own side. When the female is ready to spawn she will begin to start to flare back at the male. You can try and put them together for a short time and see how it goes. Be aware that he can decide to kill her in just a few hours so only put them together when you are home watching them. Eventually when they start to breed again you can start leaving the female with the male, but there is no guarantee when large cichlids begin to breed.-Chuck>
Thanking you ,
Rohan

Re: Separated Cichlids
Respected sir/madam,
I wish to thank you for giving me the solution for my problem so soon. I have as suggested by you. I have
divided the tank into two by placing a glass piece in between the two, hopefully this solves the problem.
One other thing I wish to ask is I was thinking of introducing a albino parrot fish with the male flower
horn (of the same size), do you think its safe to do so & what are the signs to look for to separate them.
Can I maintain the flower horn on dry worms alone. Well I once again thank you for your suggestion.
Thanking you,
< Big cichlids get very territorial, so much to the point that they don't even like some people in the same room with them. This makes them very personable but also a pain to match up with other fish. You can try and put them together. Rearrange all the decorations and put them together at night. It is best to do this if you are going to around for awhile to see how it goes. If they don't like each other you may need to get another tank. -Chuck>
Rohan

Flowerhorn needs a Bigger Hump
Hey there I'm a Flowerhorn fancier. I have a question. My flowerhorn's forehead isn't big enough. What should I do/feed to make it bigger? Is it okay if I put pebbles in the tank of my flower horns? Signed, Mario
< The hump on the forehead of Flowerhorns depends on a few different factors. The hump is a fat storage device for many male Central American cichlids from which the Flowerhorn was derived. Genetics plays a part of which you can't do anything about. I would cool the water down to 75 to 76 degrees. This will slow down the fish's metabolism so it will start storing some food as fat. Look for high quality pelleted fish food. Many lesser foods have fillers that are not as nutritious as they could be. Washed earthworms would be good too. Don't keep him in too large a tank. The extra activity will burn up fat. I would put a half inch layer of fine sand in the bottom instead of pebbles. The sand will act as a site for the good bacteria to help break down fish waste and food won't become trapped between the pores space of the sand.-Chuck>

Cichlids Fighting
But now the flower horn is just staying at the bottom of the tank with her beautiful colors in place is this a disease only Flowerhorns get or is this normal?
< It is a survival tactic. To color up and move around would invite an attack by the more dominant fish.>
But she still eats but then goes back down.
< She still has to eat but doesn't stay out in the open any more than she has too.>
And also my red devil is hurting my Oscar now because last night before I went to bed I turned of the lights of the fish tank and then I saw my red devil hurting the Oscar to the bottom all the way to the top and the Oscar is not even fighting back! I can see many scares on him right now so what do you think I should do? I'm thinking of selling him or putting him in his own little fifty gallon or if not if you can help me in stopping him from doing all this stuff so help. Sean Thanks
< Big cichlids get pretty territorial. Once they get on the rampage there really isn't too much you can do but separate them. Lowering the temp may help. But the red devil will always be hard to get along with.-Chuck>

Fighting Flowerhorn - 08/11/2005
Hello Bob.
<Actually, Sabrina here, in his stead>
I have a question or two about Flowerhorns.  I have three flower horns housed separately in 50gallon tanks each.  They are about 6-7inches long and 8 months old.  How do you distinguish between a male and female?
<Can be very difficult with this unnatural/man-made hybrid.>
One of my flower horn has a huge nuchal hump but short fins.  One has long fins but no nuchal hump.  The third one has a nuchal hump and long fins.  All have been purchased from the same brood.
<It could be entirely possible that all are males....  or not.  Again, with no natural standard, it can be exceedingly difficult to have any sort of guideline to tell you "this is female" or "this is male" until they actually breed.>
I want to breed them, but the problem is that when I put them in my 125 gallon tank all three start kicking each other.
<Could be all males, or could just be that none are willing/able to breed yet.>
There are no other fishes in the tank.  I would be very thankful if you help me out.
<If you are absolutely bent on breeding this hybrid, I would pick the likeliest male (long fins, obvious hump) and the likeliest female (no hump) and let 'em duke it out.  Keep in mind, if they are both males, or if they're just not as ready to breed as you are, one or both may die.  Be CERTAIN to offer PLENTY of hiding locations (PVC pipes big enough to fully hide in, rocks, plants....) for the fish to "get away" from each other.  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>

Flowerhorn Questions 8/27/05
Hey, I got a couple questions about a flowerhorn's hump on the head.... This guy is selling a Flowerhorn online, and in the picture it has a pretty big hump, but when I finally decided to go buy it and pick it up, he told me, that since he had sold his 150gallon tank, and the fish has been in a 29gallon tank, the hump on the head has gotten "a bit smaller", but he said it will regrow in my big tank....
My questions are;
1) Does a flowerhorn's hump shrink??????
< The hump on the head is nothing more than a fat deposit that can shrink or swell depending on the diet, genetics and environment that it is kept in.>
2) Will it regrow when I put it in a larger, if it shrank?
< Give it good food and clean water will definitely bring it back, maybe to the same extent that it was before depending on the age.>
3) Does the size of the tank affect the size of the fish (or hump) once it
has grow to adult??? (so for example, you have a fish it grows to adult in a
150gallon tank and then u put it in a 29 gallon tank, does it size or hump
shrink?)...
< Larger tanks tend to be more stable than smaller tanks. Nitrates accumulate quicker in smaller tanks between water changes with bigger fish due to the dilution factor and better filtration.-Chuck>
Thank You very much for reading my email I hope hear from you soon ;)

Flowerhorn Stopped Growing 9/19.5/05
I separated my Flowerhorn from each other since they were starting to be aggressive (2 out of 4 died) and one was brutally injured (I placed it in a small aquarium first) but one remained strong. The one who was in perfect condition grew rapidly but the one who was injured stopped it's growth for about 2 months already. It's now in a big aquarium but it is still not growing. It has a very low appetite and would not even eat pellets but choose to eat insects of different kinds instead. What should I do for it to grow bigger again.
<First, if this is a female it may not grow as large as a male. Also, it's normal for the fish to stop growing if stressed from a bad injury or aggression. For now I would keep it in a low aggression tank. Give it time and plenty of water changes. Insects are a fine natural food for a cichlid. But too many with hard shells can cause digestive problems. Earthworms would be better. You can wean him her back to pellets after it's appetite returns. Don>

Flowerhorn Cichlids Don't Have Color   2/10/06
Hi! I'm Joan from the Philippines.  My husband and I are newbies in FH care.  We have 2 Flowerhorns that are almost 1 year old.  The thing is, both their colors are not as vibrant as other Flowerhorns that I see in the website.  They are mostly black with red along the gills but that's it.  I did some research but nothing that can possibly answer specifically to my problem.  1.What can I do/feed my FH to make their colors change? (the aquariums have coral backgrounds.  No gravels or sand. No decorations either.)
< A Flowerhorn is a hybrid of three different cichlid species. Their colors can range from grey to bright red. This is determined by the genetics of the parents. If your fish do not contain the correct genes then they will never look like the web site photos.>
2. Can it still be remedied? They are almost 1 year already.  3. One of the FH's aquarium water becomes greenish in color after a few days.  What causes these things? (note: the aquarium is not in direct sunlight).
< You can enhance what color they do have with good nutrition, but you cannot create color on a fish. The green water may be from the food or high nitrates in the water.-Chuck>

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