Can flowerhorn and cuban cichlids be tankmates?

anzo1993

Peacock Bass
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Jun 25, 2016
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Hello, I have a male cuban about 6 inches in a grow out which i plan on moving out everything except the cuban next week, and I was wondering if I would be able to add a female flowerhorn of about 4 inches that I recently saw? the tank being a 150 gallon , I was thinking 1x cuban 1x flowerhorn and maybe something to clean abit
 

Ozzie73

Piranha
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Aug 6, 2019
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It all comes down to the individual fish and its temperament. You could get lucky or it could be total chaos. Always prepare for the chaos part. If it's going to be just those two in the tank I'd definitely start out with a divider. Female flowerhorn can be more aggressive than males, and if she's close to the size of a male tank mate it'll likely be a war zone at first.
 

anzo1993

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jun 25, 2016
942
902
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Canada
It all comes down to the individual fish and its temperament. You could get lucky or it could be total chaos. Always prepare for the chaos part. If it's going to be just those two in the tank I'd definitely start out with a divider. Female flowerhorn can be more aggressive than males, and if she's close to the size of a male tank mate it'll likely be a war zone at first.
Thanks for the advice, maybe in the beginning instead if throwing in just the 2 I could buy some convicts or something to use as a distraction so the aggression is abit more evenly spread out
 

Ozzie73

Piranha
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That may be unnecessary death and destruction. I'm biased though because I'm a convict fan...lol. Depending how fast she goes through them you could be back to square one soon when the others are picked off. Are you trying to breed them?
 

anzo1993

Peacock Bass
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Jun 25, 2016
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That may be unnecessary death and destruction. I'm biased though because I'm a convict fan...lol. Depending how fast she goes through them you could be back to square one soon when the others are picked off. Are you trying to breed them?
I see what youre saying with the unnecassary death and destruction, I just suggested convicts because there cheap and tough enough to not be picked off one by one, ill be honest i wouldnt mind if they tried breeding might be an intersting mix
 

Ozzie73

Piranha
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Aug 6, 2019
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If you're going for the breeding side of things I'd definitely go divider. I've seen it done but haven't seen the final outcome. Seen fry from the pair and they weren't bad, but the final goal starting with that mix is the elusive black flowerhorn. That would take a lot of line breeding to accomplish. Thai's are still working on that one so not too far behind in that game.
 

anzo1993

Peacock Bass
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Jun 25, 2016
942
902
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Canada
If you're going for the breeding side of things I'd definitely go divider. I've seen it done but haven't seen the final outcome. Seen fry from the pair and they weren't bad, but the final goal starting with that mix is the elusive black flowerhorn. That would take a lot of line breeding to accomplish. Thai's are still working on that one so not too far behind in that game.
yeah the divider might be preferable, i would love to see what the outcome looks like, also this female supposedly lays eggs every couple weeks, when i passed by the shop her egg tube was out so i guess thats a good sign
 

Ozzie73

Piranha
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Aug 6, 2019
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I had a larger srd female and she laid like clockwork, but she still wanted to fight anything I put with her no matter how big it was. Females are ruthless...lol. I think I got a youtube vid of her coming out of the water after my hand. She never bothered me until she seen me reaching to lift the divider.
 

anzo1993

Peacock Bass
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Jun 25, 2016
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yeah big females can be pretty nasty, especially if raised in isolation, ive had good luck in the past getting aggressive fish to live in somewhat peace if i raised them together from young
 
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