****FOUR general care tips you NEED to know for your FH****

[midasman714]

I recently bought a bunch of golden platinum FH from a member. they are currently 1" in size but eat like kobyiashi in a hot dog eating contest

so how fast are they going to grow at this point?

and when do they start developing their adult characteristics?

 

[KABB44423]

I recently bought a bunch of golden platinum FH from a member. they are currently 1" in size but eat like kobyiashi in a hot dog eating contest

so how fast are they going to grow at this point?

and when do they start developing their adult characteristics?

i think about 4inches

 

[twk1]

I've had a flowerhorn in a community tank with black background with black rocks and his colors were very nice... so is this "no black background" really true if you want better color"??

 

[JPlikewoah]

I've had a flowerhorn in a community tank with black background with black rocks and his colors were very nice... so is this "no black background" really true if you want better color"??

Maybe you have different taste in FHs and you like those darker colored FHs?

Generally if you have a high quality colorful FH in black background with black gravel, you will see it darken and turn much ugly than when he was in the bright environment. Maybe for those lowgrades without much color but those dull green with pinkish belly, they might look better in darker surroundings since they seem to darken up and look cooler

Pics of your FHs in black background/gravel also helps us to judge

Hope this helps,
JP

 

[Adamnjess]

Thank you for the info. I just purchased to FH and need all the help I can get...

 

[marshdiesel]

This hybrid section has grew recently and noticed that lots of people are asking for "proper" care info, so I thought this would be helpful to the new FH keepers.

Flowerhorns are no special than other cichlids, however, to bring out their best in them there are couple of things, you have to consider couple of things.

1. BACKGROUND: It CAN NOT be black! This is rule number 1. Even if you have a $1000 fish, if you have black background, they will turn gray,black,head goes down,redness will be washed away and etc...... No, they will not adjust over time. FHs love colorful environment. If you can't stand other color backgrounds other than black, well FHs aren't for you Any colorful backgrounds are fine including solid blue and plant backgrounds!(now that's a relief isn't it?) Even NO background is better than having black background!

Now, there is an EXCEPTION. Any fully faded flowerhorn will actually like, or at least don't mind this dark black environment.(SRT, Jing Kang, Parrot etc...)

2. GRAVEL: You guessed it! Can't be black! Has to be colorful. Now..... most of us(including myself) can't stand bright pink,green, and purple color gravels. Just natural gravel is bright enough and will do the trick No gravel is fine as well, however I do recommend to have a background if you aren't going to put gravel in the tank. When there's neither of background and gravel, they seem to turn pale and show stress bars(when they are fairly new to your environment)



JP

weird...... i have black background and black gravel.

 

[JPlikewoah]

weird...... i have black background and black gravel.

It's not weird, look at the pic of your fish, it clearly shows his stress bars even across his kok area. They shouldn't be showing. Yours didn't turn black and dark like typical FHs but still is being affected.

JP

 

[ghostknifefish0909]

Very helpful! nice info!!


-GKF

 

[twk1]

Maybe you have different taste in FHs and you like those darker colored FHs?

Generally if you have a high quality colorful FH in black background with black gravel, you will see it darken and turn much ugly than when he was in the bright environment. Maybe for those lowgrades without much color but those dull green with pinkish belly, they might look better in darker surroundings since they seem to darken up and look cooler

Pics of your FHs in black background/gravel also helps us to judge

Hope this helps,
JP

Here are some pics of my flowerhorns that i had... All of them were in the same tank with a Black Background and black rocks as substrate.... Their colorations are very vibrant don't you guys think??

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Maybe it's because of the other colorful things in the tank like the flower pot, plants, wood and other fish. I had to stick mine in a 55 for a week with black sand and background and he turned a drab green. Once his new 90gal was setup (it came with the back painted black and I left it that way) I added PFS and he colored up nicely. For my fish there was a clear difference in the black on black compared to the black on natural sand and gray rocks. I used the same light from the 55 on the 90.