Any ex FH keepers wanna input?

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the animal guy

the animal guy

Arapaima
MFK Member
Aug 23, 2009
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Were you keeping FHs before and then somehow ended up keeping strictly regular cichlids now?

If so, please share why you gave up FHs and now keeping regular cichlids if you will..

thanks
 
I had an FH.. but I gave it up only because I wnted the tank for something else. I don't keep any cichlids now. Only Puffers and Polys... The old FH tank (55 gallon) is now a shrimp/crayfish tank as food for my puffers.

I like FHs and will probably get another in the future.
 
Not me, but a friend of mine had a Flowerhorn but when he learned about them he started to dislike them more and more.
Now he keeps CA cichlids, but only Amphilophus, so I guess he did like the behaviour and the humps of the Flowerhorns, just not the fact that they are hybrids.
 
Wow, where do i begin. I've purchased flowerhorns for as high as $550 for a single fish. I was drawn into them by their beautiful color and wild personality. They eat almost anything and are fast growers. Here comes my problems, from my experience, and others might differ, when there reach a certain size ~ 9-10" they are very susceptible to disease. HITH was very common and they have very very high mortality rates when this occurs. Even if they survive, the flowerhorn is scarred and pretty much diminishes the value of the fish.

I now stick to centrals and souths, but Flowerhorns are still great fish and i still droolllll when i see a stunner.
 
Why would the fact that a flowerhorn is an (intentional) hybrid change his opinion about a fish that he likes?

Given the fact that most Amphilophus on the market are likely hybrids (or of un-verifiable provenance)...he's probably keeping hybrids still.

Matt

mark377;4628738; said:
Not me, but a friend of mine had a Flowerhorn but when he learned about them he started to dislike them more and more.
Now he keeps CA cichlids, but only Amphilophus, so I guess he did like the behaviour and the humps of the Flowerhorns, just not the fact that they are hybrids.
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I am not an ex-FH keeper, but as a current one I can see why some would get away from them. Mine has great personality and color, but is SO mean and must be alone.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/album.php?albumid=5171 (I am working to get better pictures!)

A lot of my MFK'ers I know say that is the biggest strike against them - how they are so aggressive and often need to be alone. Some people can mix them with other fish, but not mine. His last tankmate was a 12" pleco that he mortally wounded. Kids love him b/c he is big, red, and will stick he kok out of the water getting pellets.

Another issue is his bio-load. He is a pig and leaves a lot of waste on the substrate. I must scoop it out at least every other day. If he wasn't in a drilled tank, I would definitely have an UG filter with powerheads.

A final issue is the price. Like AT7447 said, they can be expensive - especially top grade ones. I have never spent anything close to the $550 he mentions for a fish, but they are much more $$ than the common Oscar at the LFS. For $550, that fish better talk!
 
Brian_Indiana;4628958; said:
Oh yeah - I forgot about the "man-made" part. So people get hung up on that. I do not. Of course, I know people that are against African OB Peacocks!
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I have not owned a FH, and the man-made aspect is one of the reasons why I am not into them.

I also do not understand the high quality vs. low quality aspect of it. They are judged on the size of the pearls and flowers and KoKs (which seems to be the most juvenile fish jargon of all time) and I don’t understand it. To me a good natural Trimac looks better than a Flowerhorn with a swollen and unsightly looking nuchal hump.

Another reason is the naming and marketing of these fish, Super Red Dragon Rose Queen ZZ etc etc. It seems that FH enthusiasts like to brag about how much their fish costs, like it a status symbol. Every time I see someone post a picture of their newly purchased FH someone comes in and says, "looks like a low grade zz" like they are putting it down because it didn’t cost a small fortune.

And last but not least it is the way FH people try to boost the nuchal humps of the fish to grossly unnecessary proportions, like it is contest. It doesn’t appeal to me at all, and it looks unsightly. I enjoy seeing a big Midas or Sajica with a hump, but not a giant baseball sized growth, looks like a tumor to me.

But to each their own. What I find cool other people may think is lame, such is life. I am not trying to knock anyone for liking FHs, Hybrids just aren’t my cup of tea.

I will probably get flamed for this post, but only because FH people are trolls (THAT IS A JOKE :D)
 
"Man made" fish include: koi, fancy goldfish, fancy livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies, etc.), fancy bettas, fancy gouramis, fancy discus, fancy angelfish, anything long-finned, albino, German Rams, fancy peacocks (German Red, OB, Firefish), parrots, flowerhorns, and many other fish that lots of people keep.

Seems like being "against" man-made fish would make one "against" like most of the fish available in pet stores...

Matt

Brian_Indiana;4628958; said:
Oh yeah - I forgot about the "man-made" part. So people get hung up on that. I do not. Of course, I know people that are against African OB Peacocks!
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