*Grooming Flowerhorn

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ChrisRoundsCichlids said:
Hey guys. I was just wondering what some of you are doing to groom your flowerhorn? See if maybe we can discuss or share some techniques to help everyone learn. This is a kamfa i bought around 2 inches and have been grooming on and off the past couple months.
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Nice flowerhorn!... I found mirror worked pretty good... or it was my imagination and it was all genetics ?‍♂️
 
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Nilsafeller said:
Nice flowerhorn!... I found mirror worked pretty good... or it was my imagination and it was all genetics ?‍♂️
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Hump size sure does depend mostly on genetics, a male RD that's never groomed has larger humps than most other strains.

Gonad does play role in the size though.

Groups of males kept without females in large tanks regularly develop enormous nuchal humps that persist. The humps on such males often become grotesque, and far exceed anything seen in nature.
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This from a research paper discussed in this thread

The Nuchal Hump in Amphilophus

This subject came up recently and while this may be common knowledge to some members I thought that I would share some information from some old research papers that discuss this in fish found within the midas complex. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016648075901367...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Basically by showing mirror we are creating an illusion of being with other males for fish. Ozzie73 Ozzie73 had a fish whose flowerhorn shrunk and grew his hump significantly when his flowerhorn wasn't and was next to others respectively.

I do not support most other grooming techniques though, like use of tiny tanks, high protein foods, "speciality" foods etc.
 
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Ruturaj said:
Hump size sure does depend mostly on genetics, a male RD that's never groomed has larger humps than most other strains.

Gonad does play role in the size though.



This from a research paper discussed in this thread

The Nuchal Hump in Amphilophus

This subject came up recently and while this may be common knowledge to some members I thought that I would share some information from some old research papers that discuss this in fish found within the midas complex. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016648075901367...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Basically by showing mirror we are creating an illusion of being with other males for fish. Ozzie73 Ozzie73 had a fish whose flowerhorn shrunk and grew his hump significantly when his flowerhorn wasn't and was next to others respectively.

I do not support most other grooming techniques though, like use of tiny tanks, high protein foods, "speciality" foods etc.
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I always understood the idea behind the mirror.. just not sure if it really made a huge difference.. the idea of "chasing away another male" (mirror up for a few minutes then gone) not sure if it played a huge part...

"Groups of males kept without females in large tanks regularly develop enormous nuchal humps that persist. The humps on such males often become grotesque, and far exceed anything seen in nature."

I always thought this would counter act the size of hump... isnt part of the nuchal hump size have some part to do with courting? ?‍♂️
 
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Nilsafeller said:
I always understood the idea behind the mirror.. just not sure if it really made a huge difference.. the idea of "chasing away another male" (mirror up for a few minutes then gone) not sure if it played a huge part...

"Groups of males kept without females in large tanks regularly develop enormous nuchal humps that persist. The humps on such males often become grotesque, and far exceed anything seen in nature."

I always thought this would counter act the size of hump... isnt part of the nuchal hump size have some part to do with courting? ?‍♂️
Click to expand...

It is not for actual courting (spawning) it's to attract females (pre spawning, before forming a pair), seeing competitors makes them grow larger humps.
 
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See for me. Females actually have caused many of my males koks to shrink! But i have noticed alot of variables come into play while grooming. Obviously genetics is the absolute most important factor. While finding food has almost 0 to do with it at all. Over the years ive used top of the line foods mainly for nutritional value but to cut down costs and so the food would last longer I started buying cheaper food "with alot of fillers" just for those I import and groom until i let them go of normally withing 2-3 weeks. I dont believe in using parrots... i think using parrots is a bit cruel.
 
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Back to what i was saying about how it depends on the specific flowerhorn obviously what type of flowerhorn and genetic make up play a huge role. For one you have whats called both Hard kok and soft kok especially with kamfa. Then you have srd and other zz that have a much better kok gene that require no grooming at all. I think mirror and higher temperature "84-86f" are what makes the most difference in a short ammount of time.
 
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