Why people like Flowerhorns
The Flowerhorn fish became very popular with Asians almost immediatly once they hit the market. They are thought to have brought good luck and good fortune to their owners. The Flowerhorn is a Feng Shui fish and many people beleive this to be true. Flowerhorn fish even on the market today, can fetch thousands of dollars. The more beautiful the fish the more money will be asked for it. Some have even sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the market. The Flowerhorn is a very active fish, and does recognize it's owner, some Flowerhorn fish even allow their owner to pick them up or touch their body and kok. Many hobbyist keep flowerhorns because of this reason, and treat them as good or even better then the family dog. Many Flowerhorn hobbyist have more then one Flowerhorn, and even at their high price tags invest heavily in them.
Breeding your Flowerhorn
Breeding certain types of Flowerhorns can be very easy to very difficult depending on the type. Red Dragons Flowerhorns for instance is pretty much an easy task because most Red Dragons are fertile, compared to a Kamfa, which is harder to breed with lower chances of fertilty if they have white eyes. The basic procedures for breeding Flowerhorn fish is as follows. First off you need to find a fertile male. To do this you need a male of at least 4.5 inches. To test the fertility of the Flowerhorn male most breeders will pair him up with a fertile female Blood Parrot. Because most Blood Parrots are very fertile they are the best testing options to try. If the female Blood parrot lays eggs, and the male Flowerhorn fetilizes those eggs then most likly he will do it again garunteeing pretty much he'll make a good breeding male. Please keep in mind though male Flowerhorns are very picky with which female Flowerhorn they will pair off with. It's always a good idea to at least have 4 female Flowerhorns on hand to try to pair with him. If he doesn't like the female he will most likly hurt or even kill her. When introducing a female to a male you should first divide your breeding tank with tank dividers. Keep the male and female divided with a clear divider so they can see eachother, and like this you'll be able to see the agression level of each fish. Place a breeding plate on the side of the female before interaction with the male. If the agression level is low slowly and carfully remove the divider and keep a watchful eye on them for a while to see how the male will interact with the female. Only start to remove the divider when you notice the females tube is sticking out and swollen. It pretty much means that if everything goes good she will lay her eggs and the breeding will begin within a few days. If you are succeful at pairing them off and the breeding does happen, and the male fertilizes the eggs I highly suggest you remove both the male and the female from the tank a few hours after they do their thing. Remove at least half the water in the tank and make sure it's well oxygenated. Within a few days the eggs will turn to fry....
Caring for your Flowerhorn
Basic care for your Flowerhorn is simple. First off the bigger the fish tank the better off your Flowerhorn will be. A Flowerhorn will develop faster and better in a bigger tank, then a smaller one. The minimum required tank for any Flowerhorn shouldnt be smaller then 30 gallons. Flowerhorns are a very agressive fish, you should pretty much keep only one Flowerhorn in one tank, but if you would like to keep more in one tank then using diverders to split up your tank is the best option. The water temperature of the tank should be about 80-85 degrees farenheight and a PH level of 7.4-8.0 . Keeping the water clean will make your Flowerhorn look its best. So a water change of at least once a week, removing only about 30% is suggested because theirs good bacteria in the water that the Flowerhorn needs. Proper filtration is a must, to find the best filtration system fitting your needs or budget search online and do as much research as possible before buying one, as well as the aquarium lighting. When feeding your Flowerhorn fish, I suggest keeping them on an all pellet diet. Feeding your Flowerhorn live foods can be done, but does have a higher risk of your Flowerhorn getting sick or even dying. Theirs many types of pellets on the market, the best advice is trying a few different types and seeing the best outcomes of each. Although color and kok size is really in the gentics of the fish these types of pellets can speed up the process or even bring out the colors of your fish, but like I said before its all about the genes of the fish.
All about Flowerhorns ect...
FENGSHUI AQUATIC - Home
Fengshui Aquatic Home page, alot of information about Flowerhorns ect..
Monster Fish Keepers
Monster Fish Keepers Forum - The Fastest Growing, Largest, and Most Actively Visited Freshwater and Saltwater Online Community Dedicated to Rare, Exotic, and Predatory Fish.
Flowerhorn Craze
Flowerhorn Craze is a community of aquarium hobbyist dedicated to the fish the flowerhorn. One Team, One Vision, One Hobby.
