Should I let my FH's meet

[Bowlo]

Hey guys,
So I have a male and female flowerhorn in a 5ft tank (250 Litres / 66 Gallons) and I've had a divider in between them for roughly 2 weeks now. I've had my female for a month and my male for a couple weeks. The male is still quite young as you can see in the photos, and I also have a Sailfin Pleco in there which I only got today (he's a big boy, he should be fine) All I really want to know is if it seems too early to remove the divider considering their sizes, I understand to watch over them due to pairing and potentially one of them killing eachother.

Female FH: gyazo.cm/291e178bd2c7a412040e296289520fe7
Male FH: gyazo.cm/0b2fca00d3151c0bd6ffd8ea98db9e1a
Sailfin Pleco: gyazo.cm/b5706c51686474a67a89f26f8382ea38

I don't have permission to post links yet so I have to do it like this and I apologise, just add an "o" in between the .cm after the gyazo's.

 

[Bowlo]

Also, would it be fine for my sailfin pleco in that tank? I've already seen the male fh annoy him a bit by going near him

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome aboard

Tbh not all random picked male and female Cichlid will not bond. Most pair off naturally when grown out in groups 4 or more.. If the FH is harassing the Sailfin Pleco I suggest rehoming the Pleco. You can seperate the divider to see how they will react to each other. The slightest signs of bodily harm such as constant chasing and fins being torn seperate asap.

 

[duanes]

Agree with Tlindsey, just because you have a male and female cichlid doesn't mean they will automatically be compatible.
All cichlids (even man made type) instinctually go thru complicated ritualistic behaviors to determine mate suitability.
If during those "test rituals" the female assesses the male isn't macho enough to father her children, she may reject, and often kill him. or.....
If the male doesn't get a timely enough response to his advances, he may kill her.
This is why many successful cichlid breeders start with 6 or 8 youngsters, grow them together, and let them work it out amongst them selves.
In the process, some are commonly killed, which helps to cement the pair bond between those that remain.
If you try doing pairs introducing one by one, you may often go thru 6 semi adult females, or males before a pair bonds, a much more expensive process.
On the other hand, you might just get lucky, both processes have worked for me, but the group approach, usually yields better long term relationships.

 

[Bowlo]

Okay, thanks for that, I dont mind if they don't truly pair up. I'm just more worried about waking up to a fish dead due to one of the others. In that saying, which do you think would most likely win the fight?

 

[islandguy11]

Why oh why are you putting 2 FH's together? Sorry but have you really done your research on these fish? I hope you're not doing so just because you've seen stupid buffoons like Joey King of DIY or Paul Cuffaro trying such misguided match-ups.

While it's not impossible to have a FH in a community tank a) FH's are super territorial, they prefer to live alone and will be much happier solo, and b) if in a community tank there should be no other FH's.

But back to the first question why are you doing this? The only legitimate answer imho would be to breed them, and like mentioned above you might have to go thru several partners to find a workable match, hurting or killing some in the process. Sound fun? (Joey doesn't seem to mind...)

Then what would you do with the fry if you succeeded (of which only a tiny percent would be even possibly worth selling)?

Also your tank is barely big enough for 1 FH, would need about double that for 2 fish of this potential size.

Plecos with FH are chancy; sometimes they work, sometimes the FH eats the pleco and dies because of its barbs.

Sorry to sound harsh buddy but hope you and others hopping on the current FH crazy train will think about these things.

 

[Bowlo]

I'm not purely doing it for a craze, I find the fish quite attractive and i'm already in the process of breeding some tetras. I also do plan to breed them as well and get quite a large collection of them, in which any I don't want I have already confirmed with my LFS that they'll take them. If they don't pair which each other after a few attempts then yes I will just move on. My point for the pleco was also in hopes it'd be okay in there as well as being a good cleaner. If it doesn't work out I can simply just move him to my other 450 litre tank with my other catfish & discus.

 

[duanes]

The only reason to put two together in any tank (especially such a small tank), is for them to pair up.
The ancestors of these fish are large territorial species that will defend a territory of at least 250 gallons from all competitors, and only during a mating season.
Unless these cichlids are temporarily paired, they are not social animals, especially in such limited amount of space.
One part of their ancestry is a robust, aggressive loner called Amphillophus trimaculatus.

 

[RD.]

1. your tank is too small to house two adult FH

2. the SF pleco will only serve to degrade water quality in such a small tank​

3. if the female rejects the males attempt to pair up, he's as good as dead. Always best to use a female FH that is smaller then the male due to their hyper aggression when spawning
4. neither of them look worth breeding to me, even if your LFS is into buying low grade FH


So do yourself, the fish, and the FH hobby as a whole a favor, and don't even attempt to breed these two fish.

 

[Bowlo]

Actually, i'm upgrading the tank once they get to adult sized, they're just in a smaller sized tank as of right now due to personalities, I understand the size necessities and such and to be honest, I understand i'm asking for help, but you seriously come off as a narcissistic prick