# my flower horn is weak



## Den (Jan 25, 2004)

the flower horn i bought is scared of everything and hides all day in the corner verticly positioned. He hasn't ate either, i have had him for about 5-6 days. When will he eat?


----------



## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

When he gets used to the tank....don't toss any food in there if he's not eating, it'll only pollute the tank. Try feeding again in a couple more days. Flowerhorns have a lot of personality so yours will come around in time.


----------



## CKRAZY (Mar 11, 2004)

mine was like that i just gave him 5 pellets a day and if he doesnt eat it than take it out but if he eats it feed him a little by little more


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

mine was like that the first week i got him. give him some time and he will be one bad ass fish


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

get him a nice dark cave-like structure to hide in. Let him starve himself until he breaks down and starts eating, may take a week or three; he could go for a month without food if he had to.

Get him a cave-esque structure though, really dark, that way he wont feel compelled to hide in the corner of the tank in a vertical position


----------



## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

yeah fhs' will do that did you try giving him a treat when hes not in a verticle position i know a lot of cichlid love hikari krill







my oscars eat it like piranhs


----------



## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

90% of them come around to be insane... when your dealing with a graded flowerhorn that is actually hand selected, 100% are already bad ass when you buy them. They dont sell lame ones. So theres a pretty good chance he will come around, you need to make him come to the top and eat out of your hands.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

i think its gonna be a while before he would come out and eat out of his hand poseiden. BTW is he improving yet?


----------



## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

sounds like you just need to wait till it gets used to his new joint


----------



## Den (Jan 25, 2004)

lemmywinks said:


> i think its gonna be a while before he would come out and eat out of his hand poseiden. BTW is he improving yet?


 I have seen some improvements, he has gone from the corner to his cave. This still is pretty weak tho. I havent fed him yet either, so hes gonna have to give in. The man at the lfs told me give him a few weeks because its stressfull on him. I bought him about an hour drive away from where i live so this could be a reason. The fh is not that big anyway so i dont expect him to be a bad ass really. But ya I am probly not gonna feed him untill he takes it out of my hand.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

have you tried any sinking pellets? try to drop some in front of his cave. i wouldnt wait for him to take them out of your hand.


----------



## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

flowerhorn should take the pellets out of the owners hand at as small as 1.5" if properly trained.. you must train these fish. Never just put food in and put the lid down, you should be holding the food over the surface and trying to drop it in his mouth when he opens it.. my kamfa will typically come to the top and open his mouth wanting me to drop food in it. most of the pellets will never hit the water once they reach a larger size.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

but not one that is as skittish as that one. that one may never come up to the surface if he doesnt eat. sure you should get him to hand feed. but do that once he begins to come out and eat.


----------



## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

Poseidon X said:


> flowerhorn should take the pellets out of the owners hand at as small as 1.5" if properly trained.. you must train these fish. Never just put food in and put the lid down, you should be holding the food over the surface and trying to drop it in his mouth when he opens it.. my kamfa will typically come to the top and open his mouth wanting me to drop food in it. most of the pellets will never hit the water once they reach a larger size.


 That is so freakin true. Believe or not my guy recognizes colors....like if I'm holding the purple lid to the pellets or the red one to the flakes she'll stick her nouth out of the water waiting for it....but if it's like the green net she'll come up take a look and swim away.







Flowerhorns are brilliant and with enough contact it'll recognize it's owner. I can pet mine while doing water changes(for now).

It's all about having enough contact with your fish so it can recognize you. If it's not accepting food from you it's scared and you haven't done your part to let it know whose hand it is.


----------

