also you cant make a fish not be aggressive its in its nature and doesn't know how to stop. "its like telling a bird not to fly"
Lowering flowerhorn aggression
- Thread starter Vixor
- Start date
im gonna have to be very honest with you. as all these members says its really hard to get the fh agression down. and probably 1 out of every 5000 fh will probably be as calm as a pleco. im saying this because ive had 6 medium size flowerhorn in a 100 gallon tank without aggression before. i would have to say it lasted about good 4 months. after that it was world war 3.
so long story short. no matter what you do fh will prone to attacking anything that moves. but there is one other way that you can pull it off without killing the pleco. this also is by experience and pulled it off several times.
ive noticed that common plecos and sailfin plecos have a very strong life span so even with all the attacking it will survive. the trick is. if the flowerhorn is 3-4 inches. make sure the pleco is bigger then the flowerhorn. lets say for instance. FH 3-4 inches to pleco about 5-6" or bigger. i have tried with fancy plecos by mistake but results werent too good. so i do recommend common or sailfin. the look wise on those plecos can be ehhh... but it will survive. im guessing its because the older the pleco their skin is alot tougher and reduces the damage from fh by alot. ironically they are called the armored catfish. sorry for talking to much im on vicodin due to back pain and its giving me a weird trip i think its expired. LOL anyways good luck.
so long story short. no matter what you do fh will prone to attacking anything that moves. but there is one other way that you can pull it off without killing the pleco. this also is by experience and pulled it off several times.
ive noticed that common plecos and sailfin plecos have a very strong life span so even with all the attacking it will survive. the trick is. if the flowerhorn is 3-4 inches. make sure the pleco is bigger then the flowerhorn. lets say for instance. FH 3-4 inches to pleco about 5-6" or bigger. i have tried with fancy plecos by mistake but results werent too good. so i do recommend common or sailfin. the look wise on those plecos can be ehhh... but it will survive. im guessing its because the older the pleco their skin is alot tougher and reduces the damage from fh by alot. ironically they are called the armored catfish. sorry for talking to much im on vicodin due to back pain and its giving me a weird trip i think its expired. LOL anyways good luck.
if you dont like the look of the common pleco. there are several breeds of sailfin plecos that has really nice coloration and markings. you can try the Marble Sailfin or the Leopard Sailfin. im not a pleco guy but they do one heck of a cleaning. only downfall is they produce waste alot.
Its a Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus and about 4.5 inches. He is fed a sinking wafer once a day. Theres also driftwood and algae in the tank currently, he just doesn't eat it.
As most have stated the only real solution is a much bigger plain Pleco, I just had a brood of FH hatch about 2 months ago got around 60 2 inch fry. That being said I forgot to seperate the parents, I know very dumb, and the male killed the female!!
I would double the size of the Pleco and definatly feed it more !!
I would double the size of the Pleco and definatly feed it more !!
You might want to take the pleco out. If the FH was in the tank by it self first it want except any fish in what it considers its territory
Regardless of what others have posted there is a very simple way to reduce aggression in Flowerhorns and almost any fish. Reduce the temperature you keep it at. A fish that is roid raging at 82 F can be a model citizen at 75F. You don't want to take a FH too much lower than that but 72 should be fine.
Subrosa how would one manage to lower the tank temperature down without a chiller in a warm climate like california, arizona, texas, florida??? Chillers are rather expensive. Also wouldnt the cold water make the pleco even more sluggish??? Never would of thought of that trick but yeah it would work but if the op lives in a warm climate like mine it may not be possible to pull it off.
I remember reading that cichlids in smaller tank tend to be more aggressive. An example given was a Red Devil being a royal pain while housed in a 100gal but when placed in a 300gal it became more mellow with its fellow tank mates. This trick is also expensive to pull off though lol.
Im not sure it will be possible for you to reduce you FH's aggression unless you could afford a chiller. I would look for a new home or aquarium for the P. joselimaianus. Any pictures of the FH and P. joselimaianus???
I remember reading that cichlids in smaller tank tend to be more aggressive. An example given was a Red Devil being a royal pain while housed in a 100gal but when placed in a 300gal it became more mellow with its fellow tank mates. This trick is also expensive to pull off though lol.
Im not sure it will be possible for you to reduce you FH's aggression unless you could afford a chiller. I would look for a new home or aquarium for the P. joselimaianus. Any pictures of the FH and P. joselimaianus???
I am no expert on Flowerhorns as I have never kept one, but I can say that I have a Mbuna stocklist that people would frown upon, demand that it would never work, and insist that my fish were going to kill one another off. However, they're all currently 3-4" and there is no fighting, I have never had a death in my tank, not even a torn fin due to the fact I keep the temp at the lower end of the spectrum and feed three times a day (there's also plenty of rock work). So in short, the cooler temperature method does work, although I do not know if it will on Flowerhorns.
