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Flower Horn Information |
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The Flower
Horn fish is a mix of
different cichlids of Central America,
p.e. Amphilophus
Trimaculatum (Trimac) or Amphilophus
Citrinellus
(Midas).
The
characteristics of these wild predecessors also affected the nature of
these
bulls. First, these fish were bred and traded with in Asia, some time
later the
flower horn craze covered North America as well.
In
Europe, there are
only few flower
horn fans –
however, many well-known experts disapproved
of the flower
horns and condemned them as torment breed. In any case, these fish give
enrichment to any tank scenery.
If
you opt for acquiring a Flower
Horn,
you should contemplate whether to start with an adult fish
or with a young one.
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Of course, full-grown
fish offer the advantage
that they have already developed their full color and that their sex is
easy to differentiate. Most females have very small or no frontal hump
at all. Adult fish
survived over the critical point of 10 cm; these
fish are – comparable to their ancestors –
susceptible to intestinal
parasites (white feces) when they are still young.
For a lot of Flower
Horns, being affected with these parasites means death
sentence. Adult
fish which have grown up in isolation will turn into brutal mavericks
and it is not possible to socialize them. Young fish, in contrast, are
easy to socialize with the help of simple tricks. In this way, it was
possible to socialize three of these powerful fish, who have grown up
with the quiet and peaceful South American Heros Cichlids, with
other
fish without any problems. It goes without saying that it is also a
matter of the tank size.
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Flower Horn Tanksetup |
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The ideal tank offers
enough
space for at least one pair of Flower Horns, i.e.
from 1,50 m * 0,60 m
* 0,60 m onwards, with a lot of grit and radix composition so that the
female has the possibility to retreat.
It’s best to take a
large tank
including several pet fish. However, in the case of really aggressive
Flower Horns, it may unfortunately be that it is possible to keep one
Flower Horn only. A tank for this purpose should offer space of 1,20 m
* 0,60 m * 0,60 m at least. In order to keep single fish in good humor,
you can try whether it will get along together with Convict Cichlids.
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Diseases |
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Intestinal
parasites, which are getting the upper hand and are
sapping the fish’s
energy; most frequent are malign parasites when the fish is generally
stressed or when it is fed with poor feed (p.e. larvae).
In a case like
that, the Flower Horn’s color darkens and it secretes white
feces. In
order to cure this, it may suffice to combat the cause for the stress
and to feed high quality food.
Saucer
eyes are caused by poor
water quality. The original species A.
Trimaculatum is very delicate regarding water charged with nitrates and
phosphates.
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Flower Horn Food |
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Amphilophus
Trimaculatus
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Actually, it is possible to feed
these fish almost any kind of food ranging from ordinary frost feed to dry fish food
except for red larvae and beef hearts. These cichlids like to
feed off crickets,
insects or small fish. Whereas you have
to keep in mind that many small fish may not receive any attention, but
introduce pathogens into your tank
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