Hello, I would like introduce myself and my new Flowerhorn.
I have been in the fish keeping hobby for about 4 years. Originally started with a community tank filled with everything you could imagine. Then as I became more knowledgeable my interests in other more exotic and challenging fish grew. I eventually gave away my community fish and set-up a Discus tank. I kept Discus for the next 2 years with good success. During that time a friend of mine just getting into the hobby purchased a Flowerhorn. I didnt think much of it at first but as I watched the fish and his personality grow I soon wanted one myself.
In August of 09 I moved from San Jose, CA to Sacramento. Being bored with Discus I decided to sell my tank and fish to another friend of mine. After a few months I started to miss the hobby and again became interested in Flowerhorn. I keep an eye on the LFS and Craigslist for a quality fish while spending time on the forums reading up on Flowerhorn. 4 months passed I was not able to find anything local of interest to me so I started searching Aquabid. I found a LFS in So. Cal. (Pet Zone San Diego) that had some decent fish for a reasonable price so I ordered my fish. It has been about 1 month since my fish arrived and Im already addicted.
I have a few questions but first I will give some info on my set-up, feeding, ECT.
EQUIPMENT-
Tank: 80 gallon glass aquarium
Filtration: 2 X Penguin 350 Bio Wheel (one on each side)
Heater: 300 Watts (in the middle)
Light: 32 watts blue and pinkish
FEEDING-
5-6 times daily as much as he will eat (there is NEVER any left-over food remaining in the tank)
Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold + -60%
Alife- 20%
Omega One Super Color- 20%
1 Cube Hikari frozen Blood Worms daily
I have tried feeding ground-up and frozen market shrimp, Hikari frozen Krill cubes, and Hikari freeze dried krill but he will not accept them.
(Just started feeding Chingmix SP-100 Head booster today. I believe I will use this in replace of Hikari as my base food)
WATER MAINTENANCE-
10-15 gallon daily water change (just enough to siphon poop)
30-50% weekly water change
Filter pads cleaned every 2 weeks
MISCELLANEOUS-
Water Temp- 84 F
Blue background
Bare bottom
FISH-
Sold to me as Male KML 4 now around 5
QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS
When tank light are turned on he goes to bottom of tank and becomes inactive (he will not swim to the top of tank), as soon as lights are turned off he becomes active again and swims all over the place. Because of this I have started turning off the lights during feedings. It seems as if he is seeing his reflection in the glass and it freaks him out (this also happens sometimes when lights are off). He is definitely more comfortable when light are off. Any idea of what is going on or what can be done to remedy it?
When light are off over night the red in the front half of his body becomes VERY BRIGHT, as the day progresses with the light on his color fades to a light pink. What can be done to keep his color bright?
I was giving a 2-3 year old open container of Grand Sumo from a friend of mine. Is this still ok to feed, or has it lost all nutritional value?
Despite siphoning poop daily and weekly water changes water still becomes a little cloudy at times. Am I over feeding, should I do a larger daily water change?
Well ..thats it for now. I will post some pictures of tank and fish in a few minutes.
Please ID and Sex my fish please!
Thanks for providing a forum with such great info. I look forward to being a active member and getting to know some of you.
I have been in the fish keeping hobby for about 4 years. Originally started with a community tank filled with everything you could imagine. Then as I became more knowledgeable my interests in other more exotic and challenging fish grew. I eventually gave away my community fish and set-up a Discus tank. I kept Discus for the next 2 years with good success. During that time a friend of mine just getting into the hobby purchased a Flowerhorn. I didnt think much of it at first but as I watched the fish and his personality grow I soon wanted one myself.
In August of 09 I moved from San Jose, CA to Sacramento. Being bored with Discus I decided to sell my tank and fish to another friend of mine. After a few months I started to miss the hobby and again became interested in Flowerhorn. I keep an eye on the LFS and Craigslist for a quality fish while spending time on the forums reading up on Flowerhorn. 4 months passed I was not able to find anything local of interest to me so I started searching Aquabid. I found a LFS in So. Cal. (Pet Zone San Diego) that had some decent fish for a reasonable price so I ordered my fish. It has been about 1 month since my fish arrived and Im already addicted.
I have a few questions but first I will give some info on my set-up, feeding, ECT.
EQUIPMENT-
Tank: 80 gallon glass aquarium
Filtration: 2 X Penguin 350 Bio Wheel (one on each side)
Heater: 300 Watts (in the middle)
Light: 32 watts blue and pinkish
FEEDING-
5-6 times daily as much as he will eat (there is NEVER any left-over food remaining in the tank)
Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold + -60%
Alife- 20%
Omega One Super Color- 20%
1 Cube Hikari frozen Blood Worms daily
I have tried feeding ground-up and frozen market shrimp, Hikari frozen Krill cubes, and Hikari freeze dried krill but he will not accept them.
(Just started feeding Chingmix SP-100 Head booster today. I believe I will use this in replace of Hikari as my base food)
WATER MAINTENANCE-
10-15 gallon daily water change (just enough to siphon poop)
30-50% weekly water change
Filter pads cleaned every 2 weeks
MISCELLANEOUS-
Water Temp- 84 F
Blue background
Bare bottom
FISH-
Sold to me as Male KML 4 now around 5
QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS
When tank light are turned on he goes to bottom of tank and becomes inactive (he will not swim to the top of tank), as soon as lights are turned off he becomes active again and swims all over the place. Because of this I have started turning off the lights during feedings. It seems as if he is seeing his reflection in the glass and it freaks him out (this also happens sometimes when lights are off). He is definitely more comfortable when light are off. Any idea of what is going on or what can be done to remedy it?
When light are off over night the red in the front half of his body becomes VERY BRIGHT, as the day progresses with the light on his color fades to a light pink. What can be done to keep his color bright?
I was giving a 2-3 year old open container of Grand Sumo from a friend of mine. Is this still ok to feed, or has it lost all nutritional value?
Despite siphoning poop daily and weekly water changes water still becomes a little cloudy at times. Am I over feeding, should I do a larger daily water change?
Well ..thats it for now. I will post some pictures of tank and fish in a few minutes.
Please ID and Sex my fish please!
Thanks for providing a forum with such great info. I look forward to being a active member and getting to know some of you.
