Flowerhorn pairing off?

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Cosmic_surfer

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Oct 9, 2014
330
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Lincoln, NE
So I got a couple flowerhorns about 3 months ago. One ended up being a short body male. The other I think is a female. In the beginning he beat her up pretty bad so I separated them. Then due to size I placed the male in the bigger tank with her. He didn't really bully her anymore and in fact I would see them constantly staying close to each other (maybe because they were similar and had a mutual enemy in the local oscars). I recently was able to pick up a festae, so I put him in and she began locking lips with him (the male didn't seem to care). I ended up placing the flower horn in a separate tank together. Male is about 6 inches I think, female around 3-4. Is she big enough to start spawning?

I went down to do a water change and her colors seemed quite a bit more vibrant than previously. I have lava rock in the tank and played with it making a circle in a part of the tank (kinda like cichlids do with moving gravel and sand). As I started picking up more rocks to make the circle taller, the male started chasing my hand. I also noticed the female was swimming very close to him at times and nipping right behind his eyes... what is this behavior?!

I will post some pics below.

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She's big enough to spawn. If she's nipping at him with those stripes on her, its definitely not a sign of stress, it's her breeding dress. Only a matter a time now.
 
I have come down again to see what is going on. Apparently the female is "nesting". She keeps trying to arrange rocks and she is apparently cleaning them (picking at them to make sure they are spotless). This is the first time I have witnessed cichlid spawning behavior and it is new for me. She keeps picking at a rock and then her body kind of spasms and shakes (looks like she is shivering). I can only assume she is trying to prepare the scene for when she lays her eggs.

Don't know the time frames of things, the last fish I had spawn were some rosey barbs on accident. Do I need to remove the male, or if he has decided to pair off with this female can I assume that she will be safe with him indefinitely? I have seen people state that flowerhorns get to live a lone existence by themselves in a tank due to their aggressive behavior, is this true to the "T" or are paired fish safe to cohabitate indefinitely? Will they eat the fry or are they as good a parent as their African cousins? How big should I let the fry get before I move them?
 
No eggs yet, but female looks to be getting a little bigger in the tummy (growing eggs?). Anyone can answer my previous post questions on timing of things?
 
Well I guess she decided to lay eggs yesterday. I was looking at her and was like... you don't look as fat today. But she kept hanging out in the corner of the tank... when I looked closer I saw the eggs. This morning a few have turned white... but the vast majority of them still look semi clear... good sign?

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She seems t be doing well... she hovers above the eggs for the most part. Am I correct in thinking these got fertilized? At what size should I begin separating the fry? How long will it take to see colors in the fry and pick out the better ones to focus on growing out?
 
Cosmic_surfer said:
She seems t be doing well... she hovers above the eggs for the most part. Am I correct in thinking these got fertilized? At what size should I begin separating the fry? How long will it take to see colors in the fry and pick out the better ones to focus on growing out?
Click to expand...

If you see 2 black dot (baby eye balls) on the eggs that mean the eggs are fertilized. If the eggs is still yellow for a few days that mean the eggs are not fertilized but there is still chance for it to be fertilize. Separating the fry for the best one usually take a few months to see the color develop on the fry.
 
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