Please help Flowerhorn Twitching/Shaking

[CrunchyLobster123]

Today I noticed that my flowerhorn was twitching and shaking his head and body, he does this most when around his cave and when hes digging. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it but When he is digging in the sand he would take big mouth fills and when he spits it out the main portion of it would come out the mouth and the rest would come out the bottom of the gills followed by a head shake. He has also been doing a lot of yawning recently, Reading up on this all I could find was that the shaking could be a dominance display thing but he is alone in his tank and there’s nothing for him to show off to but to me it looks more like irritation or something along those lines rather than dominance. he is still eating and active and his normal self, Could the shaking/twitching be because of the sand? Or illness? Any help appreciated thanks.

 

[Dalfrey86]

Describe your setup, size of tank, type of sand, water parameters... paint a more detailed picture of what is causing this behavior. How long has this behavior been going on?
I say this because I had a make Texan Cichlid that would start hoarding all of the food in my tank. Than “delivering” it to the cave he dug out. Looked like he was choking on the food but I learned it was just part of the cycle of life. Few days later and all was back to normal.

 

[HybridFinatic]

Today I noticed that my flowerhorn was twitching and shaking his head and body, he does this most when around his cave and when hes digging. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it but When he is digging in the sand he would take big mouth fills and when he spits it out the main portion of it would come out the mouth and the rest would come out the bottom of the gills followed by a head shake. He has also been doing a lot of yawning recently, Reading up on this all I could find was that the shaking could be a dominance display thing but he is alone in his tank and there’s nothing for him to show off to but to me it looks more like irritation or something along those lines rather than dominance. he is still eating and active and his normal self, Could the shaking/twitching be because of the sand? Or illness? Any help appreciated thanks.

What you describes sounds like purely a dominance display. Fish will yawn from time to time if anything just make sure your tank is getting the oxygen in needs with proper surface agitation as you normally should.

 

[CrunchyLobster123]

It’s a 55 gallon (he’s only about 4 or 5 inches right now and when he’s bigger he will get a 75), I can’t remember the type of sand or brand but it’s colour is black, Temperature is around 83 , pH 7.5, Nitrite 0, Nitrate is just barely above 0, and ammonia is 0. No tank mates, he eats at the surface where ever I drop the food he always engulfs it in a couple seconds. I have a cascade canister filter (without the carbon) with a spray bar, and on the opposite side of the tank a large air stone, I’m also planning to get either and HOB or another canister. I’ve noticed that he has started digging around his cave and when he does spit out the sand it looks like he’s trying to get something out of his mouth like he’s choking on it or something aswell as the twitching/shaking of his head/body and yawning every once in a while. When he does dig and seems like he’s choking along with the twitching/shaking something just doesn’t look right. This is my first time keeping a flowerhorn so this behaviour may be normal but I’d rather be safe then sorry.

 

[Rocksor]

It's the digging, not an illness causing this. Same behavior in digging cichlids

 

[CrunchyLobster123]

The digging is causing the twitching and shaking? he does it all around the tank but mostly after he’s done digging. should I remove the sand? Also when he does dig after he spits everything out it looks like he’s choking or trying to get something out of his mouth is this also normal?

 

[Rocksor]

Yes it's normal if he still has sand in the mouth. The twitching and shaking is to remove the sand as well as display to any females who might be watching that he has a nice place while at the same time warning males to stay away. See if having no tank light on above it reduces his display.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

I agree with the others above. The twitching and shaking is purely due to him displaying his dominance to any potential rival in the tank. He is most likely seeing his own reflection in the glass and thinks it's another FH. Also the digging is an ingrained behavior from their ancestors. Them digging is move or less to make a nesting bed/ breeding area in the area/s he has chosen. They also dig partly for feeding, allot of cichlids will dig out mouthfuls of sand/gravel to filter out the inedible components and eat the edible parts. This is another ingrained behavior from it's ancestors for survival as they never know when they may eat next. In the wild, predator fish can go for several days to even over a month without eating. So in the mean time while looking for prey they filter out sand for scraps of food to help buy themselves time till they get a proper meal.