Do Red Texas cichlid colors intensify or change with age?

[Cichlids keeper]

Lol you think that one is weird shipped your should've seen the one that was for sale on eBay for $400. It was a double kok FH, so it had a normal kok on the normal place but it had a second kok grow out on the front end of the normal one. By far the weirdest kok growth I've ever seen, was almost half tempted to get it too but it was just too weird looking.

Oh my God, even without pictures it sounds so weird. Some Flowerhorns remind me of those deep sea creatures,. I'm kinda surprised that people haven't been breeding for weird shape instead of size on them. I wonder why most of them are on Kamfas, maybe it's the cocktail of viejas that go into them since Viejas have different shaped Nuchal Humps anyway, or maybe it's the fact that most FH are made up of a lot of Midas so their Nuchal Humps all have similar shape and people just notice the difference.

 

[Cichlids keeper]

It's a deformity or a mutation. Should have been culled if this was detected at earlier age.

You're right it probably should have been culled if it was detected but there's video of him swimming as well as a normal Flowerhorn and his vision isn't obstructed so as long as he isn't bred or he doesn't have problems I think it's fine for the person who owns him to keep him.

 

[eyespot]

He probably will color up as he grows since he is already faded. NLS ultra red is a good supplement to your staple, don't feed FH foods because all they have in them is fillers and a unhealthy amount of protein. Grading doesn't really matter as long as you enjoy keeping him, also it's based on personal opinion really. One more thing, you never really know what a RT will turn into when it's full grown, but he looks nice already so he probably will turn into a great fish.

Thanks a lot! All good stuff to know.

 

[eyespot]

It's just my personal opinion but I'm turned off by a lot of flowerhorns because so many of them seem like they're slowly being bred into some of those sad looking strains of fancy goldfish that can barely swim right. Then I saw pictures of Thai silks and Red Texas strains that I thought were amazing. My guy actually has quite a bit of pearling (if I understand the term correctly) and he's more stream-lined with long trailing fins. Hopefully he doesn't become a full on psycho because I'd like to be able to pair him up with either my female blue texas or synspilum.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Good thing you didn't buy it. We shouldn't reward deformity, or else future flowerhorns will be even weirder.

Yeah it was one of those things that it would be neat to have but definitely no where near worth $400. Not to mention I wouldn't feel right buying it to breed it at all. It would be neat to say I'm the only one with this sort of deformity in this fish but wouldn't want to continue it either.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

It's just my personal opinion but I'm turned off by a lot of flowerhorns because so many of them seem like they're slowly being bred into some of those sad looking strains of fancy goldfish that can barely swim right. Then I saw pictures of Thai silks and Red Texas strains that I thought were amazing. My guy actually has quite a bit of pearling (if I understand the term correctly) and he's more stream-lined with long trailing fins. Hopefully he doesn't become a full on psycho because I'd like to be able to pair him up with either my female blue texas or synspilum.

Personally speaking I'd say the most desirably trait in a FH is the personality, looks always come second but personality is always first. If it doesn't have a good personality it's just another overly glorified colorful fish.

 

[Cichlids keeper]

It's just my personal opinion but I'm turned off by a lot of flowerhorns because so many of them seem like they're slowly being bred into some of those sad looking strains of fancy goldfish that can barely swim right. Then I saw pictures of Thai silks and Red Texas strains that I thought were amazing. My guy actually has quite a bit of pearling (if I understand the term correctly) and he's more stream-lined with long trailing fins. Hopefully he doesn't become a full on psycho because I'd like to be able to pair him up with either my female blue texas or synspilum.

Not many male RT are fertile so they might not be able to have any fry. On some Flowerhorns their Nuchal Humps do get pretty large but not all of them get that big, the ones that do get really big cost a lot of money. It's not too hard to find a nice looking flowerhorn with personality and a hard or semi-water kok. Yeah some fancy goldfish have problems swimming but the only one I really have problems with are ones that directly effect the vision of the fish specifically bubble eyes. I actually like the look of ryukins but some of them don't look right.

 

[eyespot]

Personally speaking I'd say the most desirably trait in a FH is the personality, looks always come second but personality is always first. If it doesn't have a good personality it's just another overly glorified colorful fish.

Personality is great but I also want a fish that's pretty or unique and interesting to look at. Most all of the CA/SA cichlids I've kept have a lot of personality but I think a lot of people equate personality with aggression. I have a small group of feisty honduran redpoints which I think are hilarious in the way they're always posturing and bickering but they never do any real damage to each other. Then again they're 2-3 inch fish in a 200 gallon tank which helps.

 

[eyespot]

Not many male RT are fertile so they might not be able to have any fry. On some Flowerhorns their Nuchal Humps do get pretty large but not all of them get that big, the ones that do get really big cost a lot of money. It's not too hard to find a nice looking flowerhorn with personality and a hard or semi-water kok. Yeah some fancy goldfish have problems swimming but the only one I really have problems with are ones that directly effect the vision of the fish specifically bubble eyes. I actually like the look of ryukins but some of them don't look right.

I actually would prefer if they didn't breed. I just want them to co-exist. I'm not slamming flowerhorns in a flowerhorn forum and I think a nice kok is pretty cool as long as it's not 1/3 the size of the fish. All good things in moderation! But now I see they have these short body FHs with big koks and that can't possibly be healthy in the long term.

 

[Cichlids keeper]

I actually would prefer if they didn't breed. I just want them to co-exist. I'm not slamming flowerhorns in a flowerhorn forum and I think a nice kok is pretty cool as long as it's not 1/3 the size of the fish. All good things in moderation! But now I see they have these short body FHs with big koks and that can't possibly be healthy in the long term.

Oh yeah I know you're not slamming flowerhorns lol. Yeah I agree with the kok size thing. Short bodies do have a lot of problems and they shouldn't have massive Nuchal Humps either. The problem is most people don't breed short bodies for health. The reason fancy goldfish can live long with short bodies is because they have very tall bodies and large stomachs so they have more room for organs. Most short body FHs don't have that. And the fact some have massive humps makes it harder for them to swim.