Help identifying FH

[Delinx]

Hi all,

Just a few questions about my first flowerhorn fish.Bought it about a month ago. Not sure of the age but the FS said it was a purpleflame flowerhorn. I think it's a female but not too sure now as the markings are not really clear. Would you say that its a female? What breed is it actually? The first pic is when i bought it and the rest are current ones. They are a month apart. Its around 10-12 cm now.

Thanks for your insight.

Cheers

 

[Aquatank]

Guess she is female

 

[Delinx]

Guess she is female

Thanks Aquatank

 

[Aquatank]

No problem and looking forward for seeing her development.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

Why is it so stressed

 

[Delinx]

Hi Alex.not too sure why. Water levels and temp are good. She gets the right amount of food and there are only 2 plecos in there with it. Probably due to the tank size 150ltr. We will be ugrading to a bigger one in a few weeks time. What were the stress signs? The black stripes?

 

[Man-made Monsters]

If you water parameters are good then the black stripes are from the dark colored gravel. I have watched flowerhorn look like the color of a piece of charcoal or black when they are in a tank with black or dark gray gravel. Change the gravel when you change his tanks and he will look so incredibly colorful.

 

[Delinx]

Thanks MM Mons..,

I will certainly try it when doing the change.Will be going for white gravel. It does get stressed from time to time ( sudden movements ) but in general , its a very active fish , rarely hides and swims a lot , even more when I am around the aquarium. Probably knows there is food coming ( Which we had to reduce otherwise it would eat all day )
Ill get a video online soon.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

I wouldn't use white gravel either honestly. That makes many Flowerhorns look washed out/pale gray white in color. If you are using gravel, I would use a river stone which is a lot of tan, yellowish browns, and light browns in color. Make sure whatever stone you choose is smooth with out sharp edges. I have a friend that refuses to use anything but black gravel because he says "it looks so clean and professional" and I laugh every time he says it because 4 out of his 5 flowerhorns look terrible all due to the dark gravel. I showed him one of my fish, that was a sibling to his, and he couldn't believe the colors on my fish. After several months I convinced him to switch his gravel in just one tank to a river stone. Two days after the gravel switch his fish was glowing with color and he changed his mind set, he finally broke free from the black gravel. I tell this story because often times we design a fish tank based on what we like to look at and we don't think about what that fish needs to feel comfortable and be safe.

 

[Circa4190]

I wouldn't use white gravel either honestly. That makes many Flowerhorns look washed out/pale gray white in color. If you are using gravel, I would use a river stone which is a lot of tan, yellowish browns, and light browns in color. Make sure whatever stone you choose is smooth with out sharp edges. I have a friend that refuses to use anything but black gravel because he says "it looks so clean and professional" and I laugh every time he says it because 4 out of his 5 flowerhorns look terrible all due to the dark gravel. I showed him one of my fish, that was a sibling to his, and he couldn't believe the colors on my fish. After several months I convinced him to switch his gravel in just one tank to a river stone. Two days after the gravel switch his fish was glowing with color and he changed his mind set, he finally broke free from the black gravel. I tell this story because often times we design a fish tank based on what we like to look at and we don't think about what that fish needs to feel comfortable and be safe.

Currently using white sand as my substrate for my juvie FH, and yes, she is totally washed out in color and looks like butt. Will be changing very soon.