Flowerhorn ID

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noahcw

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2020
20
17
8
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Just bought this guy today, I was wondering if it looks to be male or female, the pet store said its a male. It was just listed as a flowerhorn so I have no idea what type either. It's not super colourful now so I was wondering if its possible that more colours could develop or a kok?

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Just bought this guy today, I was wondering if it looks to be male or female, the pet store said its a male. It was just listed as a flowerhorn so I have no idea what type either. It's not super colourful now so I was wondering if its possible that more colours could develop or a kok?

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Hard to tell gender without a good view of the vent. Just take the fish out of the tank flip it upside down and take a pic of its 2 holes by the anal fin. If the hole closest to the fin is the same size or larger then the other it's a female, if the hole is smaller then the other it's a male. As for the type of FH I'd say it's a kamfa from how blue it is. Also color tends to improve with a good diet and calm environment along with growth/maturity. But yeah gender is almost impossible to be 100% certain unless vented. I currently have a female that I thought was male for the longest time until I finally took her out and looked at her vent. She's honestly got a bigger kok then allot of males even get. Btw if I had to take a guess I'd say yours is male from how it looks but like I've said already we won't know for certain until we get to see a vent pic. Here is one for an example.

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I replied to your reddit posts ?.

I agree with Magnus_Bane Magnus_Bane here, just by looks it seems to be male and vent to be sure.

Beautiful kamfa that has a very boxy shape. Colors will slightly improve with some grooming, showing mirror everyday for 10-20 minutes and some old school love and care (clean water, ample space, quality food).
 
Hey, I really appreciate it, thanks for the help guys. I'll try and vent it today but I assume it won't be too happy with me!

Personally if you are happy with the fish and gender won't change anything for you then it's unnecessary. If that fish ever lays eggs then you would know it's a female.
 
Personally if you are happy with the fish and gender won't change anything for you then it's unnecessary. If that fish ever lays eggs then you would know it's a female.

Honestly, I think I was hoping it would grow a bigger Kok, but it looks like Kamfas don't get huge anyways. I have it in a 75 right now and it seems freaked out by the amount of space, I bought it from a tank slightly smaller with other fish in it. I thought about bringing it back, but its grown on me, and I'm interested to see its personality really come out.
 
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Honestly, I think I was hoping it would grow a bigger Kok, but it looks like Kamfas don't get huge anyways. I have it in a 75 right now and it seems freaked out by the amount of space, I bought it from a tank slightly smaller with other fish in it. I thought about bringing it back, but its grown on me, and I'm interested to see its personality really come out.
Yeah typically kamfas don’t have the genetics to grow very much of a typical flowerhorn nuchal hump you commonly see but give him some time and he will eventually adjust to the new tank.
 
Yeah typically kamfas don’t have the genetics to grow very much of a typical flowerhorn nuchal hump you commonly see but give him some time and he will eventually adjust to the new tank.
The 75 is big enough right? I know they can get pretty big and I think he's got some more growing to do. I'm turning the water over about 8x an hour right now, but I'm looking to get another canister.
 
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The 75 is big enough right? I know they can get pretty big and I think he's got some more growing to do. I'm turning the water over about 8x an hour right now, but I'm looking to get another canister.
A 75 gallon should be plenty big enough but some people upgrade to a 90 or a 120 if they feel that their flowerhorn doesn’t have enough room.
 
IMO 75 is good for flowerhorn till it's 10 inches and under. Giving fish 5x length to swim and approx 1.5-2x turning space is important. For water quality 75 would be enough. I have heard about fish freaking out in larger tanks, never saw one though, try giving him some hiding spot and may be a divider and gradually increase his space.
 
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