• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Need help with my flowerhorn!

Meganhegedus

Feeder Fish
It’s been a couple weeks since he’s been excited for food, I’ve done water changes each week since he’s been being picky but now his head has shrunk massively when i was looking at old pics. I’ve attached my water level and before and after pic of my flowerhorn. What do you think is going on with him. The only other fish in the tank is a pleco and i have them in 75 gallon.

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Well your nitrate is pretty high so increase waterchanges. And Okiko is garbage food so atleast switch back to Hikari which is decent or go for higher quality like Northfin or NLS.
 
Nitrate is a bit high, but nothing a grown FH can't handle short-term. How long have you had him? I often see this with flowerhorn before they die from "old age" and "natural causes" if there's no other water quality explanations. A significant portion of modern FH don't live very long due to irresponsible selective breeding poor genetics.
 
Nitrate is a bit high, but nothing a grown FH can't handle short-term. How long have you had him? I often see this with flowerhorn before they die from "old age" and "natural causes" if there's no other water quality explanations. A significant portion of modern FH don't live very long due to irresponsible selective breeding poor genetics.
Doesn’t look like a modern strain of Flowerhorn. Looks like a classic Red Dragon and a healthy and hardy strain. I suspect the current condition is from poor husbandry which given enough time no Flowerhorn or even non-hybrid cichlid is immune too. OP has to keep up weekly waterchanges and at a high enough % to keep nitrates under 20ppm where currently it is at 40-80pmm even after doing weekly waterchanges for a few weeks. I agree, in the odd circumstance where the nitrates are let to get this high for a short time it’s nothing a grown healthy FH can’t handle but for the nitrates to be so high AFTER upping the waterchanges to weekly once OP recognized the loss of appetite, it’s possible the nitrates could of been even higher for a while. A grown (and well fed based off the first pic) Flowerhorn alone already will most likely require weekly waterchanges to maintain water quality but one housed with a pleco, I’m assuming a common pleco, will surely need atleast once a week, better twice a week. I recommend OP, you keep testing your water as you adjust your waterchanges schedule to keep your waterchanges atleast under 20ppm and again switch back the hikari pellet. Definitely trash the okiko. You may need to do 2-3 large waterchanges a week for a couple weeks to get his appetite back and healthy again.
 
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