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-   -   Why Different Flowerhorns Like Different Accommodations (http://forum.brooklynaquariumsociety.org/showthread.php?t=1805)

robertprice August 25th, 2014 09:30 AM

Why Different Flowerhorns Like Different Accommodations
 
Flowerhorns are one of the few fish that are almost literally what you make them. This extends beyond their genetics to their cap-tive behavior, as they have never been in wild, are very smart, and develop different in tank living strategies.

There a top-living Flowerhorns (I have a Kamfa who is one) who seldom leaves the surface of the tank and sleeps pretty much in the open. mine is a male that was raised by a Flowerhorn Association with 3 other comparable males so they were always being viewed and had to compete on the surface for the best food. Therefore, mine still jumps slightly out of the water to grab his shrimp pieces. He eats shrimp, large flakes and large pellets, and does not pay attemtion to small food items.

My Black Flowerhorns behave very differently. The male was imported as a good sized juvenile from Malaysia, and kept in a very small enclosure in a Flowerhorn store with unfriendly males to his left and right. He is a bottom fish, and has two nests, one behind the rocks for privacy, and another in the corner where he has cleared away all the gravel to eat. He is not as trusting of me as the Kamfa, and darts up to the top to grab pieces of shrimp and pellets and eats them in his bottom corner spot. The newly acquired female was raised by one of our members on a wide variety of foods and tank raised for several years, and she is a grazer, unusual for Flowerhorns who will leisurely pick pellets off the bottom and when very hungry from the top.She is thusfar not very particular about where she sleeps. Both of these two eat feeder minnows until they are stuffed, whereas the Kamfa will kill them, but seldom eat them.

dsuperman August 25th, 2014 10:40 PM

I would guess that some flowerhorns have been released into the wild [hawaii, florida, etc. ?] wonder what they are doing. That female reminded me of a jack dempsey in body and an oscar in behavior.

robertprice August 26th, 2014 11:44 AM

Aquarticles.com has a long post on Flowerhorns Alias Nightmares. They have been released in parts of India and Malaysia with devasting effects on the populations of naturally occuring fish.

It's also a good article to read about the profit motive in their breeding and how poorly they are treated by breeding farms.


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