Flowerhorn feeding.

[OMGjimmySaidd]

Is there any type of food that can help my flowerhorn to gain more color, especially towards his flowerline and pearls?

Right now my FH is on a diet of cichlid sinker pellets and freeze dry bloodworms. I also have live meal worms but I'm waiting for my FH to grow bigger...(hopefully the meal worms stay alive till then.)

 

[BIG_ONE]

Feed a variety of fish food is ideal for bringing out its color as much as possible. NLS does very good, only thing that sucks is that most of them are sinking pellets and floating doesn't come until the 4.5mm+ pellets. Chingmix and Grand Sumo or GSR(Grand Sumo Red) does really good also. Now these are staple FH food. A lot of die hard FH guy also swear by Hai Feng FH food. These are great color enhancers and also Hai Feng has pellets that will keep your FH flowerlines color strong and not fade away or disappear. Sometimes it also brings the flowerline that you never notice it was there the whole time.
Other than that, please avoid any live food if necessary. Preferably frozen as a treat so your FH can get that high protein. I would also suggest to avoid freeze dried food as they can absorb air and can cause swim bladder problem. Not only that, some of the freeze dried carry diseases also. I wouldn't count on it for freeze dried food. Frozen food if your planning for high protein treat for your FH. At a young age, you can feed it frozen bloodworms or cut pieces of frozen krill and feed to your FH as a treat after the pellets. Some FH guys say that peeling off the skin helps the FH swallow easier, but some FH guys like to keep the skin of the krill because it is suppose to have a red coloration enhancement for your FH.
So overall, a staple food of pellets(FH pellets, NLS is also a great pellet food for FH) and frozen as treats.

 

[mangingisda]

what i learned from all over the net is, there's no merch food that can enhance the (color, pearls, flowerline & humps) of flowerhorn because its all genetics... whatever you feed in it (as long as it is fish food) and feed them 2-3 times a day with a good water condition then they will grow fast and have a good color,humps,pearls,flowerline, if your fish is had those said gene.

 

[RD.]

What's the problem with feeding FH a sinking pellet?
I certainly don't have any problems when feeding mine.

And while genetics will play the largest role in the development of a FH's physical characteristics, a high quality premium food will definitely assist in that development. The same as it would a dog, cat, bird, horse, etc.

 

[BIG_ONE]

what i learned from all over the net is, there's no merch food that can enhance the (color, pearls, flowerline & humps) of flowerhorn because its all genetics... whatever you feed in it (as long as it is fish food) and feed them 2-3 times a day with a good water condition then they will grow fast and have a good color,humps,pearls,flowerline, if your fish is had those said gene.

Correct that genes plays a big role on how they will look. But also remember that food does play a role in it also, it's not a conspiracy here. It's a fact, color enhancer will enhance the color of a fish no doubt. A lot of die hard FH swears by it, you can learn everything else on the FH's forum that is made specifically just for FH. Not only is it from just by hearing what they have to say, but from what I observe with my own eyes through a lot of die hard FH relatives of mine including a few friends. Food does make a difference on how they will turn out to be. But if your going to buy Grand Sumo(real expensive in my opinion but they sure work great), make sure you know how to tell the difference between imitation Grand Sumo and the real deal.

 

[BIG_ONE]

What's the problem with feeding FH a sinking pellet?
I certainly don't have any problems when feeding mine.

And while genetics will play the largest role in the development of a FH's physical characteristics, a high quality premium food will definitely assist in that development. The same as it would a dog, cat, bird, horse, etc.

Sinking pellets just makes it harder for cleaning, there is nothing wrong at all with sinking pellets. With floating pellets, if they are uneaten then you can just net them out so it won't make the job harder for you when you do water changes. Just my own opinion and preferences...

 

[OMGjimmySaidd]

The problem that I have with my Sinker Pellets is that I have Gravel in my tank... So I believe my FH don't see it and its a pain in the ass to keep cleaning it up hahas.
Hmm... Also how much is the Hai Feng pellets?
And kind should I get for my flowerhorn, and this time I'm going to make sure their floating pellets hahas.

 

[BIG_ONE]

Hai Feng, Grand Sumo or GSR(Grand Sumo Red), or Chingmix will do good for your fish for floating pellets. Check on the Hai Feng website and it'll give you an idea of the price range.

 

[mangingisda]

But also remember that food does play a role in it also

But if your going to buy Grand Sumo(real expensive in my opinion but they sure work great), make sure you know how to tell the difference between imitation Grand Sumo and the real deal.

in humps yes it will, because its high of protein... but in the color i wont believe it will work.. no hard feelings bro, lets just to be honest, did your die hard FH relatives and a few friends has try to feed Grand Sumo to the Ugly Adult FH and turn it onto beautiful? because if this food really works then even the ugly adult will turn out nice.


i will tell you the story of my 2 friends Edz & Wilbert. they both buy i FH sibling fry in lfs. Edz feed his FH with ChingMix and Wilbert feed his with a cheapest food because he can't afford the expensive one... then after 5 months edz fh is showing a nice color and have a popping humps, while wilbert fh showing a little good color and just a little pop humps.....but after 1 year how come their FH are almost the same color and humps...


so the help of these expensive foods is to develop the gene earlier but not to make it nicer.

 

[BIG_ONE]

The point of color enhancer is not to make ugly fish turn into good looking fish. The point of color enhancer is to make the fish with dull color turn into a much better and brighter color than it is suppose to be.
With a lot of experience from color enhancing food such as NLS(quite popular out there), yes I will say that color enhancing food will make your fish color much brighter and more vibrant than before. But it doesn't change the look of the fish whatsoever physically as in popping out pearls 10X more than before and ranging from tint pink into hot boiling red color. Those are extreme changes and are not possible in any way you want to think of.
What I'm talking about here, is moving from a scarlet color fish into a red color fish, and a red color fish into a hot red color fish. This is what color enhancers do, they don't change the entire scenery of the fish and make it look totally like it just had a plastic surgery here.