How do you get a cichlid to become a glass banger?

[RD.]

The truly massive nuchal humps seen in many of the current strains of Flowerhorn fish, is due to genetics, not constant stress.
Ditto to the numerous FH that have small or average size nuchal humps. In many cases it’s simply boils down to genetics.
My adult male Midas has a fairly large nuchal hump most of his life, no mirrors, no females, no high temp water, no tapping on the glass, etc. He certainly doesn’t lead a life of constant stress. lol IME, and I have also kept several FH over the years, if genetics aren’t present, you can forget about ever seeing a large nuchal hump in your fish.

 

[RD.]

Chillaxin…..

 

[RD.]

So so genetics, not the rock star one can see in some FH.

 

[RD.]

Same with this Kamfa from yrs ago, he simply didn’t have what it takes, genetics wise.

 

[esoxlucius]

The hump size is a measurement of the aggression level, and without constant stress, the hump will shrink and this is why FH keeper use mirror training.

Flower horns aren't even a real fish, they're man made, and you're telling me that dedicated and caring flowerhorn keepers purposely keep the stress levels sky high so they can admire a lump on the fishes head!!

Well f**k me sideways!

Seems like flowerhorns have got quite a bum deal!

 

[RD.]

esoxlucius - that is just one persons opinion.

My FH's were never stressed any more than any other fish that I have owned. Some would display aggression at times, as most cichlids that lean towards aggro will when kept in the confines of a glass box. Nothing more, nothing less. The comment below is from a thread I started back in 2010, regarding one of my FH. My opinion was the same then, as it is now.

Not with this guy, he's plenty pissy without provoking him with his own reflection. lol

I use a mirror on my young kamfa, but usually only on water change days to keep him focused on something besides biting my hand. Overall I feel that either the fish has it, or doesn't, and a mirror isn't going to bring anything out that won't come out on its own given some time for the fish to mature.

BTW - a hybrid fish, is still a real fish. lol

 

[esoxlucius]

RD. I don't believe for one minute that you'd purposely put a fish through any stress, and I tend to believe you more than most when you say the kok size is more genetics than just stressing the fish out.

I believe tiger15 means well, not having a go at him at all. But from reading this thread it seems quite apparent that there are indeed some flowerhorns keepers out there whose "care" levels are questionable, imo of course, lol.

 

[RD.]

Many FH keepers also believe that one has to feed high protein foods for large "koks", even though large nuchal humps in FH consist mostly of water, and the genetic background in FH is based on omnivorous cichlids. Many believe that black backgrounds are taboo due to washing out color/pearls, etc (all of my FH were kept in tanks with black background) Many believe that if you want to bring out red in the fish you need to feed ultra color enhancing foods, including foods that contain special ingredients such as carophyll pink. lol Just like any other group of fish keepers out there in fish land, there are plenty of idjits that keep FH. I have been down this path on MFK many times.

Here's how the big kok con works. Hobbyist buys into the big hump marketing, the food company is already half way home before the container is even opened. Hobbyist start their little juvenile fish on the big kok food, tank water temps at 84F, often a mirror for training, which in turn can cause a gonadal swing in the fish, that is now getting larger, and more aggressive. Over time the juvenile fish grows, and by golly so does his hump. It must be the awesome big kok food! Hobbyist's posts pics all over the internet proclaiming how great this magical food is for growing big kok - when the reality is any high protein food (50%+) would have produced the same end result, in the same short duration - if the genes were in place. The sad part is that over time, those high protein foods are going to take their toll on the adult FH, a fish that was created from species that are not even considered carnivorous. Just a simple con, designed for the ignorant. In fact, any reasonably decent lower protein food would have produced the exact same results, it may have simply taken a bit longer to get there.

I posted the following back in 2012, and seeing as the large water koks in flowerhorn originate with genes from Amphilophus citrinellus, it seems the most logical explanation.

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

An F1 male Midas from Rapps, in pre-spawn super jacked mode. No specialty FH food required.

View attachment 1407646

View attachment 1407647

View attachment 1407648

 

[RD.]

Make sure to check out that F1 male midas from Rapps. No mirrors, or smoke, involved.

 

[RD.]

....... and to bring this full circle back to the OP's question, while certain aspects of a fish's environment can certainly determine its overall behavior in a glass box, IME genetics also plays a key role. As an example, that midas of mine was grown out with I think a dozen of his siblings, in a 6ft 125. At a mere 3", he was already running his siblings from one end of that tank, to the other, on a regular basis. To the point I had to make a decision to either keep him & get rid of his siblings, or get rid of him, and see how the others played out as they matured. The stress created by his constant chasing of his siblings wasn't something I enjoyed seeing daily, and at the time I was looking for a single "wet pet" fish, same as I was when I kept FH. So I went with him and never looked back. Ironically, he's not nearly as temperamental as some of my previous adult Amphs, and unlike some of his predecessors he has yet (in 12+ yrs) drawn any blood. lol

Seeing as that fish is now in his 13th year with me, I don't think he's suffering any health issues, mental or otherwise, from being overly stressed.