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robertprice
October 19th, 2012, 07:52 PM
I have had a pair of Orange and Yellow Fader Flowerhorns for 2 years. Last year ther female was too small to breed. This past April and May, the Male and Female courted and started to build a nest. It was the first time for both of them. He is 11 inches, she is 5 inches long. They built the largest nest I have ever seen (about 15 x 15 inches), started by the female who began enlarging her small cave. She directed the male by pushing rocks and pebbles toward the front for him to dispose of. the finally built a punchbowl sized nest with 2 entrances and lots of flat rocks and driftwood in the middle and on the sides, but the female chose to lay her eggs on a rock that was up against the side of the tank. The male, very frustrated, tried standing on his head for two days to fertilize them. The closest he was able to get was about 3 inches away, and the eggs never got fertilized. Both of them thought they were, and guarded them for 5 days. Then they gave up. Several days later, the male visciously destoyed the whole nest, even burying the 15 inch driftwood support. Since then, he has treated the female poorly, not allowing per to eat with him, and chasing her behind the one big rock he couldn't move. It is amazing that 6 months later, the male apparently still blames the female for choosing a spot for the eggs that he was too big to reach. Hopefully they will patch things up by next Spring.

robertprice
May 17th, 2013, 10:31 PM
My male Kamfa Flowerhorn finally had enough of his erstwhile wife last week. After 2 months of dancing and building three nests, he finally lost it and beat her up and vanquished her to behind the Big Rock. So, I had to take her out. A found a new female about the same size and color (a Gold Fader) and after feeling each other out for about 1/2 an hour, they seem to have settled in. Over the past few years, I've noticed what seems to be a consistent behavior by receptive females. When cornered or stared down by a big male, they swim diagonally past his body to the top very quickly, as opposed to non-receptive females and other males who just flee as fast as they can.

It's not easy pairing them up. A foot long, 7 inch high , 1.5 lb. male with a 3.5 inch hump is very intimidating to an adult 6 inch female.