What type of Flowerhorn do I have?

ankitfishiefan

Feeder Fish
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Jul 5, 2014
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Hey! I've recently developed an interest in cichlids and other large fish, moving on from smaller fish like tetras and gouramis. I've kept and bred Angelfish before and about 5 months back, I spotted a fish that I'd wanted for ages! My flowerhorn "Spyke" was probably an inch long when I got him home. He's currently in a 70 Gallon (will be moving him to a 300G with Oscars in the near future). At present, he's about 6.5" long. I wanted to know what type of Flowerhorn he is. Is he a high quality Flowerhorn? Pic attached below
IMG_20180724_181834.jpg IMG_20180724_181731.jpg

Unlike other FHs i've seen, Spyke is not as red. I feed him cichlid pellets, bloodworms (freeze dried), veggie flakes, bugs, boiled market prawns, snails from my own vegetable garden as well as peas and other veggies, he'll occasionally get a house gecko too!

Total filtration in the 70 is about 710GPH - there's a canister and 2 power filters running. I carry out 25-30% water changes twice a week. Water parameters seem perfect, with nitrates never exceeding 8-10ppm. As for decorations, there's some driftwood and lava rock. Any advice regarding care is appreciated. I want to take care of him as well as I possibly can. Thanks!
 
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Gourami Swami

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Sounds to me like you are doing a great job. Your tank size, future plans, turnover from filter, and maintenance, are all spot-on.
I am not that well versed in the varieties of FH, I am sure somebody will chime in. But I will say that it is a very pretty fish, probably a high grade.
Welcome to MFK
 
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Deadliestviper7

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Male red dragon with lot of kamfa genes showing.

May or may not beat up oscars (so keep an eye out), diet sounds good, although rather Leary of feeding cichlids geckos
 

ankitfishiefan

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Jul 5, 2014
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Gourami Swami Gourami Swami , thanks for the quick reply. He is a pretty fish, that's for sure! Good to know that he may be a high grade FH.

Deadliestviper7 Deadliestviper7 , yeah the gecko thing is probably be a bad idea. Another concern I have is, if he's got Kamfa genes, should I stay away from breeding him? I thought he's a ZZ because of the red eyes and body shape and jaw structure. The LFS here has tons of female Bonsai FHs available. I'm also probably not going to keep him with Oscars. I didn't mention it before but I got Spyke after I had to give away a bunch of silver dollars and mollies. I'd always wanted a flowerhorn but had no plan on spending $$ but the guy at the LFS gave him to me (free of cost) and warned me about the fact that he's super mean and had killed several Clarias catfish and a baby giant gourami in the same tank. What would you suggest about breeding him? I had shortlisted Common Plecos and Oscars as tankmates in the 300 but I guess I'll stick to a single species tank. A friend of mine suggested keeping Spyke with a schoal of medium-large fish like Tinfoil Barbs and Silver Dollars but I highly doubt that Spyke would coexist peacefully. What do you guys think? Also how much time do I have until I need to upgrade to the 300 gallon?

Thanks.
 
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Deadliestviper7

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Gourami Swami Gourami Swami , thanks for the quick reply. He is a pretty fish, that's for sure! Good to know that he may be a high grade FH.

Deadliestviper7 Deadliestviper7 , yeah the gecko thing is probably be a bad idea. Another concern I have is, if he's got Kamfa genes, should I stay away from breeding him? I thought he's a ZZ because of the red eyes and body shape and jaw structure. The LFS here has tons of female Bonsai FHs available. I'm also probably not going to keep him with Oscars. I didn't mention it before but I got Spyke after I had to give away a bunch of silver dollars and mollies. I'd always wanted a flowerhorn but had no plan on spending $$ but the guy at the LFS gave him to me (free of cost) and warned me about the fact that he's super mean and had killed several Clarias catfish and a baby giant gourami in the same tank. What would you suggest about breeding him? I had shortlisted Common Plecos and Oscars as tankmates in the 300 but I guess I'll stick to a single species tank. A friend of mine suggested keeping Spyke with a schoal of medium-large fish like Tinfoil Barbs and Silver Dollars but I highly doubt that Spyke would coexist peacefully. What do you guys think? Also how much time do I have until I need to upgrade to the 300 gallon?

Thanks.
Breed him to a nice NONFLOWERHORN
Central American cichlid, this broadens their rather limited gene pool and produces healthier fish,
Some fish you can attempt to breed him with:
Syspilum
Firemouth
Pied midas
Texas
Carpintus
Dovii or umbee (difficult)
Mayan
Trimac
 
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Deadliestviper7

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As far as tankmates go with things that are robust and hard to catch, in a 30o gallon I would go with: 1or 2 dozen XL tigerbarbs, giant danios, and a few tinfoil barbs , you can also throw in tons of quarantined minnows as snacks and exercise
 
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ankitfishiefan

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Jul 5, 2014
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Alright. That sounds good. I'll start preparing for the 300 gallon soon. Tinfoils look good in a large tank, so I'll definitely go with that. Thanks again for all the advice and inputs.
 

ny.subway

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It seems like the early gen of zz Flowerhorn with the yellowing and pearly color. The red wasn’t enhanced due to the diet u r giving which is perfect in my opinion. Some Flowerhorn have intense redness due to diet and newer genes.
 

ankitfishiefan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 5, 2014
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India
Hey, it's been quite some time since I started this thread and thought I'd share some pictures of Spyke. His nuchal hump has grown and he's now more red than ever! Pic attached! Let me know what you guys think!

IMG_20190525_111915_compress57.jpg
 
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