New flowerhorn

[SK13]

Recently i bought home a flowerhorn which is around 2inches. The lfs guy told me that ocean free humpy head is the best food for flowerhorn. Since i am new with flowerhorn, i bought that food and thought to supplement ocean free humpy head with hikari bio gold plus, northfin krill gold plettes and freezed dried shrimps (i had bio gold plus, northfin and shrimps to feed my other cichlids). The new flowerhorn is kept alone in 55 gallon tank with a pleco.

So when i feed humpy head to my fish, he eats it excitely within a few seconds. However when i give him hikari bio gold plus, northfin krill gold or shrimp, he takes them into their mouth and then spits them out as if he is not liking the taste.

Please suggest some ways to balance the diet and to make the flowerhorn eat the bio gold and northfin pelletes.

 

[mattison187]

Only thing I can think of is cut him off from the humpy head until he's hungry enough for the other food. When doing that though I would watch him with your pleco. He may show more aggression toward him.

Oh yea, and post some pics of the future beast

 

[mattison187]

Dude I just noticed! Welcome to MFK also!!! Woot Woot!

 

[SK13]

Thanks for reply and welcoming me in the forum.

Here are some photos of my flowerhorn. He looks cute.



What do you guys think about him?

 

[axs377]

Great looking little guy. As far as food I'd just mix them all together and I'd think after a while he'll start to accept them

 

[RD.]

2 inches total length? Looks more like 4-5" to me.

As far as feeding, most FH will eat most anything with a little training. Personally I would avoid FD shrimp. FH do not require a high protein diet, and being designer fish with temperamental gastrointestinal systems I would avoid anything that might cause stress issues. A 55 will eventually need to be upgraded, and the pleco will probably get killed as your fish matures. Good luck, nice looking juvie.

 

[SK13]

2 inches total length? Looks more like 4-5" to me.

As far as feeding, most FH will eat most anything with a little training. Personally I would avoid FD shrimp. FH do not require a high protein diet, and being designer fish with temperamental gastrointestinal systems I would avoid anything that might cause stress issues. A 55 will eventually need to be upgraded, and the pleco will probably get killed as your fish matures. Good luck, nice looking juvie.

Thanks RD for your valuable suggestions. At this point of time, i could afford 55 gallon. Have plans to upgrade for sure. I have read your comments on other threads with detailed explanation regarding flowerhorn feeding. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

Welcome to the group, Yes RD offers solid advice. I will too....I feed my Flowerhorn JBL and Grand Sumo as their everyday food. Both foods use high quality ingredients with very small amounts of cereal fillers. Ocean Free makes a great product. Hiker Bio Gold Plus is an incredible food that I have had great results with in the past. Especially with several females all laying eggs after three weeks of eating that food as their primary diet. If you are trying to get him to eat the Hikari Bio Gold plus just do a 25-50% water change and don't feed him for 24 hours after the water change. Then the next day when you offer him the hikari he will be much more likely to except the food without a problem. Don't worry the 24 hours where he doesn't eat is actually healthy for a flower horns stomach. The freeze dried shrimp should be broken into small pieces if you are feeding that to him. You don't want to risk an internal blockage that can happen from freeze dried shrimp. Besides the foods I listed above I feed my flower horn Hikari frozen blood worm every 3-4 days as well as fresh cooked, finely chopped shrimp. I have been keeping flower horns since 2002 and I have had great success with over all longevity and health.

 

[SK13]

Welcome to the group, Yes RD offers solid advice. I will too....I feed my Flowerhorn JBL and Grand Sumo as their everyday food. Both foods use high quality ingredients with very small amounts of cereal fillers. Ocean Free makes a great product. Hiker Bio Gold Plus is an incredible food that I have had great results with in the past. Especially with several females all laying eggs after three weeks of eating that food as their primary diet. If you are trying to get him to eat the Hikari Bio Gold plus just do a 25-50% water change and don't feed him for 24 hours after the water change. Then the next day when you offer him the hikari he will be much more likely to except the food without a problem. Don't worry the 24 hours where he doesn't eat is actually healthy for a flower horns stomach. The freeze dried shrimp should be broken into small pieces if you are feeding that to him. You don't want to risk an internal blockage that can happen from freeze dried shrimp. Besides the foods I listed above I feed my flower horn Hikari frozen blood worm every 3-4 days as well as fresh cooked, finely chopped shrimp. I have been keeping flower horns since 2002 and I have had great success with over all longevity and health.

Great advice.. i will try feeding bio gold plus 24 hours after the water change. Will feed small pieces of shrimps too. Lets see what happens. Will keep u guys posted.

 

[ZhenZhu]

Nice looking RD.....just give him some time and he will surely get used to everyting you feed..but don't feed high protein diets .The KOK growth is based on genes .Stick to varied diets.By the way Welcome to the Forum.