Tank maintenance safety (mine !!!)

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H

hamfist

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 28, 2010
787
10
48
Southampton, UK
I am now 2 and a half weeks into the ownership of my first flowerhorn.

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He is about 9" long and is awesome.

My concern is my safety during tank maintenance. I gravel vac every evening, and he is becoming more and more pissed off with it each day. Thankfully (up until now) he has only attacked the end of the vac, and not my hand. I know he could do me some reasonable damage if he seriously goes for my hand with a vengeance. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before he goes for me bigtime.
I have never owned a fish that was so aggressive and territorial before.

I have two questions ....

Firstly, how many of you owners of adult FH's can actually do tank maintenance without worry of being attacked ?

Secondly, I'd like to hear your strategies of how to do what needs to be done in the tank without losing flesh and blood.
 
Honestly, I just hold my ground and let them bite me. A cichlid will learn to respect you once it understands that you wont take any crap. I'm not sure about flowerhorn, but a 12" male midas in the store I used to work always made a point of doing a "warning bite" to give you a chance to leave, I never let him get further than that though, as he could potentially do some damage. I used gloves to clean that tank.

I learned this respect thing from my midas, "king midas" (I call him that because he's the spunkiest little cichlid with the biggest head I've ever sen)- at first I let him bite me and pulled away, then I would let him bite me and stand my ground once he got more confident. Now he lets me touch him and grab him, and even lets me pick him up without resisting If i need to move him around or anything. He swims around my hand in a circle and he doesn't bite me hard anymore, now he just affectionately nips at my hand like cichlids in a pair do to each other. On occasion we play games like "you can't grab my tail", and he likes being scratched on the chin.

But if your primary interest is in cleaning the tank without getting bitten, my advice would be to let him bite you (wearing gloves if you're afraid he can hurt you), until he learns that you don't take crap from a fish. This way he can learn to respect you.
 
My new FH is the exact same way.. Hes getting bolder everyday. I figured out a trick though.. as I'm vacuuming, I sprinkle some flakes on the other side of the tank and while hes eating i vacuum the area hes not in.

Or, you could net him/box him in somehow in a part of the tank.
 
If you let him bite you, and you pull your hand out he will learn how to get you out of his territory pretty quick. I wouldnt advise that. He can easily cause blood.
Id suggest getting something like this http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3871
He will learn that biting isnt going to do anything. You dont want to challenge him in anyway because then he will perceive your hand as a threat.
 
Guys, he's a 9" fish. Give him a shove with the gravel vac, he'll realize you're many many times bigger and stronger than him pretty quick. I have a full grown puffer that could easily take off a finger or 2 and that's all I do. My FH isn't that big yet, but I'm sure that method will work fine...
 
geronimo69;4384551; said:
Guys, he's a 9" fish. Give him a shove with the gravel vac, he'll realize you're many many times bigger and stronger than him pretty quick. I have a full grown puffer that could easily take off a finger or 2 and that's all I do. My FH isn't that big yet, but I'm sure that method will work fine...
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I tried swatting my hand at my fh to make him go away but it doesn't work. He starts swaying and flarring at me. He tried biting me before but I've always moved my hand before it made contact.. and its kinda weird for a guy to be wearing gloves.. T__T
 
Water;4384571; said:
I tried swatting my hand at my fh to make him go away but it doesn't work. He starts swaying and flarring at me. He tried biting me before but I've always moved my hand before it made contact.. and its kinda weird for a guy to be wearing gloves.. T__T
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Weird? Not really... I ALWAYS wear gloves when putting hands into my REEF tank. All sorts of critters that can bite and HURT (bristleworms for example).

I simply "swat" my puffer and FH away with the gravel vac. Let him flare up a bit, it's good for him once in a while. My FH even tries attacking my filter, but he's too small to do any kind of damage.
 
I am always worried about being attacked with big fish. If you have a python gravel changer they sell longer tubes that you can interchange. I bought the 24" one and most of my fish tanks aren't that deep. I also tend to slap around my fish that come after me if I get the chance. They usually won't mess with you if they think you're going to mess with them first. My male barred midas always comes after me and my amphilophus sagittae are the worst they always have fry and they'll jump out of the water to bite me if I get close. My flowerhorns are usually pretty friendly when I have my hands in their tanks (if they aren't breeding) they just beg for food.
 
Put your face in there and lip lock to prove its your territory.
Other than that, you can just protect yourself. Dont under estimate the aggression for territory in a flowerhorn. They will claim their tank and usually about 10 feet around the tank.
 
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