Flowerhorn fry not eating a lot

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Redtail Catfish
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thats what i do. theyll eat essentially powder as long as they know youre putting food in.
The only thing I’m worried about is cleaning the food cause it’s bare bottom so cleaning it is a bit hard also I can’t use a siphon because the setup is on the floor so I could get substrate making it easier to clean smaller uneaten food but any advice on water changes I could try a smaller siphon or cut the current on in half or get a short bucket but any other advice would be helpful
 
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djsaltynuts

Piranha
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The only thing I’m worried about is cleaning the food cause it’s bare bottom so cleaning it is a bit hard also I can’t use a siphon because the setup is on the floor so I could get substrate making it easier to clean smaller uneaten food but any advice on water changes I could try a smaller siphon or cut the current on in half or get a short bucket but any other advice would be helpful
the first thing id like to say is adding substrate makes it allot and i mean allot harder to clean it may look cleaner but it is quite the opposite. all the waste just stays trapped so id recommend keeping it bare bottom or getting sand so that the waste sits ontop of the sand but itll still make it allot more of a pain to clean.

flowerhorns need allot of water changes so you need a siphon so your waterchanges are actually effective at removing debris and just to make it easier on yourself because its hard to make yourself do something on a regular basis that you dont want to do.

id recommend putting the tank on cinderblocks. the siphons i buy from petco come with a small hand pump to start the siphon because it seems no one knows the proper way to do it but i use these to complete waterchanges for the tanks on my floor.
 

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Piranha
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here is a picture of the hand pump i use.

image.jpg
 
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Rtc/tsn

Redtail Catfish
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the first thing id like to say is adding substrate makes it allot and i mean allot harder to clean it may look cleaner but it is quite the opposite. all the waste just stays trapped so id recommend keeping it bare bottom or getting sand so that the waste sits ontop of the sand but itll still make it allot more of a pain to clean.

flowerhorns need allot of water changes so you need a siphon so your waterchanges are actually effective at removing debris and just to make it easier on yourself because its hard to make yourself do something on a regular basis that you dont want to do.

id recommend putting the tank on cinderblocks. the siphons i buy from petco come with a small hand pump to start the siphon because it seems no one knows the proper way to do it but i use these to complete waterchanges for the tanks on my floor.
Tomorrow morning I’ll move a couple cinder blocks into my room and elevate the tank and I’ve never seen a hand pump siphon I’ve always just put the one end in water and suck like a straw and let gravity do it’s thing(the water taste like sewage but it might just be the fact that I personally don’t like uneaten fish food, fish crap or warm water )
 
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djsaltynuts

Piranha
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Tomorrow morning I’ll move a couple cinder blocks into my room and elevate the tank and I’ve never seen a hand pump siphon I’ve always just put the one end in water and suck like a straw and let gravity do it’s thing(the water taste like sewage but it might just be the fact that I personally don’t like uneaten fish food, fish crap or warm water )
to start a siphon put the front end into the water and bend the tip of the siphon upwards trapping water in the bent part of the hose then lift the tip of the siphon up to make the water go down the hose then quickly put the tip of the siphon under the water. using your mouth to start a siphon is not only gross but unnecessary

make sure the whole bottom of the tank is supported with wood even though this seems obvious its a step ive almost forgotten myself.
 
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Rtc/tsn

Redtail Catfish
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to start a siphon put the front end into the water and bend the tip of the siphon upwards trapping water in the bent part of the hose then lift the tip of the siphon up to make the water go down the hose then quickly put the tip of the siphon under the water. using your mouth to start a siphon is not only gross but unnecessary

make sure the whole bottom of the tank is supported with wood even though this seems obvious its a step ive almost forgotten myself.
Never heard of that was to start a siphon I’ve grown up using my mouth and I’m just used to it and I should have enough cinder blocks in the shed to make a small stage for the tank but if not then I’ll just use an old wood barrier from when I had a bunk bed just gotta cut it a bit
 
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Piranha
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Here’s what it currently looks like and the big guy himself View attachment 1459855View attachment 1459856
even though he has his stress colors you can see some future pearling on the face and some red thatll intensify on his cheek and most likely spread down his chest he should look pretty nice as an adult if i had to guess. ive raised some that looked similar as fry and got pretty colorful within a couple months of high temps and high quality food. most of the other fry id watch at the store not change in appearance so i think allot could be attributed to their diet, temps, and water quality.
 

Rtc/tsn

Redtail Catfish
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even though he has his stress colors you can see some future pearling on the face and some red thatll intensify on his cheek and most likely spread down his chest he should look pretty nice as an adult if i had to guess. ive raised some that looked similar as fry and got pretty colorful within a couple months of high temps and high quality food. most of the other fry id watch at the store not change in appearance so i think allot could be attributed to their diet, temps, and water quality.
I have a video of him in my hand (in the water obviously) and it’s gorgeous it’s just actually beautiful I’d post the video but I don’t know how
 

djsaltynuts

Piranha
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2 cinderblocks should be enough. youd have to post it on youtube and link it to post a video.
 
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