Flowerhorn Aggression!!

[nmadsen4]

I have a 4.5 in flowerhorn which is fairly small in my opinion, but for whatever reason he is absolutely demolishing my jack dempsey who is over 5 in. I can't understand why because I have a Red spot Severum that is under 3 in and he doesn't bother him at all...... I fear i'll be taking one of the 2 fish out shortly. Any able to explain why he hates the Dempsey so much??

 

[Mike fail]

the jack looks to much like a flowerhorn they can be very conspecific aggressive

 

[nmadsen4]

Here's the dempsey, yes i know it's blurry. sorry about

that.

 

[chrscap]

no, your 2 incher is not a threat so he is not worried about him, but similar sizes like the JD, he will get rid of the competition first, flowerhorns should be separated or divided.

 

[Mike fail]

no problem its shape is too similar, flowerhorns are typically very aggressive as it is and usually require there own tank.

 

[TheFishJunky]

When introduced to the tank did the dempsey originally pick on the fh?Alot of aggressive fish do this.One of them will always claim "King of the Tank".
Monitor them closely for a few days,if the dempsey begins to really get beat up bad you will have to move one of them.Flower horns tend to do better on thier own in a tank by themselves.Or you could opt for a divider.

 

[nmadsen4]

the jack looks to much like a flowerhorn they can be very conspecific aggressive

Could it really only be up to appearance? I know that certain fish of the same genus have problems with each other and I was wondering if flowerhorns of some distant mix of dempsey in them. I guess it could just be because of how they look to each other.

 

[chloe]

take the fh out QUICK!
mine killed 8 fish in the space of 2 days....and nearly finished off the female fh i had in with him. he was 3.5" and all the fish he killed were bigger than him, including my 2ft plec!!! dont risk it!

 

[nmadsen4]

When introduced to the tank did the dempsey originally pick on the fh?Alot of aggressive fish do this.One of them will always claim "King of the Tank".
Monitor them closely for a few days,if the dempsey begins to really get beat up bad you will have to move one of them.Flower horns tend to do better on thier own in a tank by themselves.Or you could opt for a divider.

The dempsey was in the tank long before the flowerhorn, but didnt pick on him at all when introduced. It was very random, just one day he decided to corner him. It's upsetting that I have to take him out because I love him so much but I see now that soon he'll start to pick on the Severum as well. Which i cannot allow because my severum is gorgeous.

 

[TheFishJunky]

ya never know.some timid species will be left unharmed at times and some not.Its almost like the fish know who is a threat and who isn't.BUT-theres also a chance it will wipe out the whole tank also.Not sure what the Fh is made up of in your case but alot of the more aggressive species have that in them and will want to go on a killing mission until they're the last one standing......or should I say,"swimming"