The Flowerhorn, also called Luohan (Luo Han), is a intergeneric cichlid hybrid. Flowerhorns are thought to arise from the man-made hybridization of a number of cichlid species, from South and Central America. Although the exact parent species are not known, it is most likely that they include Cichlasoma trimaculatum and Amphilophus citrinellus (or another fish of the red devil cichlid) complex. Flowerhorns first emerged for sale on the aquarium market in Malaysia in the late 1990s and soon became popular in many countries in Asia. As a probable intergeneric hybrid the fish lacks a specific Latin name. Flowerhorns are fertile, unlike many other hybrids. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowerhorn)
Scientific name: Cichlasoma Sp.
Ideal pH level: around pH 7 to pH 7.8.
Ideal water temperature: 27 °C to 32°C
Gender Difference: Dimorphic
Temperament: aggressive
Breeding: Substrate spawner
:Females can lay eggs at 4-5 months olds, about 2.5-5 inches(excluding tail). Male can fertilize at 6 mos. up for zz, for kamfas at least 2 years old.
Flowerhorn: flower because of the plums and horn because of the horn like nuchal
hump.
What do flowerhorn fries look like?
A brief overview of eggs:
Eggs are small semi-transparent orange globes, that adhere to a surface, usually a clay pot, tile, or rock. Sometimes fish even lay eggs on the aquarium glass.
During this period, it is imperative that you keep the water clean and the eggs free of fungus. Most breeders use Methylene Blue for this task.
It is also important to keep the eggs aerated. In the wild, parents do this by fanning the eggs, but since flowerhorn eggs are usually separated from their parents to prevent them from eating them, you will have to device a way to do that.
The easiest way to aerate eggs is to create a mild current, usually by putting a large sponge filter near the eggs. Foreign breeders use specialized two-sponge filtration systems, but here in the Philippines, a regular blue sponge filter shoulde suffice.
Another factor to take note of is stable temparature. Eggs hatch faster in slightly warmer temperatures. In my case, the most successful temperature range for hatching eggs is around 29-32 degrees Celsius.
Ensuring the water quality for the incubation period will yield great results.
For flowerhorns, the incubation period for fry is usually 72 hours (or 3 days) after which some will begin to hatch.
Upon hatching, fries will wriggle around the tile/pot/rock/plate that they were laid on. They will resemble eggs with two black eyes, and are shaking violently continuously. This is the fry trying to get free from the egg, and once it does that, it will float down to the bottom and continue wriggling.
With the naked eye, what you will see is actually not the fry, but the sac of food under its tummy. Actually, the fry is the very thin sliver of black on top of the sac.
Fry will not eat for a few days (around 3) because they will eat the contents of the sac.
Once the sac has been completely digested, that is the first time in the fry's life that it has to feed on its own. You can feed them newly hatched brine shrimp (artemia) and as they grow older (around twice their beginning size) you can feed them daphnia (aka water flea, although it is actually a crustacean) and larger artemia.
In the above photos, these are newly hatched fry, taken from their incubation tank for transfer to their growout tank.
KOK/nuchal hump:
Q: what is a KOK?
A: well basically it is the hump on the head of the FH.
Q: what is in the KOK?
A: fats
Q:how are big KOKs attained?
A: 1.) the first fact to consider is the genes of your FH. if the father of your FH has a big hump it will be genetically pass down to your FH giving your FH the potential to be like the father
Sympathize
2.)food: there are various food specially made for FH in the market that will enhance your FH head size and shape
3.)water parameters: the quality of the water is essential for the growth of the hump. a weakly water change is advisable.
Q: why does my FHs kok shrinks when I change water?
A: it is a normal reaction to the change of the water quality, it will return after a couple of days.
Plums/flower lines
these are the flower like markings on the body of the flowerhorn
Sexing:
There are several ways to tell them apart
A.) when the plums stretch up too the dorsal fins for me its like 80% accurate
B.) hold the fish with your fingers so the belly part is facing away from your palm (meaning, the dorsal fin of the fish faces your palm). position your thumb on the belly of the fish near the vent and at the level of the plums.
gently press the belly going to the direction of the vent. pressure should start from the area of the plums going to the ventral portion of the fish. if its a male, you will notice a squirt of clear liquid coming out of the vent.
females dont exhibit this phenomenon.
C.) Venting: the male have a V-shape and the female has a U-shape
Feeding: Flowerhorn should atleast be feed twice a day but for me three times is better. there is no pellet or food that will get the best out of every flowerhorn. it will be trial and error.
example:
Thaizz A, gives good improvement on Pellet A but Thaizz B does not
Thaizz B, gives good improvement on Pellet B but Thaizz A does not
Staple diet : color enhancers should not be use as a staple diet. These color enhancer can sometimes burn your FH scales turning it dark.I suggest using pellets that are high it crude protein percentage as a staple diet as for building body mass on your FH
Protein is an essential part of an FHs diet. this help build body mass giving the FH a well rounded body
Fat on the other hand is a great source of energy
Energy source:
Fats provide 8.5 kcals of energy/gram
Carbohydrates near 0 up to 3.2kcal/gram
Protein 4.5kcal/gram
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5738E/x5738e03.htm)
Diseases
Bulging Anus
Symptoms: The intestine of the fish is bulging.
Cause: Fish under Severe stress (as in the case of newly transported fish) and Suffering from severe indigestion ( common for
small fish fed with shrimp, Superworms or any live feeds)
Treatment:
1. If you're using an overhead filter (OHF), remove the carbon if any.
2. Do a 50% water change. Syphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned
water. (must be aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with Sera Aquatan)
3. Dissolve the Metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. It works best when dissolved at a temperature of 90+
degrees. A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.
4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.
5. Drop the Metronidazole solution in your tank. the required dosage would be 500 mg. per 10 gallons.
6. If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to
use one. Just be sure to dissolve the Metronidazole in a warm water.
7. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.
8. Drop your Metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. per 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 and 3 everyday until the fish
recovers.
Where to buy?
- Metronidazole, usually sold as Flagyl. This drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
Hexamitiasis (Hexa)
Symptoms: White feces, Lack of appetite and visible holes seen around the head.
Cause: Infection caused by hexanita, a type of flagelleated protozoa and also caused by cold water temperature.
Treatment A:
1. Transfer your fish to a 5 gallons hospital tank.
2. Put Furasan Furan 3 into tank. 1 sachet is equivalent to 4 dosage. Put 1 part into 5 gallons tank.
3. Daily water change of at least 20-25%.
4. if you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees.
5. After 3 days, if you observed that your fish is eating already, still continue with the medication.
6. If the feces turns into it's original color, then it's time to reduce the dosage. Put Furan 3 every other day for at
least another week.
*** It's best to put your fish in a small tank because it will give more concentration of the medicine, plus you don't have
to use a lot of it.
Where to buy?
- Furassan Furan 3 is available in your nearest pet shop.
Treatment B:
1. If you're using an overhead filter (OHF), remove the carbon if any.
2. Do a 50% water change. Syphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned
water. (must be aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with Sera Aquatan)
3. Dissolve the Metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. It works best when dissolved at a temperature of 90+
degrees. A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.
4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.
5. Drop the Metronidazole solution in your tank. the required dosage would be 500 mg. per 10 gallons.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 after 48 hours. You'd need around 7-8 doses of Metronidazole. Usual treatment would be from 10-15
days. Observe the waste of your fish on a regular basis. If your fish shows improvement before 10-15 days, there's nothing
wrong in finishing the entire cycle. extend treatment if neccessary.
7. If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. Hexamita thrives in cold water. While the medication used to kill them
works best in warm water. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to use one. Just be sure
to dissolve the Metronidazole in a warm water.
*** If you've got more time to treat your fish then you could apply the following protocol:
1. Again do steps 1 through 5.
2. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.
3. Drop your Metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. per 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 and 3 everyday until the fish
recovers.
Where to buy?
- Metronidazole, usually sold as Flagyl. This drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
- Sera Aquatan is available in your nearest pet shop.
Best food for recovering would be frozen blood worms or meal worms.
Pimples
Treatment:
1. Change water at 30-40%.
2. Put Tetracycline 500mg. per 20 gals.
3. The water will turn into brownish color for five days. If still not effective after five days, add half more of the
dosage.
4. If the fish is well already, do a daily water change of 10% until the water gets clear.
Where to buy?
- Tetracycline, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
Fin rot
Treatment:
1. Place your fish in a Hospital tank. The water should come from the original tank.
2. Remove your fish from the tank and dab the affected portion with Betadyne. It should be done in a fast motion. Place
your fish in the hospital tank.
3. Increase the temperature to 30-32 degrees.
4. Add Methylene blue. Make sure you follow the dosage indicated on the container.
5. Add Tetracyclene. 500 mg. per 20 gallons. dissolve it first into a cup of water before adding it to the hospital tank.
6. Daily 30% water change and add Methylene blue and Tetracyclene proportionately in the changed water.
Where to buy?
- Tetracycline, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each
500 mg.
- Methylene Blue is available in your nearest pet shop.
- You can also use Sera Baktopur (for fin rot). It is available in your nearest pet shop. Make sure you follow the dosage
indicated on the container.
Protruding scales
Treatment:
1. Daily water change of 30-40%.
2. Add rock salt at 1 tsp per 5 gallons.
Swim Bladder
Symptoms:
Abnormal swimming pattern, They may even float upside down or appear to be stuck at the surface of the water, being unable to
swim down, or they may lie on the bottom, unable to rise. Fish with a swim bladder disorder will continue to try and feed,
showing a normal appetite.
Cause: improper diet
Treatment:
1. Do a water change of 25%.
2. Apply Furazolidone to the water at a dosage of 100mg. tablet per 20 gallons.
3. To apply Furazolidone, just dip the tablet with your fingers into the tank and crush the tablet/s until dissolved.
4. Keep doing water changes every other day. Apply medication again once water turns clear.
Where to buy?
- Furazolidone, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore.
- Other medicines are Furoxan, Furassan Furan 3 and Sera Baktopur direct. Both are available in pet shops.
Itch / White spots
Symptoms:
Your fish will be covered with white cysts on the skin, fins and gills. Heavily infected fish looks as if they have been
sprikled with sugar and pepper grains. They may scratch themselves against gravel or decorations in the aquarium.
Treatment:
1. Add Salt 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
2. Increase the water temperature up to 30-32 degrees.
3. Add Methylene Blue and Malachite Green into the water for 3-5 days may help too. Make sure you follow the dosage
indicated on the container.
Where to buy?
- Methylene Blue and Malachite Green is available in your nearest pet shop.
Swollen Lips
Treatment:
1. Do a 30% water change.
2. Add Salt, 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
3. Add Methylene Blue. Make sure you follow the dosage indicated on the container.
4. Repeat treatment after 2 days if necessary
Wound
Treatment:
1. Clean top Filters with tank water.
2. Change water with aged water.
3. Add Salt 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
Hole-In-The-Head Disease
The infection of this disease could be due to either lack of nutrition from imbalance diet or parasites. However, the main reason for the infection is due to the lack of nutrition. Typical parasite known to produce this type of result is a protozoan parasite, Hexamita.
Symptoms:
Small holes, especially the head region. Body will turn into dark color.
Behavior:
Infected fish will lose their appetite and developed a hollow-bellied appearance, with pale, stringy faeces. Erosions and pitting of the head, will erode the whole body and brain before killing your Flower Horn. After the body is infected, intestine and abdominal cavity will also get infected. At this stage, the waste excretion will be in white color. The situation could be further worsened by the changes of the water temperature, high density, imbalanced nutrition, lack of oxygen supply and water condition.
Treatment
Once infection has been detected, Calcipot D3 can be added into fish food to provide phosphate, calcium, vitamin A, D3 and other minerals and vitamins. Alternatively, Dimetridazole (5mg/L) and Flagyl (5mg/L) are being used as the medicine to cure this disease by doing it according to the instructions provided on the label.
Beside preventions, early realization and getting immediate treatment is equally important too
Gill Disease
Poor water condition is likely to be a main contributor factor that causes gill disease, or from dirty baits infection.
Symptoms / Behavior:
Rapid gills movements, fins being clamped together, swollen gills and discolored gill filaments with excess mucus. In general, gills diseases are divided into 2 main types: bacterial infections and parasites infections. Different type will bring different symptoms and undoubtedly, different ways of curing affected fish.
Treatment:
For gill disease caused by parasites infections, treatment is done with formalin (150 ~ 150 ppm), then changing the water after an hour or treats it with metriphonate (0.25 ~ 0.4 mg/L);
For gill disease caused by bacterial infections, it is suggest to use Fural****ne ( 10 ~ 10 mg/L), Tetracycline ( 10 ~ 20 mg/L) and other medicines for treatment.
While treating the gill disease caused by parasite infections, the medicine will destroy the bacteria, therefore, improve the general water conditions often eases this problem. It would be better to use activated carbon or change the water in order to filter off the medicine and built up the biological filter system earlier on.
Pathogen Infection
During the changes of season occurs, it will cause changes in the water to occur. Drop or increase in temperature will deteriorate the quality of the water, which leads to the weakening of the fish mechanism, promoting growth to other harmful bacteria and resulting injuries on the body of the fish. Some of the injuries are obvious and visible, but it is the unseen materials in the contaminated water that causes these. The unseen and unwelcome guests are usually harmful bacteria or parasites.
Different types of bacteria will cause different kinds of diseases. Detailed and close observation is needed to find out about the disease in order to provide the correct treatment for your fish. Thanks to the booming of the other fishes earlier, most fish food manufacturers has their own specialized medications on different diseases sold in the market now. Before purchasing any medication, it is ADVISABLE for you to first ask the fish breeder if they could help you to identify the type of disease by explaining to them the symptoms and allow them to choose the correct medication for your Flower Horn. The next step is to read the instructions CAREFULLY and USE THE CORRECT DOSAGE as printed on the label. Follow the instructions as directed and taking into consideration the extent of infection or injuries on the fish, the size of the fish and also the water volume in your aquarium.
Mouth Diease
Cause of disease
a) External injuries.
Infected by Saprolegnia sp.
c) Infected by parasites living on the surface of the fish body.
Symptoms
The mouth is swollen or attached with thread-like filamentous material.
Diagnosis
Check if the mouth is sollen or attach with external material.
Remedy
a) Single out the infected fish
Cure fish with antibiotics.
c) Add in Methylene Blue or Malachite Green, Zinc-free oxalate.
Prevention
Be careful while catching the fish and avoid it to get injury.
Intestinal Infection
Cause of disease
a) Unhygienic feed
Improper feeding, the quantity is too much or too little.
c) Parasite infection in the intestines.
Symptoms
Excrete of the sick fish is slimy and stick to the anus. The fish will gradually lose its appetite and will discharge blood from the swollen anus.
Diagnosis
Observe whether the excrete from the fish is stuck to the anus.
Remedy
a) Use medication for getting rid of parasites as remedy.
Feed the fish with antibiotics.
c) Provide proper and nutritious feed.
d) if the disease is caused by indigestion, don't feed the fish for few days.
Prevention
Feed the fish with appropriate amount of food, not too much or too little. Should be careful with hygiene of live food.
Some prevention of tips.
1. Do 30-40% water change weekly
2. Make sure you alaways clean your filters twice a month to ensure a good water condition.
3. Avoid sharp objects inside your aquarium. You might accidentally injure your fish especially Flower Horns which are very lively. Corals are not recommended. They will scrape the slime of the fish exposing the scales. The fish will become
vulnerable to attack by pathogenic organisms.
4. Always make sure there's enough oxygen in your aquarium.
5. Remove excess / left over foods.
thanks to mypalhs
Scientific name: Cichlasoma Sp.
Ideal pH level: around pH 7 to pH 7.8.
Ideal water temperature: 27 °C to 32°C
Gender Difference: Dimorphic
Temperament: aggressive
Breeding: Substrate spawner
:Females can lay eggs at 4-5 months olds, about 2.5-5 inches(excluding tail). Male can fertilize at 6 mos. up for zz, for kamfas at least 2 years old.
Flowerhorn: flower because of the plums and horn because of the horn like nuchal
hump.
What do flowerhorn fries look like?
A brief overview of eggs:
Eggs are small semi-transparent orange globes, that adhere to a surface, usually a clay pot, tile, or rock. Sometimes fish even lay eggs on the aquarium glass.
During this period, it is imperative that you keep the water clean and the eggs free of fungus. Most breeders use Methylene Blue for this task.
It is also important to keep the eggs aerated. In the wild, parents do this by fanning the eggs, but since flowerhorn eggs are usually separated from their parents to prevent them from eating them, you will have to device a way to do that.
The easiest way to aerate eggs is to create a mild current, usually by putting a large sponge filter near the eggs. Foreign breeders use specialized two-sponge filtration systems, but here in the Philippines, a regular blue sponge filter shoulde suffice.
Another factor to take note of is stable temparature. Eggs hatch faster in slightly warmer temperatures. In my case, the most successful temperature range for hatching eggs is around 29-32 degrees Celsius.
Ensuring the water quality for the incubation period will yield great results.
For flowerhorns, the incubation period for fry is usually 72 hours (or 3 days) after which some will begin to hatch.
Upon hatching, fries will wriggle around the tile/pot/rock/plate that they were laid on. They will resemble eggs with two black eyes, and are shaking violently continuously. This is the fry trying to get free from the egg, and once it does that, it will float down to the bottom and continue wriggling.
With the naked eye, what you will see is actually not the fry, but the sac of food under its tummy. Actually, the fry is the very thin sliver of black on top of the sac.
Fry will not eat for a few days (around 3) because they will eat the contents of the sac.
Once the sac has been completely digested, that is the first time in the fry's life that it has to feed on its own. You can feed them newly hatched brine shrimp (artemia) and as they grow older (around twice their beginning size) you can feed them daphnia (aka water flea, although it is actually a crustacean) and larger artemia.
In the above photos, these are newly hatched fry, taken from their incubation tank for transfer to their growout tank.
KOK/nuchal hump:
Q: what is a KOK?
A: well basically it is the hump on the head of the FH.
Q: what is in the KOK?
A: fats
Q:how are big KOKs attained?
A: 1.) the first fact to consider is the genes of your FH. if the father of your FH has a big hump it will be genetically pass down to your FH giving your FH the potential to be like the father
Sympathize
2.)food: there are various food specially made for FH in the market that will enhance your FH head size and shape
3.)water parameters: the quality of the water is essential for the growth of the hump. a weakly water change is advisable.
Q: why does my FHs kok shrinks when I change water?
A: it is a normal reaction to the change of the water quality, it will return after a couple of days.
Plums/flower lines
these are the flower like markings on the body of the flowerhorn
Sexing:
There are several ways to tell them apart
A.) when the plums stretch up too the dorsal fins for me its like 80% accurate
B.) hold the fish with your fingers so the belly part is facing away from your palm (meaning, the dorsal fin of the fish faces your palm). position your thumb on the belly of the fish near the vent and at the level of the plums.
gently press the belly going to the direction of the vent. pressure should start from the area of the plums going to the ventral portion of the fish. if its a male, you will notice a squirt of clear liquid coming out of the vent.
females dont exhibit this phenomenon.
C.) Venting: the male have a V-shape and the female has a U-shape
Feeding: Flowerhorn should atleast be feed twice a day but for me three times is better. there is no pellet or food that will get the best out of every flowerhorn. it will be trial and error.
example:
Thaizz A, gives good improvement on Pellet A but Thaizz B does not
Thaizz B, gives good improvement on Pellet B but Thaizz A does not
Staple diet : color enhancers should not be use as a staple diet. These color enhancer can sometimes burn your FH scales turning it dark.I suggest using pellets that are high it crude protein percentage as a staple diet as for building body mass on your FH
Protein is an essential part of an FHs diet. this help build body mass giving the FH a well rounded body
Fat on the other hand is a great source of energy
Energy source:
Fats provide 8.5 kcals of energy/gram
Carbohydrates near 0 up to 3.2kcal/gram
Protein 4.5kcal/gram
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5738E/x5738e03.htm)
Diseases
Bulging Anus
Symptoms: The intestine of the fish is bulging.
Cause: Fish under Severe stress (as in the case of newly transported fish) and Suffering from severe indigestion ( common for
small fish fed with shrimp, Superworms or any live feeds)
Treatment:
1. If you're using an overhead filter (OHF), remove the carbon if any.
2. Do a 50% water change. Syphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned
water. (must be aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with Sera Aquatan)
3. Dissolve the Metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. It works best when dissolved at a temperature of 90+
degrees. A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.
4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.
5. Drop the Metronidazole solution in your tank. the required dosage would be 500 mg. per 10 gallons.
6. If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to
use one. Just be sure to dissolve the Metronidazole in a warm water.
7. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.
8. Drop your Metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. per 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 and 3 everyday until the fish
recovers.
Where to buy?
- Metronidazole, usually sold as Flagyl. This drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
Hexamitiasis (Hexa)
Symptoms: White feces, Lack of appetite and visible holes seen around the head.
Cause: Infection caused by hexanita, a type of flagelleated protozoa and also caused by cold water temperature.
Treatment A:
1. Transfer your fish to a 5 gallons hospital tank.
2. Put Furasan Furan 3 into tank. 1 sachet is equivalent to 4 dosage. Put 1 part into 5 gallons tank.
3. Daily water change of at least 20-25%.
4. if you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees.
5. After 3 days, if you observed that your fish is eating already, still continue with the medication.
6. If the feces turns into it's original color, then it's time to reduce the dosage. Put Furan 3 every other day for at
least another week.
*** It's best to put your fish in a small tank because it will give more concentration of the medicine, plus you don't have
to use a lot of it.
Where to buy?
- Furassan Furan 3 is available in your nearest pet shop.
Treatment B:
1. If you're using an overhead filter (OHF), remove the carbon if any.
2. Do a 50% water change. Syphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned
water. (must be aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with Sera Aquatan)
3. Dissolve the Metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. It works best when dissolved at a temperature of 90+
degrees. A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.
4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.
5. Drop the Metronidazole solution in your tank. the required dosage would be 500 mg. per 10 gallons.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 after 48 hours. You'd need around 7-8 doses of Metronidazole. Usual treatment would be from 10-15
days. Observe the waste of your fish on a regular basis. If your fish shows improvement before 10-15 days, there's nothing
wrong in finishing the entire cycle. extend treatment if neccessary.
7. If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. Hexamita thrives in cold water. While the medication used to kill them
works best in warm water. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to use one. Just be sure
to dissolve the Metronidazole in a warm water.
*** If you've got more time to treat your fish then you could apply the following protocol:
1. Again do steps 1 through 5.
2. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.
3. Drop your Metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. per 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 and 3 everyday until the fish
recovers.
Where to buy?
- Metronidazole, usually sold as Flagyl. This drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
- Sera Aquatan is available in your nearest pet shop.
Best food for recovering would be frozen blood worms or meal worms.
Pimples
Treatment:
1. Change water at 30-40%.
2. Put Tetracycline 500mg. per 20 gals.
3. The water will turn into brownish color for five days. If still not effective after five days, add half more of the
dosage.
4. If the fish is well already, do a daily water change of 10% until the water gets clear.
Where to buy?
- Tetracycline, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each 500 mg.
Fin rot
Treatment:
1. Place your fish in a Hospital tank. The water should come from the original tank.
2. Remove your fish from the tank and dab the affected portion with Betadyne. It should be done in a fast motion. Place
your fish in the hospital tank.
3. Increase the temperature to 30-32 degrees.
4. Add Methylene blue. Make sure you follow the dosage indicated on the container.
5. Add Tetracyclene. 500 mg. per 20 gallons. dissolve it first into a cup of water before adding it to the hospital tank.
6. Daily 30% water change and add Methylene blue and Tetracyclene proportionately in the changed water.
Where to buy?
- Tetracycline, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore. Each
500 mg.
- Methylene Blue is available in your nearest pet shop.
- You can also use Sera Baktopur (for fin rot). It is available in your nearest pet shop. Make sure you follow the dosage
indicated on the container.
Protruding scales
Treatment:
1. Daily water change of 30-40%.
2. Add rock salt at 1 tsp per 5 gallons.
Swim Bladder
Symptoms:
Abnormal swimming pattern, They may even float upside down or appear to be stuck at the surface of the water, being unable to
swim down, or they may lie on the bottom, unable to rise. Fish with a swim bladder disorder will continue to try and feed,
showing a normal appetite.
Cause: improper diet
Treatment:
1. Do a water change of 25%.
2. Apply Furazolidone to the water at a dosage of 100mg. tablet per 20 gallons.
3. To apply Furazolidone, just dip the tablet with your fingers into the tank and crush the tablet/s until dissolved.
4. Keep doing water changes every other day. Apply medication again once water turns clear.
Where to buy?
- Furazolidone, this drug can be bought over the counter (OTC) at any drugstore.
- Other medicines are Furoxan, Furassan Furan 3 and Sera Baktopur direct. Both are available in pet shops.
Itch / White spots
Symptoms:
Your fish will be covered with white cysts on the skin, fins and gills. Heavily infected fish looks as if they have been
sprikled with sugar and pepper grains. They may scratch themselves against gravel or decorations in the aquarium.
Treatment:
1. Add Salt 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
2. Increase the water temperature up to 30-32 degrees.
3. Add Methylene Blue and Malachite Green into the water for 3-5 days may help too. Make sure you follow the dosage
indicated on the container.
Where to buy?
- Methylene Blue and Malachite Green is available in your nearest pet shop.
Swollen Lips
Treatment:
1. Do a 30% water change.
2. Add Salt, 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
3. Add Methylene Blue. Make sure you follow the dosage indicated on the container.
4. Repeat treatment after 2 days if necessary
Wound
Treatment:
1. Clean top Filters with tank water.
2. Change water with aged water.
3. Add Salt 1 tsp per 10 gallons.
Hole-In-The-Head Disease
The infection of this disease could be due to either lack of nutrition from imbalance diet or parasites. However, the main reason for the infection is due to the lack of nutrition. Typical parasite known to produce this type of result is a protozoan parasite, Hexamita.
Symptoms:
Small holes, especially the head region. Body will turn into dark color.
Behavior:
Infected fish will lose their appetite and developed a hollow-bellied appearance, with pale, stringy faeces. Erosions and pitting of the head, will erode the whole body and brain before killing your Flower Horn. After the body is infected, intestine and abdominal cavity will also get infected. At this stage, the waste excretion will be in white color. The situation could be further worsened by the changes of the water temperature, high density, imbalanced nutrition, lack of oxygen supply and water condition.
Treatment
Once infection has been detected, Calcipot D3 can be added into fish food to provide phosphate, calcium, vitamin A, D3 and other minerals and vitamins. Alternatively, Dimetridazole (5mg/L) and Flagyl (5mg/L) are being used as the medicine to cure this disease by doing it according to the instructions provided on the label.
Beside preventions, early realization and getting immediate treatment is equally important too
Gill Disease
Poor water condition is likely to be a main contributor factor that causes gill disease, or from dirty baits infection.
Symptoms / Behavior:
Rapid gills movements, fins being clamped together, swollen gills and discolored gill filaments with excess mucus. In general, gills diseases are divided into 2 main types: bacterial infections and parasites infections. Different type will bring different symptoms and undoubtedly, different ways of curing affected fish.
Treatment:
For gill disease caused by parasites infections, treatment is done with formalin (150 ~ 150 ppm), then changing the water after an hour or treats it with metriphonate (0.25 ~ 0.4 mg/L);
For gill disease caused by bacterial infections, it is suggest to use Fural****ne ( 10 ~ 10 mg/L), Tetracycline ( 10 ~ 20 mg/L) and other medicines for treatment.
While treating the gill disease caused by parasite infections, the medicine will destroy the bacteria, therefore, improve the general water conditions often eases this problem. It would be better to use activated carbon or change the water in order to filter off the medicine and built up the biological filter system earlier on.
Pathogen Infection
During the changes of season occurs, it will cause changes in the water to occur. Drop or increase in temperature will deteriorate the quality of the water, which leads to the weakening of the fish mechanism, promoting growth to other harmful bacteria and resulting injuries on the body of the fish. Some of the injuries are obvious and visible, but it is the unseen materials in the contaminated water that causes these. The unseen and unwelcome guests are usually harmful bacteria or parasites.
Different types of bacteria will cause different kinds of diseases. Detailed and close observation is needed to find out about the disease in order to provide the correct treatment for your fish. Thanks to the booming of the other fishes earlier, most fish food manufacturers has their own specialized medications on different diseases sold in the market now. Before purchasing any medication, it is ADVISABLE for you to first ask the fish breeder if they could help you to identify the type of disease by explaining to them the symptoms and allow them to choose the correct medication for your Flower Horn. The next step is to read the instructions CAREFULLY and USE THE CORRECT DOSAGE as printed on the label. Follow the instructions as directed and taking into consideration the extent of infection or injuries on the fish, the size of the fish and also the water volume in your aquarium.
Mouth Diease
Cause of disease
a) External injuries.
Infected by Saprolegnia sp.
c) Infected by parasites living on the surface of the fish body.
Symptoms
The mouth is swollen or attached with thread-like filamentous material.
Diagnosis
Check if the mouth is sollen or attach with external material.
Remedy
a) Single out the infected fish
Cure fish with antibiotics.
c) Add in Methylene Blue or Malachite Green, Zinc-free oxalate.
Prevention
Be careful while catching the fish and avoid it to get injury.
Intestinal Infection
Cause of disease
a) Unhygienic feed
Improper feeding, the quantity is too much or too little.
c) Parasite infection in the intestines.
Symptoms
Excrete of the sick fish is slimy and stick to the anus. The fish will gradually lose its appetite and will discharge blood from the swollen anus.
Diagnosis
Observe whether the excrete from the fish is stuck to the anus.
Remedy
a) Use medication for getting rid of parasites as remedy.
Feed the fish with antibiotics.
c) Provide proper and nutritious feed.
d) if the disease is caused by indigestion, don't feed the fish for few days.
Prevention
Feed the fish with appropriate amount of food, not too much or too little. Should be careful with hygiene of live food.
Some prevention of tips.
1. Do 30-40% water change weekly
2. Make sure you alaways clean your filters twice a month to ensure a good water condition.
3. Avoid sharp objects inside your aquarium. You might accidentally injure your fish especially Flower Horns which are very lively. Corals are not recommended. They will scrape the slime of the fish exposing the scales. The fish will become
vulnerable to attack by pathogenic organisms.
4. Always make sure there's enough oxygen in your aquarium.
5. Remove excess / left over foods.
thanks to mypalhs
