I hope this thread is in the right section, since it pertains to a flowerhorn.
I've got some questions about my flowerhorn and a future upgrade.
Background info...
First off, I got my flowerhorn at petsmart, believe it or not. I know it's not a high quality flowerhorn because of the source but I fell in love with the bright red eyes he had when he was just a little thing. He was actually labeled as a managers special and the species was trimaculatus, though I tend to think he was mislabeled. He had had the absolute crap kicked out of him so I figured I'd try to "rescue" him. There were actually 3 in the tank being bullied by bigger oscars so I picked up all three of them and threw them in a 10 gallon tank (not knowing what they were or what they would do to each other lol). They were maybe 1.5" long at the time. After a few days "killer" was the sole survivor, he'd made fairly quick work of his brethren.
I realized what he was after some research and some coloring up (because at first he was basically a solid jade color with bright red eyes) and moved him to the only available home I had for him: a 29 gallon tank. He remained in the 29 gallon tank until he was about 6" or so. I know it's kind of a travesty but I had no options and was basically in love with "killer".
Eventually I upgraded to a 75 gallon tank but I'm afraid I stunted his growth. At this point in time "killer" is 12", I just measured him actually and was surprised. If he has managed to get to a foot will he keep going to the maximum length of a flowerhorn? On that note, what IS the maximum length of a flowerhorn? I had read 18" but I'm not sure.
Ok enough background, now the more interesting stuff. I'm planning an upgrade for "killer" to a 240 long. Will that much space calm his agression down? I tried pairing him when he was 8" in his 75 with an unknown type of african cichlid (looked very similar to a johanni) which was around 5". He pretty much stalked the african but the african was WAY faster and able to hide inside the flowerpots I have in the tank in such a way that he was safe. After a few days no progress was made so I removed the african. Is he destined to be a loner for life?
My dream for the 240 long is to couple it with a 75 or 125 sump and pack it full of plants to kind of mimic a SW refugium (which does WONDERS for my SW tank). Either way the extra water volume can't hurt and having a sump allows me to utilize an ATO.
I want to stock the 240 with some bigger bruisers like "killer" but I want to make sure first and foremost that "killer" will be top dog and be alright. I was thinking of a jaguar cichlid but a friend of mine claims that the jag would be too nasty for "killer". I also like tiger oscars, texas cichlids, texas greens, jack dempseys and green terror but I wonder if they would be able to co-exist with a fish that is potentially 50% larger than they are.
Another curiousity of mine is regarding dither fish, or I guess just non-cichlids. The standard tinfoil barbs and larger catfish (I like pictus catfish in particular) would fair alright?
Any kind of info or suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance =]
I've got some questions about my flowerhorn and a future upgrade.
Background info...
First off, I got my flowerhorn at petsmart, believe it or not. I know it's not a high quality flowerhorn because of the source but I fell in love with the bright red eyes he had when he was just a little thing. He was actually labeled as a managers special and the species was trimaculatus, though I tend to think he was mislabeled. He had had the absolute crap kicked out of him so I figured I'd try to "rescue" him. There were actually 3 in the tank being bullied by bigger oscars so I picked up all three of them and threw them in a 10 gallon tank (not knowing what they were or what they would do to each other lol). They were maybe 1.5" long at the time. After a few days "killer" was the sole survivor, he'd made fairly quick work of his brethren.
I realized what he was after some research and some coloring up (because at first he was basically a solid jade color with bright red eyes) and moved him to the only available home I had for him: a 29 gallon tank. He remained in the 29 gallon tank until he was about 6" or so. I know it's kind of a travesty but I had no options and was basically in love with "killer".
Eventually I upgraded to a 75 gallon tank but I'm afraid I stunted his growth. At this point in time "killer" is 12", I just measured him actually and was surprised. If he has managed to get to a foot will he keep going to the maximum length of a flowerhorn? On that note, what IS the maximum length of a flowerhorn? I had read 18" but I'm not sure.
Ok enough background, now the more interesting stuff. I'm planning an upgrade for "killer" to a 240 long. Will that much space calm his agression down? I tried pairing him when he was 8" in his 75 with an unknown type of african cichlid (looked very similar to a johanni) which was around 5". He pretty much stalked the african but the african was WAY faster and able to hide inside the flowerpots I have in the tank in such a way that he was safe. After a few days no progress was made so I removed the african. Is he destined to be a loner for life?
My dream for the 240 long is to couple it with a 75 or 125 sump and pack it full of plants to kind of mimic a SW refugium (which does WONDERS for my SW tank). Either way the extra water volume can't hurt and having a sump allows me to utilize an ATO.
I want to stock the 240 with some bigger bruisers like "killer" but I want to make sure first and foremost that "killer" will be top dog and be alright. I was thinking of a jaguar cichlid but a friend of mine claims that the jag would be too nasty for "killer". I also like tiger oscars, texas cichlids, texas greens, jack dempseys and green terror but I wonder if they would be able to co-exist with a fish that is potentially 50% larger than they are.
Another curiousity of mine is regarding dither fish, or I guess just non-cichlids. The standard tinfoil barbs and larger catfish (I like pictus catfish in particular) would fair alright?
Any kind of info or suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance =]
