# Flowerhorns



## jamezgt (Jun 24, 2008)

So I have to get rid of my red bellies in my 135G, and I'm buying a flowerhorn for my dad for Christmas.

It'll be a great surprise for him because he always wanted one, and in the Chinese tradition, it's suppose to bring a lot of good luck. Anyways, is there anything different I should be expecting from raising a baby flowerhorn oppose to a baby piranha? He wants to eventually breed them, so how would that work? Would I just buy a couple and see how they get along?


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

As with any fish if you are wanting to breed them buy in a group of 6 or more and let them pair off. Take the best pair and sell the others. Not any extremes to raising flowerhorns just there temperment when they reach 6+ inches. The can be really aggresive towards any and all tank mates.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

buy a quality male and female that is your best and honestly should be your only bet. blue flame has a lot of knowledge for theses types of questions pm him i know he has breed them before. my flowerhorn wasnt so lucky







but was a awesome fish.


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Thanks AS, this is what I would do. start off by looking for some good quality fish. There are many color variations to choose from, and if you look on a site like aquabid.com, you can see just about all of them. In a 135, you could easily house about 7 or 8, 2" flowerhorns for a while, giving them lots of hidding places, but as they grow, they will progressively get more aggressive towards one another. As they grow, you'll be able to see which ones will be males, and which are females. Females 9 times out of 10, will have 1 or several dots on their dorsal fine. I think it's called an ocelli. After they get some good size to them, get some dividers, and separate the 3 nicest fish, and find homes for the rest. With the dividers in place, you should be able to see which fishes are interested in one another, and then you can breed them. This is what I did with much success.

good luck,
Blue

Smaller male:









Smaller female with showing the dot markings:


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## jamezgt (Jun 24, 2008)

Great!!

What kind of substrate do they prefer? I have a natural small-medium sized gravel right now - should I switch to sand?


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

jamezgt said:


> Great!!
> 
> What kind of substrate do they prefer? I have a natural small-medium sized gravel right now - should I switch to sand?


That gravel you have is fine. I used pea gravel from my local landscaping store with my fish.


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## jamezgt (Jun 24, 2008)

I was reading how buying white sand could bring out the true colors of a flower horn. And what kind of decorations should I be adding in?


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

jamezgt said:


> I was reading how buying white sand could bring out the true colors of a flower horn. And what kind of decorations should I be adding in?


If you want sand, try it by all means. As for decorations........something heavy! lol


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## jamezgt (Jun 24, 2008)

Why something heavy?

A couple of my dad's friends told me how they pick objects up and toss them everywhere. Is that true?


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

jamezgt said:


> Why something heavy?
> 
> A couple of my dad's friends told me how they pick objects up and toss them everywhere. Is that true?


yep.....


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

That's some great info Blue, this thread is interesting cuz I'm actually planning on getting on for my gf.


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Ja said:


> That's some great info Blue, this thread is interesting cuz I'm actually planning on getting on for my gf.


NP......Flowerhorns are one of my favorite fish. Just watch who you buy the small ones from though. I've grow out several that weren't what they were supposed to be.


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

Befor I I buy one I'll give you a pm to get some more valuable info from you sir.


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

nice fish blue very nice


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