FLOWERHORN - what is it, the lowdwn please:D

[henward]

I need experts.

first of all, its illegal to import true flower horns in new zealand, i want info on ohw to get moderately nice lookng ones.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Fish/auction-244501455.htm

these are the best avail in nz, and they suck!

what is a flowerhorn, what fish is it, i ws told its a red devil and parrot cichlid cross?;
is this true?
he babies are like this the above link - not really nice.

questions

1: from the babies of red devil and parrot, can you recross the babies with another red devil or parrot to keep getting colours?
2: can you cross two of the offspring of 1 parrot and 1 red devil?
3: can you cross the offspring like above of red devil and parrot with a red devil
4: red devil, parrot, the offspring like above - what gender is sterile and fertile
5: what else can you do?

how do you get those spectacular colours. what do you mix in?

 

[beantickler]

Woah... to many questions... lol... First of all FH have about 8 pure cichlids to start with. FH these days have so much line breeding and cross breeding with other strains it is impossable to tell wtf it really is... With FH you call them what they look like. I have no idea the laws in NZ either...

 

[STRANG3R]

 

[henward]

that flowerhorn link i give to you
is that considered flowerhorn?
can i cross those?> or are they sterile, as far as i know they are of parrot and red devil offspring.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

yea those are flowerhorn but the parents are not always exactly bp and red devil

 

[henward]

oh ok
would they be fertile do ou think?

so flowerhorns are hybrids that have a certain property and look to them. they can be from different cichlids bred together?
or have they all started from the same two fish then that babies are then crossed wtih other fish and line bred from there?

 

[young_rico]

hybrids of trimacs, midas, viejas, carpintis, basically anything with color.

 

[e!o!z!]

At this point "flowerhorn" is like saying cichlid or catfish. Flowerhorns have many types. A first generation hybrid is not a flowerhorn, so no a cross between a bp and a midas is not a flowerhorn. A flowerhorn has flowerhorn parents. Yes, generations ago flowerhorns were a mix of several new world cichlids, but not now.

 

[young_rico]

people still hybridize flowerhorns with other cichlids to get certain traits the cheap way.

 

[beantickler]

At this point "flowerhorn" is like saying cichlid or catfish. Flowerhorns have many types. A first generation hybrid is not a flowerhorn, so no a cross between a bp and a midas is not a flowerhorn. A flowerhorn has flowerhorn parents. Yes, generations ago flowerhorns were a mix of several new world cichlids, but not now.

Good answer... Flowerhorns are now years into the hobby... Some of the earlier strains r not even around anymore. For example RBK which a member by the name of Chris Cap is trying to bring back and I hope he succeeds... FH are so deep now into generations and so many unique strains it is impossible to deturmine what pure fish were used. Now flowerhorns r created having two flowerhorn parrents...

people still hybridize flowerhorns with other cichlids to get certain traits the cheap way.

This is false... Most likely if u breed a FH back to a pure species you will get a fish that looks like mud. With FH there is no "cheap" way. If you do this you will be taking steps and generations backwards...