Flowerhorn best diet

[Oompaloompa]

Hello i just started keeping flowerhorns to grow and resell and train them in the meantime. A lot of people who keep flowerhorns advise me to feed a high protein diet but I'm reluctant to because I've heard high protein diets are bad for them? In order to resell them for a higher price though I need to get the nuchal hump growing nicely (i know it's mostly dependent on genetics) but I don't want to that at the expense of their health and quality of life.

I do water changes once a week, vac out all the **** once every 2 days and have lots of pothos growing out of their tanks so water quality won't be an issue.

What would be a good diet plan for them? I'm thinking of feeding them a mix of Hikari Sinking Carnivore and Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 as a staple, Hikari Vibrabites/Blood Parrot/Ocean Free Red Syn as a colour enhancer for one meal on alternate days and having 2 meals of Okiko Platnium in a week (would it be okay to increase the number of times they eat this as it is 60% protein?). While I do want to sell them, their health comes first. Any advice or suggestions or examples of the diet plans for your fishes will be appreciated!!

 

[RD.]

Correct, in your home country the children eat a diet that is much higher in carb/starch content, but this scenario cannot be extrapolated to the diet of a flowerhorn. Most hobbyists that keep FH are not feeding a high carb diet, in fact, most FH foods on the market are excessive in protein - so adding even more protein to the fishes diet does not make sense. Add to that the fact that the fat found in beef cannot be properly assimilated by the vast majority of fish, especially those that are not designated as strict carnivores, and this type of feeding can lead to long term health issues, such as fatty liver disease. If you want to add "extra" protein to your fishes diet one should do so by using aquatic based sources, such as frozen krill, shrimp, etc, not beef. But even that is not at all necessary if one is feeding a nutritionally complete quality pellet.


The following is from a post that I made in the past on the subject of feeding beef to ones fish.


Fish aren't hard wired to assimilate the fatty acids found in beef, anymore than they are hard wired to assimilate large amounts of carbs. These excess lipids get stored in & around the organs, and eventually shorten the fishes lifespan. Can these foodstuffs offer amino acids, and solid growth, yes, no question about that, but that doesn't qualify them as being a good source of food. Some of you guys don't keep any one fish long enough to see the end results of feeding foods such as beef heart, but for anyone concerned about longevity beef heart is considered a D grade of food.

Even a lot of the major discus keepers have moved away from beefheart over the past decade, for these exact reasons. It's a great food for breeders that simply want quick growth in their juvie fish (so they can take them to market quicker) but it is most certainly not an ideal long term diet. Lee Newman, Curator of Tropical Waters at the Vancouver Public Aquarium has spoken out against feeding beefheart many times, for the same reason as I do, it tends to lead to fatty degeneration of the liver.

Dr. Peter Burgess MSc, Ph.D.,of the Aquarium Advisory Service in England, is not only an experienced aquarium hobbyist, but also a scientist that specializes in the health & disease in fish. He has written over 300 articles and five books on fish health and is a visiting lecturer in Aquarium Sciences and Conservation at Plymouth University, where he works with the University of Plymouth training students in scientific research. Among his other positions, Dr. Burgess is a senior consultant to the Mars FishCare business and regularly runs fish health & husbandry courses for aquarists, fish scientists and vets. He's also a regular contributor & Fish Health consultant for the Practical Fishkeeping Magazine, as well as other magazines devoted to the fish keeping hobby.

Below is an excerpt from an article that Dr. Burgess wrote for Practical Fishkeeping Magazine titled;

Liver Damage and Red Meats

"The routine of feeding beef heart and other red meats to Cichlids can ultimately give rise to health problems. Poultry meat is also suspect. Red meats, including lean meats such as beef heart, contain the wrong sorts of fats - these harden within the cold-blooded fish, leading to blockages and fatty deposits around the liver.

Also, the relative proportions of amino acids within the mammalian proteins are different to those required by fish. Hence, feeding red meats will cause the cichlid to excrete more nitrogenous (ammonia) wastes, thereby placing an extra burden on the biological filter."

That's exactly what I mean by marketing hyperbole. Pick any one of the more popular brands of fish foods currently on the market and they could all say the same. They all contain the essential fatty acids, as well as the essential amino acids (protein) for the proper development of a nuchal hump.

In fact, the reality is that the development & eventual size of a fishes nuchal hump is more dependent on genetics, and gonads, than diet. See the following past discussion for more info.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?472442-The-Nuchal-Hump-in-Amphilophus


Or you can believe some guy at your LFS ...........

raja - yup, most definitely, but the OP lives in the USA.

Even a small juvenile fish, that is classified as a carnivore (which FH are not), does not require 63% crude protein. Of course we have no way in knowing what the main ingredient is in that Okiko formula, as it is listed as "Special Head Growth Enhancing Ingredient". LOL What a farce, which is why I hate these types of specialty foods. Total BS hype. For all anyone knows the main ingredient is soybean. A large water kok such as they display on the package of that Okiko formula comes from GENETICS, not fish food.

An adult FH only requires approx. 35% crude protein as part of a maintenance diet. 40% would be on the high end, even for adult breeders.

I kept all of mine in bare bottom as well, much easier to keep clean, and with FH cleanliness is very important, both water and filters. The less bacteria the better. I also kept my temps cooler than most, 78-79 F. Bacteria tends to grow faster in warmer water, especially certain pathogenic bacteria such as columnaris aka duck lips.

As far as variety, as long as the fish is eating eagerly, most commercial foods already contain a "wide variety" of raw ingredients. If one wants to feed 2 or 3 different pellet brands that's fine, I just tend to avoid high protein foods (as already mentioned previously by other members) and I avoid meaty foods, including fresh/frozen/freeze dried. Others may disagree with my approach, but the KISS (keep it simple stupid) has always worked best for me when keeping fish that are known to have sensitive gastrointestinal systems. That includes numerous bloat prone cichlids, over many years of keeping cichlids. Higher protein is fine for very young fish that have much higher metabolic rates, but your fish is well past that point now, where a more maintenance level of protein/fat is more ideal. Similar from switching a young dog from puppy food, to an adult formula.

Make sure to update this thread over time, I'd like to see how he eventually turns out.
Good luck!

I raised all of mine on an exclusive diet of pellets (NLS). New Life didn't have the AlgaeMax formula when I had my FH's or for sure I would have fed a bit of that each day too. Think of FH as omnivores, not carnivores that require massive amounts of protein, and feed sparingly each day - no power feeding, and you will limit the potential of gastrointestinal issues that can often arise with FH. Good luck.

 

[tcav88]

Hello i just started keeping flowerhorns to grow and resell and train them in the meantime. A lot of people who keep flowerhorns advise me to feed a high protein diet but I'm reluctant to because I've heard high protein diets are bad for them? In order to resell them for a higher price though I need to get the nuchal hump growing nicely (i know it's mostly dependent on genetics) but I don't want to that at the expense of their health and quality of life.

I do water changes once a week, vac out all the **** once every 2 days and have lots of pothos growing out of their tanks so water quality won't be an issue.

What would be a good diet plan for them? I'm thinking of feeding them a mix of Hikari Sinking Carnivore and Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 as a staple, Hikari Vibrabites/Blood Parrot/Ocean Free Red Syn as a colour enhancer for one meal on alternate days and having 2 meals of Okiko Platnium in a week (would it be okay to increase the number of times they eat this as it is 60% protein?). While I do want to sell them, their health comes first. Any advice or suggestions or examples of the diet plans for your fishes will be appreciated!!

View attachment 1392906

Wow!! That’s a nice flowerhorn

 

[Shaktiman]

Hello i just started keeping flowerhorns to grow and resell and train them in the meantime. A lot of people who keep flowerhorns advise me to feed a high protein diet but I'm reluctant to because I've heard high protein diets are bad for them? In order to resell them for a higher price though I need to get the nuchal hump growing nicely (i know it's mostly dependent on genetics) but I don't want to that at the expense of their health and quality of life.

I do water changes once a week, vac out all the **** once every 2 days and have lots of pothos growing out of their tanks so water quality won't be an issue.

What would be a good diet plan for them? I'm thinking of feeding them a mix of Hikari Sinking Carnivore and Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 as a staple, Hikari Vibrabites/Blood Parrot/Ocean Free Red Syn as a colour enhancer for one meal on alternate days and having 2 meals of Okiko Platnium in a week (would it be okay to increase the number of times they eat this as it is 60% protein?). While I do want to sell them, their health comes first. Any advice or suggestions or examples of the diet plans for your fishes will be appreciated!!

View attachment 1392906

You can give your flowerhorn high protein diet . It's good for his growth. But once your

Hello i just started keeping flowerhorns to grow and resell and train them in the meantime. A lot of people who keep flowerhorns advise me to feed a high protein diet but I'm reluctant to because I've heard high protein diets are bad for them? In order to resell them for a higher price though I need to get the nuchal hump growing nicely (i know it's mostly dependent on genetics) but I don't want to that at the expense of their health and quality of life.

I do water changes once a week, vac out all the **** once every 2 days and have lots of pothos growing out of their tanks so water quality won't be an issue.

What would be a good diet plan for them? I'm thinking of feeding them a mix of Hikari Sinking Carnivore and Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 as a staple, Hikari Vibrabites/Blood Parrot/Ocean Free Red Syn as a colour enhancer for one meal on alternate days and having 2 meals of Okiko Platnium in a week (would it be okay to increase the number of times they eat this as it is 60% protein?). While I do want to sell them, their health comes first. Any advice or suggestions or examples of the diet plans for your fishes will be appreciated!!

View attachment 1392906

You can feed your flowerhorn with high protein diet . It's good for his growth and nuchal hump. But you should stop giving him high protein once he becomes adult ( probably after 1.5 years of his birth ) as he won't need it in that age and may cause kidney failure. Instead give a staple diet only with low protein and high fibre in adult stafe . And also while giving high protein in his growing stage be aware of protein shock. If you are giving your flowerhorn balanced food than Don't suddenly from another day start giving your fish high protein food. Give him daily little proportion of high protein food and slowly increase the quantity . Do the slow and patience procedure and one day you'll be able to keep him on complete high protein diet without any damage done ( also mentioning that it's just for the growing stage. On adult age just staple food compulsory )

 

[Ruturaj]

You can give your flowerhorn high protein diet . It's good for his growth. But once your

You can feed your flowerhorn with high protein diet . It's good for his growth and nuchal hump. But you should stop giving him high protein once he becomes adult ( probably after 1.5 years of his birth ) as he won't need it in that age and may cause kidney failure. Instead give a staple diet only with low protein and high fibre in adult stafe . And also while giving high protein in his growing stage be aware of protein shock. If you are giving your flowerhorn balanced food than Don't suddenly from another day start giving your fish high protein food. Give him daily little proportion of high protein food and slowly increase the quantity . Do the slow and patience procedure and one day you'll be able to keep him on complete high protein diet without any damage done ( also mentioning that it's just for the growing stage. On adult age just staple food compulsory )

Gotta disagree with you on it man. High protein foods for flowerhorns have very high protein as high as 60-65%. No fish, not even a young needs it or benefits from it. Most of those foods use low quality ingredients. Balance is key, feed 45% protein for babies and go down to 40% if you want but more than that is potentially harmful in long term.

RD. as always has given a very good advice.

 

[Shaktiman]

Gotta disagree with you on it man. High protein foods for flowerhorns have very high protein as high as 60-65%. No fish, not even a young needs it or benefits from it. Most of those foods use low quality ingredients. Balance is key, feed 45% protein for babies and go down to 40% if you want but more than that is potentially harmful in long term.

RD. as always has given a very good advice.

Sorry if you got me wrong. By high protein food I meant food protein level from 45 - 50 ( e.g. xo humpy head , fh g1 pro ) because it's also considered high protein for your fish and it has resulted safe to feed your fish . Low protein staple diet are around 35-38 % protein. And I agree with you that too much high protein like 60-65 may result in ill effects on your pet if used as long term.