Tankmates for Flowerhorns

T

tlaug

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Feb 14, 2005
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I have tried to put a oscar in the tank with my flowerhorns and they eat him. I have one flowerhorn in with my blood parrots but the blood parrots are a lot bigger then the flower horn. Does anyone know a good fish to put in with flowerhorns? :cool:
 
I have the largest in a 55g by itself the other one is in a 125 g tank with 5 blood parrots 2 severums 2 rope fish, but i plan on trying to put the flowerhorn back in with the other one in the 55.
 
As Flower Horn is from the South American Cichlid family, this fish is very territorial. Thus, they are very aggressive in nature. Co-existing with other fish is not advisable, especially smaller fish. Some parties have claimed that we can "play" with the Flower Horn. In actual fact, Flower Horn is actually trying to get rid of the "intruder" (be it a stick or a person's hand). Therefore, it is advisable that we keep our hands to ourselves as the fish has quite a nasty bite depending on the size of the fish. Flower Horn is not selective on food and their consumption is high. Worms, small shrimps and pellet fish food will do fine. What type of food or whether their stomach is fully filled are not a major issue, but the type of food which do not pollute the water should be taken into consideration. You can underfeed but not overfeed Flower Horn, thus it is advisable to feed them two to three times daily. Flower Horn may grow up to approximately12 inches in length depending on its breed and may live to 8 to 10 years. I have seen Flower Horns that were 16 inches long, breed by a skillful fish breeder.
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Your FH despite his smaller size compared to his tankmates is having territory issues, even being in a 125g having the other tankmates is obviously stretched his territorial needs and a Oscar is the final straw apparently.
You can forget about the Oscar and leave the FH in there, but as it matures you'll have more issues.
I wouldn't try putting him with the other, larger FH, in that 55g. Thats just asking for more territorial trouble IMO, not to mention its too small for even two half grown FH's.
Whether or not your FH will accept "ANY" tankmate, especially when mature, depends on the individual fish...
But I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.
 
The Flowerhorn in the 55g might co-exist with a syondontis catfish or two, and perhaps a pleco (give them plenty of hiding places, though). Other than that, no new tankmates. The tank is too small, especially for another cichlid.

Your 125g is also full, perhaps even overstocked if the Flowerhorn develops agression issues vs. the other cichlids in the tank. Cichlids are territorial fish, and large cichlids in nature will stake out territories that are 4 feet in diameter or more. Thus most tanks in our hobby are not large enough to contain multiple competing species. With Blood Parrots, severums, and Flowerhorns, your current tanks are at capacity. If you want additional activity in the 125g, you might consider adding a school of large rainbows or silver dollars. If your cichlids are large, you definitely need to buy larger schooling fish or they will get eaten before they have a chance to establish themselves.
 
I removed the flowerhorn from my 120g and put a divider in the 55 gallion tank. I will have to get a larger tank soon because the two flowerhorns keep trying to breed. I removed one of the blood parrots to another 55 gallon tank. Thanks.
 
i have a maganese and a buttercofrie in with mt 9" flower horn and they al seem to be buddies, so any fish that loves caves should be good as long as the flower horn is the star ! Or maybe i just lucked out
 
As far as a tankmate(size of tank not considered) a large jag cichlid could handle the FH's aggression. A pacu would be another fish that could handle it's aggressive nature. But you would want a tank in the neighborhood of 300g for those fish full grown.
 
Steeze714 said:
i have a maganese and a buttercofrie in with mt 9" flower horn and they al seem to be buddies, so any fish that loves caves should be good as long as the flower horn is the star ! Or maybe i just lucked out
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Do you realize you just dug up a 6yr'ol thread?

I just have to wonder.
 
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