questions on my flowerhorn..

[fishfam1]

hello guys, i’m new to this site obviously i posted this in some thread and wasn’t sure if i was posting in a spot where it would be seen so i’m reposting lol not sure how to use it all that great yet but excited to learn!! alright so i got my flowerhorn march 1st 2019 so almost right at a month ago. was told he was about 5 months old when i purchased him. at first he was in a tank with 2 blood parrots, 2 blue rams, & a electric blue acara. he got along with them all just fine. i ended up coming across a 37 gallon tall tank and decided i wanted to move him over bc he was eating the majority of the food i would put in. & that they do better alone now in the tank he’s in it’s only him and a juvenile red devil he chases it at time but the majority of time they are fine together my questions are, 1.) his stomach seems to always be big i’m assuming i was over feeding after i did more research and read to only feed a pellet for ever inch. he’s a fast little guy so it’s hard to get an exact measurement but he’s about 2 1/2 inches not including his tail. i also read to try boiled peas deshelled to help with the digestive system so i tried that but still the same thing big belly so yesterday i fasted him and began to feed him again this morning and gave two in half pellets/sticks. his stomach still seems to be big. i’ve watched him poop and it’s a solid brown no white. so i don’t believe it’s internal parasites. i’ve read so much i’ve overloaded my head with all the possibilities on what it could be. i’m just wondering if it’s normal for flowerhorns to have big belly’s or what it could be. after moving him over friday night by sunday evening i could already tell a tremendous difference in the hump as i want it to continue to grow of course. 2.) i keep referring to it as a him bc that’s what i was told it was when i got it so i posted a photo is there anyone that can help me identify if it’s forsure a male and also maybe what kind of flowerhorn it is. is also maybe give some advice on the amount of food and the foods they recommend to help the fish grow strong and healthy all around. someone give me advice on my scale baby.

 

[HybridFinatic]

This fish is male as you were told. If the poop is not white than I wouldn’t worry but I would fast him for a couple days or until the stomach goes down. If it doesn’t then I still wouldn’t worry. Some flowerhorns have a larger stomach. I have heard mixed opinions about peas but from what I understand they can be harmful at excess but can be beneficial in clearing their digestive track if fed a couple times a month. What exactly do you feed him?

 

[fishfam1]

This fish is male as you were told. If the poop is not white than I wouldn’t worry but I would fast him for a couple days or until the stomach goes down. If it doesn’t then I still wouldn’t worry. Some flowerhorns have a larger stomach. I have heard mixed opinions about peas but from what I understand they can be harmful at excess but can be beneficial in clearing their digestive track if fed a couple times a month. What exactly do you feed him?

originally since i had gotten him i’ve been feeding omega one tubifex worms, omega one shrimp, tetra cichlid sticks breaking them all up due to there being other fish in the tank. i had continued feeding the same food just not as much once i moved him into a different tank, until i read the thing about the pellets and size. so starting today i’ve only fed him 2 1/2 of the hikari food sticks until friday when i am able to go to the aquarium store i purchased him at and get the kokzilla pellets. (if they are in stock) any advice you have on foods. also do you you happen know what kind of flowerhorn he is.

 

[HybridFinatic]

originally since i had gotten him i’ve been feeding omega one tubifex worms, omega one shrimp, tetra cichlid sticks breaking them all up due to there being other fish in the tank. i had continued feeding the same food just not as much once i moved him into a different tank, until i read the thing about the pellets and size. so starting today i’ve only fed him 2 1/2 of the hikari food sticks until friday when i am able to go to the aquarium store i purchased him at and get the kokzilla pellets. (if they are in stock) any advice you have on foods. also do you you happen know what kind of flowerhorn he is.

He looks like zz RD flowerhorn. I would ditch the tetra pellets for a higher quality pellet like NLS, northfin, or even Hikari. Omega one is a solid pellet. You should feed the pellets daily as a staple while only feeding treats (anything other than pellets) once a week in a single feeding per kind of treat. Personally I would just feed pellets. All I feed my fh is a variety of high quality pellets. Frozen and Freeze dried foods can be hard on the flowerhorns sensitive digestive system so I would avoid them but it’s up to you. For amount of feeding at the size of you flowerhorn I would feed him twice a day. Slowly get that down to once a day once he reaches adult size. Their is no rule or amount of feeding. You should just avoid overfeeding. By the end of the day your flowerhorn should have no more than a slight bulging stomach and should slim down by the next day. Again I would fast your flowerhorn for several days just to know how his stomach looks when it is empty so you can have that rule of thumb.

 

[HybridFinatic]

Your flowerhorn with your RD will not last. If you don’t have another tank you should rehome either.

 

[fishfam1]

okay awesome will check into that food for sure. also you say fast him for several days what would you consider doing it for i feel bad not feeding him but i also get what your saying i need to know that everything is out of his system so i can tell what it looks like empty.

 

[Tobiassorensen]

Im not an expert at all with fh but i agree it looks loke a red dragon fh. The pther fish ist not an red devil but an aulonocara red dragon. Its an african cichlid from lake malawi and wont last long with your fh. They are a really mellow cichlid thats not growing bigger then 15cm

 

[fishfam1]

the person that gave it to me was the son of the man that was breeding and he passed and honestly not to sure how much they knew about the fish they have there was probably 200 all together. so you could be right not saying you’re wrong, but i was told it was a red devil or a red devil bred with a convict. you just opened a whole new can of worms for me to research. so with that being said, i have a community tank with 2 blood parrots which just laid eggs lol not sure how that’s going to go but also in there are 2 blue rams 2 electric blue acaras and some little cory catfish you think it would be okay to place this unknown fish in there or would i be better of rehoming it?

 

[fishfam1]

here is a picture of him the night i got him so his color are kinda faded due to stress but this is him yesterday that way you can get a better look at him.

 

[Tobiassorensen]

the person that gave it to me was the son of the man that was breeding and he passed and honestly not to sure how much they knew about the fish they have there was probably 200 all together. so you could be right not saying you’re wrong, but i was told it was a red devil or a red devil bred with a convict. you just opened a whole new can of worms for me to research. so with that being said, i have a community tank with 2 blood parrots which just laid eggs lol not sure how that’s going to go but also in there are 2 blue rams 2 electric blue acaras and some little cory catfish you think it would be okay to place this unknown fish in there or would i be better of rehoming it?

I used to keep lake malawi cichlids only for years. Im pretty sure thats an aulonocara red dragon.

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You parrots eggs will most likely not be fertalized due to 99.9% of all males being sterile. And your aulonocara will probably do better with the parrots since they are kind of mellow compared to your fh.