WHY CAN'T FLOWERHORNS LIVE WITH OTHER FISH?
- Thread starter swordtail
- Start date
If you have a large enough tank with plenty of rocks and hiding spaces then it is possible to keep a flowerhorn with other fish together, although this is not recommended unless the flowerhorn is docile by flowerhorn standards.. Flowerhorns have pretty sharp teeth and strong jaws and can do a lot of damage since they are aggressive, hence most people keep them alone.. I hope this helped 
i think they can live w other fh till about 6" then they need to be solitary.
my 2incher useto nibble on my 8" aro
my 2incher useto nibble on my 8" aro
I recently started a new aquarium. I originally had 2 parrots, 2 flowerhorns, and 2 tiger oscars. I immediately had to remove the parrots (within the first 24 hours). They were kicking everyones butts. Since moving them out, the flowerhorns and the tigers get along great. I am hoping this continues because they all look great in there. Two weeks prior to putting everyone in, I set the aquarium up with good sand, live strong rooted plants and a nice canister filter for a tank thirty gallons larger than the one I have to get good quality filtration, so far so good. The water is still a little cloudy though, thats about the only problem I have not been able to fix yet. Has anyone used anything to clear this problem up? And also, people say to not use feeder fish to feed these guys, is this true?
The water gets cloudy after adding sand into the aquarium. You can try doing 20% water changes 3 days in a row... Feeder fish are not recommended since they carry parasites that can harm and even kill your fish. If you are planning to feed feeders quarantine them first and stick to guppies and danios, NOT goldfish as they have too much fat in them....
One of the main reasons for this I believe is do to the fact that the Flowerhorn is bred from many different species of Cichlids.
I would LOVE to keep this fish with other breeds like Midas Cichlids, Oscars, Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, & so many more & for a time you probably could. Especially if you got all your fish as fry & at the same time. Also, put them in a huge Tank right off the bat. The more space the less territorial disputes. But sooner or later there will be a fatal fight. These are such terrific fish with fantastic personalities that you can train very very well & would be a great Welcoming Tank in a frequented room in your house.
Will share my experience. I wanted to have a FH and also wanted some other fish which are my Favorite like Oscars Parrots Mbuna Chiclids etc. I knew it is not easy to keep FH with other fish. I got a 4" red dragon at a super price but he killed my Giant Gouramis overnight. I thought since gouramis are fast wont be an issue. Then I introduced Silver dollars in the tank and sicne they are too fast to handle FH got used to them (barring the feeding time) and now slowly I have my 8" FH with Oscars Parrots Dollars Catfish and to the surprise even a silver Koi Gold fish and now a 3" short body Albino FH. Point is tank should be large, there should be proper hiding spaces for smaller fish and you should not have a fish who would attack back at FH. Then you should be able to house the FH with other fish.
Yes even in my case the feeding time is when the FH becomes a monster. The aggression can increase with size. What I do is, I mix the food in sinking and floating pallets so that I give a choice to the other fish. What also worked for me is I let the water settle by shutting the filter off before feeding and spread the floating food across the tank so that all food is not at one place where the FH can control. Hope this was a relevant information
