Flowerhorn, male or female?

[Barleysoda]

I picked this flowerhorn up the other day from a LFS. She is a bit banged up, maybe someone was trying to breed her. I say her but I'm not 100% certain it's female. Has black markings and/or flowers on dorsal fin like a female. The Kok is either really small for a male or pretty big for a female. She has longer trailers like a male but they are kind of tore up. Fish is eating well and although a bit roughed up, acts very healthy. Your thoughts...male or female?

 

[HybridFinatic]

I agree it is female

 

[Man-made Monsters]

There is a misleading part about the black mark on the dorsal fin in this case. When the fish has flower markings on its spine (sometimes called double flowerline) like this one does, it can end up being male. I have had plenty of males that had double flower markings and ended up with back spots on their dorsal fin as a result of the continuation of these spinal positioned markings.. I agree that this fish is very beat up and stressed looking. Clean water, good food and he/she will bounce back in no time. Maybe after 10-14 days of healing you can try to take a vent picture to try and identify gender.

 

[Dloks]

Looks like a female a very nice one if true, KokaMonsters if it is a she

 

[Barleysoda]

There is a misleading part about the black mark on the dorsal fin in this case. When the fish has flower markings on its spine (sometimes called double flowerline) like this one does, it can end up being male. I have had plenty of males that had double flower markings and ended up with back spots on their dorsal fin as a result of the continuation of these spinal positioned markings.. I agree that this fish is very beat up and stressed looking. Clean water, good food and he/she will bounce back in no time. Maybe after 10-14 days of healing you can try to take a vent picture to try and identify gender.

She's in a 55 by herself so she shouldn't have any issues healing up now that I have her. I do plenty of water changes. I added a little salt to help with healing. She eats well and I have everything under the sun for food...NLS pellets, a few types of Northfin pellets, frozen krill, frozen mysis, bug bites, blackworms and a homemade mix. I change it up everyday so my fish get a lot variety. I will try venting in a few weeks. I don't bother her too much right now. I also have lots of meds if needed but I think salt will be enough to heal her up. She's dropping logs like a dog so no internal issues or stringy poo to worry about

 

[Man-made Monsters]

Sounds like you have an internally healthy fish that just needs to heal up externally. Nice. External wounds are usually much easier to deal with then internal infections. That awesome selection of food will be great for him/her. If that fish ends up being a female you should try to breed her to a big kok SRD!!! So many of their babies will be big headed red pearly beasts.