My New Flowerhorn

[hey_wood1981]

Hey! I just picked up this little guy from my LFS 1 week ago. I’m not sure on the breed, but am fascinated by it’s personality and everything I’ve been reading about them.
He’s a little over 2” and was brought into my LFS as it was bullying everything, including fish much larger than him, in a 125 gallon.

It’s in a 55g by himself. I want to switch the background to a dark blue and the substrate to possibly white. Not sure if I want to do sand or try Caribsea Super Natural Crystal Substrate.

I’m hesitant to switch the substrate as I don’t want the cycle to crash or stress it out as I’m reading they’re kind of sensitive. It’s been eating healthy and has loads of personality since the day I brought it home. I think the light substrate would lighten him up though.
The first pic is the day I brought it home. The last two are a week later - the lighting is just hitting him better in the 3rd pic. It moves around so much once I approach the aquarium, it’s hard to snap a side profile pic.

 

[AshArsenio]

Hey! I just picked up this little guy from my LFS 1 week ago. I’m not sure on the breed, but am fascinated by it’s personality and everything I’ve been reading about them.
He’s a little over 2” and was brought into my LFS as it was bullying everything, including fish much larger than him, in a 125 gallon.

It’s in a 55g by himself. I want to switch the background to a dark blue and the substrate to possibly white. Not sure if I want to do sand or try Caribsea Super Natural Crystal Substrate.

I’m hesitant to switch the substrate as I don’t want the cycle to crash or stress it out as I’m reading they’re kind of sensitive. It’s been eating healthy and has loads of personality since the day I brought it home. I think the light substrate would lighten him up though.
The first pic is the day I brought it home. The last two are a week later - the lighting is just hitting him better in the 3rd pic. It moves around so much once I approach the aquarium, it’s hard to snap a side profile pic.

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I see a lot of Srd traits but most likely cross with other flowerhorn strain as most are nowadays. Beautiful fish. Its gonna be a beast.

 

[hey_wood1981]

Thanks. I really like all of the red on him before he darkened up. I’m hoping that he’ll lighten up.

 

[AshArsenio]

Thanks. I really like all of the red on him before he darkened up. I’m hoping that he’ll lighten up.

Most probably still getting used to his new environment. Some fh get used to their new environment faster some take a bit longer. Your dark substrates is definitely part of it. But once he get use to it, he'll brighten up so you might not have to change the substrates. Blue back ground definitely works.

 

[hey_wood1981]

That would be awesome. I flipped my background around so the dark blue side is now showing.

I’ve got some off white sand being delivered. Not sure if I’m going to swap it out with that. Either way I’m going to wait until he’s 100% parasite free and feeling better before I switch out the substrate. He’s still eating healthy and got him switched over to NLS pellet. Fingers crossed he’ll lighten up in the meantime. I’ve had him for a month now.

 

[AshArsenio]

That would be awesome. I flipped my background around so the dark blue side is now showing.

I’ve got some off white sand being delivered. Not sure if I’m going to swap it out with that. Either way I’m going to wait until he’s 100% parasite free and feeling better before I switch out the substrate. He’s still eating healthy and got him switched over to NLS pellet. Fingers crossed he’ll lighten up in the meantime. I’ve had him for a month now.

I'm sure he will. Sharing my SRD cross KML. 1st pic the day I got him. 2nd pic 1 and a half month later. He took a while to settle into his tank. 3rd pic is 5 months I had him.

 

[hey_wood1981]

Wow! That’s quite the transformation. He really pops with the white background. Thanks for sharing that.

I quit taking pics while mine was sick, with the exception of the ones in the thread when seeking advice on his illness. The last couple days he’s starting to look healthier. I will update with pics as he continues towards better health.

It’s my first flowerhorn, and I was pretty bummed/worried the last couple weeks. But, thanks to the advice on here he’s doing well.

 

[AshArsenio]

Wow! That’s quite the transformation. He really pops with the white background. Thanks for sharing that.

I quit taking pics while mine was sick, with the exception of the ones in the thread when seeking advice on his illness. The last couple days he’s starting to look healthier. I will update with pics as he continues towards better health.

It’s my first flowerhorn, and I was pretty bummed/worried the last couple weeks. But, thanks to the advice on here he’s doing well.

He came in with parasite infection as well. Sometimes it just lays dormant in them till the travelling and the new environment stress them out and their natural immune system get weaken. The out break usually happens then. The pic shows a week after he arrived. 1st pic when he was at his worse. 2nd shows white spots. 3rd pic shows early fin rots. I fix him with aquarium salt, temp of 32c and just making sure he is not stress out. Hope my experiences helps.

 

[hey_wood1981]

I haven’t tried aquarium salt. Just been using epsom salt, and recently added some Melafix to his water.
Yours still had a lot of red when at his worst.

The prolapsed anus has gotten a lot better. I’m noticing a red tint to his fins again, although it’s hard to see since he’s still pretty dark.

 

[AshArsenio]

I haven’t tried aquarium salt. Just been using epsom salt, and recently added some Melafix to his water.
Yours still had a lot of red when at his worst.

The prolapsed anus has gotten a lot better. I’m noticing a red tint to his fins again, although it’s hard to see since he’s still pretty dark.

Oh... He has a prolapse anus? That's usually due to over feeding or they just couldn't digest the food. Flowerhorn have sensitive digestive tract but sometimes it's just happens due to their genetics. Most usually survive it. It could just be constipation and he's trying to push out a large dump. I just cured one recently. By fasting the fish for 3 days and slowly feeds him again with very little amount. His prolapse went back in after a week. I'll attach some pics. I had some meds on standby though just incase it's internal parasite. Hope this helps.