Need help identifying my flowerhorn type.
- Thread starter Jager
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- flowerhorn
Thank you. Yes he is low grade I guess because I bought this flowerhorn for 11 bucks about a year ago. They sold Red Dragons to order for like 130 bucks which I debated but I decided to take a chance. He was less than 1 inch long. Now he is 7 inches long. I keep the water perfectly clean, PH and temp stable and he has had his own 55 gallon since the day I got him.
I would like to know if it is male or female I am hoping the hump is starting to form now. I have attached an updated photo. Also it seems darker than a lot of the photos I see on the web. No matter what I do I can not get that black striping to go away on his coloring. The only thing I haven't tried yet is putting a dark background color on the back of the tank maybe that might actually make a difference.
Nitrates are a bit high in the tank which I am addressing via water changes and introducing the use of Seachem Prime to try and help. I have switched to canister filtration from HOB a month ago with bio balls and mechanical filtration and used seachem stability to get bio filtration going. I was sure to disable the UV light during the new filter cycle but I still seem to have an issue with Nitrates and I think that is effecting his color and behavior.
Algae of the healthy green type and then this weird dark brown type is a constant battle. I assume because of the nitrates in my water this is why the algea is a problem it has food to eat.
He used to eat voraciously and play with me and let me pet him now he just seems to want to hide in his flowerpot all day and seems a little scared of me. The fishes appetite does seem to be returning now but I can't help but wonder. Did i buy a crappy flowerhorn or am I crappy keeper? If the fish is just low grade maybe I should just rehome and get something higher grade? My other tanks are filled with super healthy bright colorful happy fish so I know I am able to keep water properly. I want a beautiful flowerhorn like I see on the web but I don't know if this fishes genes are the problem or my ability to provide the correct environment is the problem.
Your filter, whichever version you use creates nitrates. The only ways to lower nitrates is to water change and plants can consume it. Mainly water changes.
I have read in many places that plants will get destroyed by a Flowerhorn. Which is a shame because I love having them in my Large cichlid tank.
