Flowerhorn Fun Guide by Flowerhorn Den

Flowerhorn Fun Guide

Origins of Flowerhorns

 

• Flowerhorn cichlids are man-made fish that are/were created through the hybridisation and line breeding of various central American cichlids. First developed in Taiwan and Malaysia these fish are now kept and bred by hobbyists worldwide, with Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia becoming known for developing their own unique flowerhorn varieties.
• This poster below depicts the basic origins of flowerhorns, although it is debated as being somewhat imprecise, this poster can provide a rough guide of the early origins and evolution of these fish. These days the genetic selection process continues to see advancements of the hobby with new fish with improved colours and more distinct shapes, with larger Koks becoming more common due to current trends, however the fish changes over time according to breeders advancements and market desires, for more specifics about breeding and varieties you can check other subforums on our site such as breeding and varieties and grading which will be continuously updated with whats new at home and abroad.

Original Early flowerhorns

 

• Heres some photos of the original flowerhorns, you can see many of the early traits that are now more developed in modern flowerhorns, also trimac ancestry seems more apparent in many of the fish.

Flowerhorn Abbreviation List

• FH - Flower Horn ZZ - Zhen Zhou
• RD - red dragon
• KK - King Kamfa
• SYN - synspillum GM -
• Golden Monkey
• KF - Kamfa
• SB - Short Body PM -
• Pearl Monkey RK -
• Rainbow King SRT - Super Red Texas
•  ZZ variety how to identify

 

• Flowerhorns are highly variable, even fish labelled in the same category can have very different looking features, and every part of the fish(listed below) can also vary from low to high grade, we will cover grades and quality in later articles, this is to just give basic guide of the ZZ fish catagory.

 

• ZZ is an abreviation for Zhēnzhū, which is a Mandarin word meaning "Pearl". Pictures speak better than words so below we are showing Aussie style ZZ flowerhorns, although ZZ batches can also produce faders I will cover them in a separate article.

• Early ancestry is thought to be Trimac crossed with various other fish later in time to gain pearls and improvements to script. Traits to look for

Eyes: usually protrusive

• Mouth: lower jaw usually extends past top lip.

• Body shape: generally rounded

• Script: variable(refer to script article in beginners section for details), however a tear drop(black marks around eyes, sometimes called dragon tears) which is seen in some fish is unique to ZZ.

• Fins: dorsal, anal and tail: dont overlap

• Face/Head: Face can range from beaky to flat shape

• Pearling: varies from a little to completely covering fish, most common colours are shades of green and blue. (Refer to all images above and below to see pearling variations)

What is kok?

 

• Kok is a term used to describe a nauchal hump - the head hump you see on some fish. The Kok is generally highly desirable, size and shape is generally a personal preference, however the consensus is shifting towards the bigger the better, within reason, the hump shouldn't be so large that it effects the fish in any negative way such as swimming and eating etc.
• Note a few things; * though Males are more likely to have kok than females not all males will get Kok. * some females can get kok, and these are highly desirable by breeders and fetch a premium price(if u can find one). So be wary when buying fish, high quality fish can display kok at very small size, some can get it later when reaching adulthood, so its important that if you want kok from a young fish or fry your considering to buy that you research the fishes ancestry and either buy from a reputable breeder or purchase a fish already showing a kok, but expect to pay a premium for young fish already showing kok.

• Although there are many different shapes and sizes of kok there are 3 types of tissue that can form a Kok these are Hard kok, Soft kok, Water kok.

1. Hard kok is generally as the name suggest made from hard tissue and generally once grown remains a stable size.
2. Soft kok is muscular looking but its vascular looking tissue allows fluids to help the kok to expand and contract depending on the fishes mood and health.
3. Water kok as the name suggests is comprised of alot of fluid, this kok is considered by some to be the most desirable as it can reach large sizes, however these koks can be unstable and can deflate if the fish becomes ill or is mistreated. This is a basic guide, pictures to follow, if you would like to donate pictures or more information please post below this article or PM me and I will add it, thanks.

• Soft kok: can inflate and deflate during breeding time as well.

• Water kok: grow large and bulbous, if you shine a light on them you

should be able to see an opaque light coming through it, this most likely means as their name suggests that they are not solid tissue and more fluid filled.

Script: 

• For the absolute beginner the question will come up what is script? Script is the black markings usually along the centre line of the flower horn, there can also be double and even triple script markings, they would be black markings above and below the centre line.

1. Script can be highly variable in shape, size and length. It is important to note that script is only one feature of a fish, this means that a fish with high grade script doesn't always mean the fish is high grade, because if other factors aren't satisfactory such as body shape, colour, pearl, fins, eyes and kok then a fish may not make a high grade.
2. Also a fish with low grade script doesn't always mean the fish is low grade, body shape, colour, pearl, fins, eyes and kok must all be considered. Its also important to understand that script does not apply to every flowerhorn variety. There are two main types of scripts, broken script(which is supposed to resemble Chinese characters) and there is solid line script, which as the name implies looks more like a solid line. A good quality script should be black and surrounded by a shiny pearl border.

• Depending on the FH variety the script is considered by some to symbolise the level of quality (such as ZZ and King Kamfa) with full scripts from tail base to at least the gill plate being more desirable by some than incomplete script, double script is considered a level up. Its again important to note that there is personal taste and the consensus, its best not to confuse these opinions.

Some photo examples of various kinds of script. Single scripts Examples of broken script

This fish below doesn't have full script, it would be considered low grade script, but it does have nice pearl surround.

Some examples of line script

• Double scripts This fish has a faint 2nd script, but not high grade double script because the script is not solid black or surrounded properly by pearl and script can fade on mood, but note that this fish produced some fry with good quality double script.

(This is one of the female offspring from female above and the 2nd top script is more defined than the mothers.)

• Tails. The good, the bad and the ugly
• A fishes tail is an important feature, and when it comes to flowerhorns there are many varieties of shapes and sizes and what is considered as good and bad quality which you may not notice until you train your eye. So here a few basic tips of the things to look out for when selecting or grading a flowerhorn.
• Tail Posture: it seems to be general consensus that a tail should look strong, open and not sagging, wrinkled or too rounded, the best way to show it is with pictures,

so here are some examples.

(Important note: judging a tail(especially the shape) from one photo is not always reliable, because the angle of the fish and swimming motion can distort the shape of the tail in the picture, you really need to see the fish in person to be sure, however these photos below have been carefully selected because they show the tails fairly clearly so can be used as a guide. Heres some examples of strong looking tails.)

• Here some examples below of what is considered by some as low quality tails, these are generally weak tails that fail to stay open/expanded. Weak wrinkled tails are nicknamed "paint brush tail", and long rounded "droopy or sagging" tails are sometimes referred to as "Guppy tail", note that neither term is meant as a compliment.

Paint brush tail on an a Kamfa.

A ZZ with a weak tail.

• Now you have seen the photos, look at the fin rays, these are the small bones in the tail that form the thick rigdes, you will notice in the stronger tails they are fairly straight, were in the weaker tails they are crooked, perhaps due to either lack of strength in the bones or just structurally bent shaped.
• Here is a photo outlining the fin rays, you can see with the weak tail many of the fin rays are not straight, which causes a wrinkled looking tail.

Judging Quality

• Due to the unique individuality of each fish this is an artform, forming your own opinion takes time and you need to see as many fish possible to be able to begin making comparisons and develop a gauge using your own knowledge and feelings.
• Before you buy any fish I recommend that you get an idea on how to judge quality. This is a complex issue, and many of these catagories are judged from personal opinions and desires, just like no 2 fish are the same, neither are any 2 opinions, but there is some consensus in the flowerhorn enthusiast community on a number of desirable traits so I will just touch on this briefly, these features below seem to be some of the main catagories on which the market judges prices(there could be more I am unaware of), and I order them in my perception of relevance;

1. KOK potential (head bump)
2. Shape of body and fins
3. Pearling
4. Script (black markings)
5. Colour
6. Sex It should be noted that not all of these above traits apply to every type of FH, for example some flowerhorn varieties do not have pearling or script.

Prices for fry Prices can vary and depends on 2 main factors

1. The quality of the parents.
2. The quality of the individual fish you are buying.* *Flowerhorns are highly variable, therefore fish from the same batch of fry can vary in price dramatically, will explain this in detail in further paragraphs. The quality of the parents will dictate the average price of the fry, however there is a grading process that separates the fry which exhibit the most potential and these fry are sold at a premium price. Like all markets the fh market is effected by supply and demand, so fish that exhibit rarer but desirable traits obviously demand a higher price, such as females that have a kok, which is normally a male feature, but can boost the kok ratio of fry when bred with a male with a kok.

Tips on buying a flowerhorn and getting your moneys worth

• The following covers the broad range of fish called flowerhorns, to write in detail for each type of FH would take a book so here just a basic guide to hopefully cover the lot.
• There are lots of Flowerhorn websites around the world, but Ive found that its best to stick with your local websites as a main focus so you can gauge whats happening on your local or national scene.
• Health Unfortunately diseased fish are common in the aquarium hobby overall, and flowerhorns are especially sensitive to parasites. Various parasites such as worms and hexamita are fairly common and if not treated present a serious threat to the health and survival of a flowerhorn. If you are buying a fish and the seller doesn't offer a health guarantee automatically then politely ask if they do.

Things to look out for

1. check fishes poohs, a healthy pooh should be solid shade of brown or reddish brown depending on what the fish is eating, if you see a fish with long translucent poohs(empty pooh casings) it can be a sign of parasites such as worms or hexamita, if you can avoid these fish do so, otherwise if you get caught with one then refer to our medical section for ways to treat these fish.
2. Fins should be clear, any sign of mucus, lumps or white and/or red discolourations could be signs of bacterial infections, this can be improved with providing good water quality, if the symptoms persist then various antibiotic treatments may need to be considered.
3. Body, the belly shouldn't appear be sunken or overly swollen, sunken belly can be underfed or parasites, swollen belly can indicate internal bacterial infection such as bloat. Look for deformities What you want is symmetry. The most common deformities are a break from symmetry.

• Fins: check pectoral fins first, these are usually clear fins, look at the rays, these are the soft bones visible through the fin, deformed pectoral fins can effect the way the fish swims, the fish can loose its grace in the water and once you become aware they can seem unsightly, they also pass on genetically to further generations so please don't breed these fish. Check all the fins, are the fin rays straight, are there any irregularities that appear unsightly? Healthy pectorals should have nice straight fin rays that out outward from the fish as in these images

Deformed pectorals, the rays are curved up or down and irregular - not straight, please dont breed these fish.

Tips for taking care of flowerhorns 

1. Decor, no gravel is easiest way to keep the floor clean, though the fish do like a bit of digging so if you want to keep sand or gravel then have a thin layer no deeper than 2cm, stir it regularly when the fish piles the sand and make sure you level it out again, because deep sand piled up (usually in the corners) will get putrid organic build up and ruin your water quality. No wood or sharp objects in tank.
2. Medium blue background will help fish to display more colour and good lighting either full spectrum or grow lux type lamps which have a little extra on the red spectrum side will help show pearl and red colours more vividly.
3. Water changes, depends on stocking density and size of tank, but smaller regular water changes is best, if you have just one or a couple fish, vac the bottom of tank a couple times a week with a 10 to 15% water change and will help keep the tank clean and water stable.
4. Water temp and Ph, 27 to 30C, main thing is keep it stable, 23C and lower the fish get weaken immunity and become very prone to diseases and infections. PH between 7.0 to 8.3 is good range, they prefer alkaline over acidic water, stability is more important than a specific ph level, so try to maintain ph with whatever your water source is, dont use chemical buffers because you will create ph swings and upset the fish. If your water is soft add a litre or 2 of crushed coral to your canister filter.
5. Food, I use Hikari sinking gold, Hikari koi spirulina and sometimes grand sumo(red and original) and sometimes NLS, I find the fish maintain colour and kok with these foods. There are other good brands, but Ive tried many foods over the years and these I mention have given me the best results, many others I tried the fish lost kok and colour. Feeding too much high protein pellets to adults can lead to gut problems, so you may want to consider adding some veggie or low protein koi type pellets to the diet for adult fish, I still don't know the perfect answer for food, I recommend that you do research, just stay away from cheap no brand pellets, they are usually not good for flowerhorns, they wont colour up properly on them. I also found that many of the foods with specific marketing for "flowerhorn" were generally overrated, with the exemption of Grand sumo, which I found my fish did really well on it.

Feeding frequency as a rough guide I normally feed young fish

• 1cm to 6cm at least 3 to 6 times a day.
• Sizes 6cm to 15cm get fed 2 to 4 times every day
• sizes 15cm to 20cm once 1 to 3 times every day.
• Mature adult fish should not be fed more than once a day and I only feed mine 4 times a week - with the exemption of conditioning for breeding where you need to pump them with at least couple good meals a day and the fish that are in my breeding programs get fed once a day at least even if no immediate plan to breed.

1. Tankmates, flowerhorns are best on their own, though plecos are handy to keep the glass clean. If you introduce a pleco first before the flowerhorn or introduce pleco at night time when the fish is sleeping its got a better chance to be accepted. Use a pleco like gibbi etc, rather than a bristlenose cause the plecos are tougher, make sure you provide a few good hiding places and that there isnt a big size difference between the pleco and the flowerhorn, big fh can kill small plecos, and big plecos can kill flowerhorns, if the pleco gets too big and agro then trade it for a smaller one. Make sure you quarantine the pleco first, and make sure its not carrying anyparasites.
2. Tanks size, ideally a 4x2x2 foot for one adult flowerhorn is a perfect display size, you can divide it and comfortably keep 2 adults, the minimum space I recommend for adult male is 2x2 feet of floor space.
3. Common diseases and cures; Hexamita - fish stops eating, white stringy pooh.

• Worms - fish can stop eating, skinny/emaciated, stringy pooh, Bacterial infections, Pop Eye - Eye milky, inflamed / popping out Oxytetracycline powder or Tetracycline tablets is usually effective.
• Whitespot: You can cure without meds, just increase temp to 31C and use airstones to increase airation, if you want medication I found tetra lifeguard to be very good.

Sexing your flowerhorn

Female

• Black mark on dorsal fin most likely indicated female and lack of kok growth,low quality male flowerhorn will most likely not grow kok.

Male

• No black mark on the dorsal indicates male but females can suddenly develop a dorsal mark after laying or being put next to a male, also kok from a young age indicates male. Some females develop kok but it most likely come later on in life also some male fh may grow a kok later on in life, kamfa may also take longer to get a kok or large kok.

Best divider options

 

Perspex:

• Pros is that it fits into std divider suction cups, it can be customised and made to any size and its easy to clean and looks neat.
• Cons are the thinner stuff 4mm and under can be very flexible, which makes it easier for larger fish to push and knock it down, had to constantly fix them in position, lost a few fish from them getting knocked down, also alot of work drilling holes if you want water current to go through.

NeoAqua:

• Pros is that it fits into std divider suction cups, it already has the slots cut in to allow water flow, its more rigid than standard perspex so harder to knock down(in fact I never had one knocked down), easy to clean, it looks good.
• Cons are that its only made for specific standard size tanks, and they used to be expensive, however if you talk to Pacco at Vebas hes doing really good prices on them, tell him Den sent you.

Glass:

• Pros is it wont flex and that makes it harder for fish to knock over,I never had one knocked down and it looks very neat when done correctly, can be cut to any size, easy to clean.
• Cons, it wont let water current through for filters, you need to know how to cut glass - just google video "how to cut glass", its easy to learn.

Egg Crate:

• Pros is that its great for letting water pass through.
• Cons is that young fish can pass through it or jaw lock through it, and Ive seen large fish injure themselves on it, also because it lets water through its easier for fish to knock it down, not compatable with std divider suction cups, so its hard to suction cup in place, its also fairly brittle and can crack easy when your cutting it, also it will trap dirt and growth over time which is very hard to clean so not very aesthetic looking.

Conclusion; Because most of my tanks are custom sized overall I find the best option for me for performance and price wise is the glass dividers because I need hundreds of them, I silicone mine into place but for temporary ones just use 2 divider suction cups on each side and 1 or 2 on the bottom for large size fish, and less if the fish are small. But if you have standard size tanks then the neo aqua is a great option, because its ready to go and have the vents in it for water flow.

 

Tank size, what is the best size for breeding?

 

• I've noticed a few members struggling to breed their fish and one factor came to mind which I have perhaps neglected to discuss, that is "whats the ideal tank size for breeding?".
• Now what Im about to suggest is based on my personal experiences only so its possibly not the only answer, Im sure people have all sorts of different methods and experiences for successful breeding, Im just sharing whats happened to me in my fish room over many different spawns.
• Anyway, I have about 40 tanks of varying sizes, however the most common sizes I have are; 4'L x 2'W x 18"H 3'L x 2'W x 18"H 4'L x 18" x 18" I also have one 6x2x2 The tanks I have had most success in breeding in is the 4x2x18 tanks, why is that?...... For breeding what seems most important is the floor space, depth as long as you have minimum of 18inches seems irrelevant, too little floor space and the fish will fight over the tiny real estate offered instead of spawn, too much space and they will waste alot of time roaming around away from each other. For example I have bred alot of pairs in the 3x2x18's but this works when the fish are young and smaller in size, up to about 18cm.
• when I try to breed the same males in these tanks after they have fully grown up, over 20cm+, they seem to fight instead of court the females. In the 6x2x2 I find there is much less fighting, but also much less loving, it seems the males prefer to roam around instead of focusing on the female. So overall to me it seems, the 4x2x18 is the perfect breeding tank, they have enough space to keep apart when they need to and they are close enough not to loose touch with each other, I have most of my pairs divided in this size tank, and its where I get most of my spawns. Anyway hope this info is of help to anyone who is struggling to breed and might have missed this factor, you could simply have an unsuitable tank size. Please feel free to share your experiences in this thread whether the same or different,

Divider Techniques

 

• All Before when I wanted to breed I used to remove the divider from the tank completely and I would always have big issues with aggression, lately all Ive been doing is lifting the divider so that both fish can fit under it
• I've found since doing this that aggression is severely reduced and Ive been able to keep pairs in this situation almost indefinitely, they seem to get along and if one gets aggressive and the other one doesn't want to fight it just goes to the other side of the divider and its funny but once they do this they don't seem to get chased as much.
• if at all, even with a agro chaser after a while the agro fish stops chasing and they seem to learn to behave better. Anyway I have 3 pairs like this, 2 pairs have been like this for a few weeks and I just got my first spawn from the other super red dragon pair,

Example below from what I do with the divider:

• Just angle it a bit an leave a gap at the bottom.
• Its doesn't seem to matter if both fish can fit through, even if there is a big size difference between your pair. Note that each pair got to know each other through the divider for quite a while, so I think each fish establishes its territory on either side of the divider, so just leaving the divider basically in place doesn't damage the territorial boundaries the fish have created which is part of the reason why I think it works.
• I also used this technique on this pair and finally got my first successful spawn with them, before when I just removed the divider they would just fight until I had to separate them because they would injure each other badly after a hour or so.
• On 2 other occasions the female laid or started to lay eggs when I pulled the divider out the male would just try to eat the eggs and the female would just fight him non stop.
• After I lifted the divider about 3 inches from the bottom and left it that way this pair got along completely peacefully together, and after a couple of weeks they bred and now I have fry, I am very happy using this technique, After many failed attempts trying other ways, Im now thinking this is the key to successful breeding.

How to Raise Fry

• Just thought I would share one of my fry setups, the pics show the foods I use to get the fry started when they are first free swimming, first few weeks I give sera micron and freshly hatched brine shrimp, then when they are big enough I move them on to the vipan, you can crush your own pellets and flakes into powder, but for me its easier to buy ready made products, and I find that sera is a good quality food.
• Here you can see the clear containers, I use sea water and add a sprinkle of brine shrimp eggs in the morning, they hatch by the next morning ready to feed.
• I use the fry saver until they get about 6-7mm, its easier to get the food to them, I will split and move them to multiple fry savers once they start outgrow this one.

Raising fry artificially

• OK alot of people ask me how I raise my fry so I will make a sticky, if you have other ways to raise fry and want to share and help members please add comments here or start another thread if you wish. I have found this procedure to be the safest way. 

1. Once I see the male and female completely finished with laying and spawning I remove the male, usually I divide him away, so hes still in the same tank and he can see the female and the eggs, the reason I separate them is that sometimes the pair can start fighting after the eggs get laid, either the female gets too protective of the eggs and if there isn't enough room in the tank then they can start to fight and injure each other, so easier not to gamble it, just divide them and you can rest easy knowing they cant harm each other.
2. Watch that female, if shes doing a good job then I leave her with the eggs for about 36hours, or if I start seeing eyes earlier I remove her immediately, the thing is that females will commonly start eating the fry as they hatch, especially if the tank is small and they feel insecure, so best remove her, I put my females in a tank for conditioning, get them nice and fat again for the next spawn.
3. Angle the eggs so that dirt/detrius cant settle on them and put an airstone next to them so they get good water circulation, the steeper the angle the better, don't worry about fry hatching and falling off the plate, the fry are pretty sticky for the first day or so, they can anchor themselves and wont slide off the plate.

 

4.Soon as they start hatching I use a 20mm syringe to to suck them up and put them in a fry saver, I use the same water as the eggs were in so they don't get a ph or temp shock.

5.Foods I use sera micron and freshly hatched brine shrimp to feed them for the first few weeks, then I move them onto crushed flakes and pellets and then onto NLS Grow. Here I am using a syringe to feed them freshly hatched brine shrimp, also note the syringe in the pic below is the same one I use to suck up the newly hatched babies as well.

Raising your own brine shrimps

 

• Freshly hatched baby brine shrimp are great first foods for fh, I feed them for the first few weeks together with powdered food and they seem to dramatically improve survival and growth of the fry. Hatching is simple, just get any clear container that holds a litre or more of water, about 1 liter is good for an average hatch that will provide food for a few batches of baby fh.

What you need:

1. 1 litre of filtered water, if you only have tap water let it sit for 24hours for the chlorine to disappear, or even easier you can use sea water if you live near the ocean.
2. Non iodised salt, I use pool salt, 4 heaped tea spoons per litre, or one tea spoon per 250ml.
3. Brine shrimp eggs

Tip a small amount of eggs in, about a 20cent peice of eggs floating on the surface will give you enough to feed a big batch of fry for a whole day. Warn water gives faster and better hatch, at 26-28C it takes about 24hours for the eggs to hatch. The shrimp should all clump together near the brighter light source, use a torch if you want to attract them all to one point.

Then get a 20mm syringe from your chemist, use it to suck the shrimp up, the egg cases float, avoid them, they can choke your fry, push the syringe below the surface to avoid the egg cases.

How to Syphon a fry

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLkYvOuSeWI

Culling

• This is an older variety of Super red dragon project Im working on; Here below is an example of what I call the "one dot fish", these are what I cull at the earliest stage possible to avoid wasting food because these fish have little to no potential from my experiences, even if they were to get good colour and kok its still going to be a boring one dot script. In small batches these one dot fish sometimes don't even show up, but larger batches from the same parents can produce hundreds of these low grade fish, my theory is the sperms after the first few passes produce low grade fish and the first passes is where the good quality fish come from. I base this theory on my experiences with small and large batches coming from the same parents. The very low grade fish seem to come mostly in the larger batches - e.g. anything greater than 70-100fish in a spawn seems to produce alot of one dot fish in all the spawns Ive had, and in the smaller batches below 70 fish seems to produce almost no one dot fish, so its only a logical assuption at this stage that the one dots are coming after the first passes.

Here is a fish from the same batch about 3cm, ones like this and better I will keep growing to check for improvements. Although hes not a full script I have seen scripts double and expand on some fish as they grow, also his father is a very nice half script fish, the one dot fish are the exemption regarding expanding scripts as these fish seem to stay the same/lack improvements
with growth.

Things I looks for when I cull

1. The one dot fish
2. Deformities; a)fins b)gills c)head and body
3. Dwarfs / runts

Fry Selection ZZ

• Just a discussion on selection process for ZZ, I'm still learning on how to grade fry, here's a quick run down how I grade my ZZ, please feel free to add your own experiences. I grow the fry up to where the largest is about 4cm, then the first stage of grading/culling takes place, at 4cm they start to fight and peck each other so you don't want to leave it any longer or your selects can get damaged.

About this size I start grading:

• At 3-4cm size, this what I look for in selections; 1. colour 2. pearl 3. script.
• A fish with poor script but exceptionally good colour and/or pearl can still make it into the selection category. 

Example:

• The selections continue to go through grading process as they grow, the larger they are the more easier you can grade the shape so as they grow I add these attributes to the selection process; 4. Body and face shape 5. Head/Kok potential 6. Fins

Lucky Fins should be called unlucky fins

• Alot of people don't know what lucky fins look like, its a deformity of the pectoral fins, crooked, bent or misshapen, here is a video to show a classic example of what they can look like.
• What causes them is supposed to be genetic deformity from in breeding, its been reported from angelfish breeders as well, one thing we have learned thanks to one member is that if you breed fish with lucky fins, its doesn't mean that the fry will get it, in fact one batch from both parents with lucky fins produced mostly normal finned fish and I seen them myself. Video of a fish with deformed pectoral fins, some people in the hobby call this deformity "lucky fins"
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VuhXMyLgqc

Disease treatment finder

 

• http://www.fishtanksandponds.co.uk/fish-health/health-index.html
• http://www.fishtanksandponds.co.uk/commercial-remedies/treatmentfinder.html

Antiobiotics for fish

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html
White stringy pooh 

my suggested treatment regimes

• White stringy pooh, its a plague in this hobby, especially on the East coast where it seems to be a very common problem. Most important to act fast, while its not immediately deadly, these parasites can be doing alot of irreversable internal damage to your fish, the longer you leave it the less chance of recovery and higher chance it wont survive. I've used these treatment regimes successfully for fish with white stringy pooh, which can be either worms or hex or both. Since most people dont have microscope you wont be able to tell for certain if your fish has either worms or hex, these regimes should cover both problems;

OPTION 1 - PRODUCT -INTERNAL PARASITE CLEAR

• Unusually just requires one dose - sometimes a second treatment required, this product is a broad treatment for alot of parasites including various worms, that cause fish to stop eating and white stringy pooh, all instructions on the pack, it will on most occasions sort out fish with white stringy pooh.
• If it doesn't give you a good result then try the metro antibiotic treatment below. Notes, Some fish will sulk for a few days, but most fish recover and start eating after a few days, follow their recommend water change schedules because the product will cause minor ammonia spike, consider using something like stress coat or seachem safe, anything with a ammonia lock in it. OPTION 2 - PRODUCTS - LEVAMISOLE AND METRODONIZOLE NOTE: mark a calendar or use a white board marker on the fish tank to write down and keep track of the day/dates of your regime or you will loose track and stuff it up!

1. Make sure you remove all carbon from filters, service all filters and vacuum gravel if you use it, you must maintain absolute top water quality.
2. Day 1; Do 30% water change and treat with levamisole as per directions, which on the type I use is 2grams per 500litres.
3. Day 2 to day 4; Do 30% water change every day.
4. Day 5 and 6; check the fish, is it eating? -if answer is no and if it still has white stringy pooh or bloated stomach go straight to step 10 and follow from there.
5. Day 7; Treat again with levamisole. 
6. Day 8 to 10; Do 30% water change every day.
7. Day 14; Treat again with levamisole.
8. Day 15-18; 30% water change daily
9. Day 19; Check the fish - still any white stringy pooh? if yes-treat with metrodonizole. Is it eating healthy? if no - treat with metrodonizole, 200milligram tablet per 20liters or 400milligram tablet per 40liters, together with 30% water change every day for 6 days. **If your fish still has white stringy pooh or develops a swollen belly day 6 or after then follow from here..
10.  Day 6-12; Treat with metrodonizole, 200milligram tablet per 20liters or 400milligram tablet per 40liters, every second day with 30% water change.
11. Day 15; Treat again with levamisole.
12. . Day 16; 30% water change 
13. Day 22; Treat again with levamisole. Dont mix the medicines, notice that there is alot of water changes between the 2 medicines to make sure one is flushed out before the next one goes in, I tried mixing them and the fish got very sick. Where to get meds; I get all my meds from a vet or you can get meds from http://www.aquotix.com.au, they are in WA but they will post interstate. http://www.aquotix.com/contact-us/ Helpful Notes;

Most importantly, follow through!!!!!!!! if your fish gets better on first treatment do not stop the regime because your inviting trouble, levamisole kills worms but it does not kill eggs, so you need to do the 3 treatments a week apart to make sure you eradicate them, or you will be back in trouble in no time. Metro will smash hex in the first day many times enough to make your fish improve within 24-48 hours, but it wont wipe it all out, so if you dont do the whole course you risk the fish getting sick again or worse creating a resistant strain of bug so make sure you don't stop the regime! either way if you don't do the whole course your fish might seem OK but it will most likely be harbouring the same parasites just lower in number and ready to spring back at any time!

If the fish has worms they can do alot of internal damage especially if had them for a long time; so there is high risk of internal infections, especially after the 1st worm treatment because your fishes intestines will be full of dead worms and possibly lesions, hence why I have the emergency treatment with metro on day 6 if the fish bloats or doesn't start eating. If the fish is refusing pellets you can try small live foods, such as small fry or shrimps, I use cull fry to feed finiky fish in rehab that refuse pellets, they will get back onto pellets but you have to get nutrients into the fish to build up immunity and strength. Loss of appetite, some fish may stop eating during treatment, this can be from dead worms upsetting them or just don't like the meds, most fish will start eating within a 2-3 days, if they stop eating for longer than that you need to get to the metro treatment. Nutrition; If your fish hasn't eaten for a long time or even eating and been harbouring parasites, it will be malnourished which can make it harder for recovery, Vitamin mixes both in the food or in the water can really help a fish recover, I used the Azoo vitamin mix which you pour into the water, it works really well and I highly recommend it! Faster you act the better chances of survival and faster the recovery.

Kok wounds and Ulcers

• When breeding flowerhorns, agro females commonly bite the males kok, sometimes if its a flesh wound and bacteria get in then it can become an ulcer, if its not treated I have seen it become fatal or you can end up with really bad scarring too if you leave it too long, I recently had a male with a nasty little ulcer, it kept gradually getting worse, melafix didnt help, so I called Dr Loh to help me treat it, its now sorted thanks to him.

Here is the ulcer before treatment

• This is about a week after treatment, skin is already growing over the wound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHJtZRrx8IU

Worming fish using Levimasole

 

• The white powder levamisole that I have used has a recommended dose rate of 2grams per 500liters.
• A couple of tips and here is how I worked out the dose; First measure the water volume, using a tape measure, measure water volume by the water level in the tank and not the top of the tank tank.
• length x height x width then divide by 1000 and thats how many water litres are in the tank. Then do following calculation to get the dose;
• Tank water litres /divided by 500 x 2, that should give the amount in gram measurement. eg if tank is 200 litres. 200 divided by 500 x 2 = 0.8 of a gram (thats less than one gram). be careful, do no overdose, overdose can kill your fish. Some fish can stop eating during the treatment, after 24hours do 30%water change for 3 days in a row.
• Make sure no carbon in you filters because it will remove the medicine. Repeat program every 7 days for 3 weeks, because it doesnt kill the eggs you need to wait for eggs to hatch before they are killed, so needs 3 weeks to eliminate everything.

Flowerhorn not eating? White stringy poop?

 

• I begin writing and explaining the symptoms to help you diagnose any problem and the treatment is at the end of the article.
• The causes can be varied, from poor water quality to fast change in water conditions, but a fish that stops eating and develops long white stringy pooh has long been considered or "assumed" being caused by a Hexamita bloom in the intestines, however Ive seen repeated experiences where metro and clout medications which are supposed to cure Hexamita have failed to bring any good results with these fish and in many cases force feeding with food medicated with metro was necessary to get some results, because of this and from my own experiences and others I believe that Hexamita is not always the cause of these problems and I have found a medication that brings high success so far, please read on to get the info you need if your fish has begun refusing food;
• Because I don't believe we know what the real cause is (yet) I think a suitable name for this problem is Flowerhorn anorexia, because this disease makes the fish stop eating until its wastes away and dies usually from starvation or a secondary disease as the result of no nutrition getting into the body.

What are the signs of FH anorexia? 

• A long white stringy pooh
• Fish stops eating.
• Changed behaviour and looks. 

1. First its important to understand the difference between white pooh and the gut lining(which is often mistaken as a pooh). If you see a long, white/translucent and hollow strand of pooh that does not break away easily from the fish this is actually the gut lining of the fish being emitted and is a cause to be concerned, as the fish will need treatment or it will likely die, but don't worry you have time, but the sooner you treat it the better result you will have and the less chance of permanent damage such as stunted growth or tissue damage can be avoided. A white pooh that is solid and not attached to the fish is probably a result of diet and should be OK as long as the fish is eating and behaving normally.
2. Sometimes fish will not switch onto new foods and it can take time to get them to accept new foods, but if your fish suddenly stops eating and refuses food that its normally been eating before this is a cause for concern. A fish that has stopped eating for more than 2 days is likely going to need treatment. You may also notice the fish pec at the food but not eat it, sometimes chewing and spitting the food, if this continues for more than 2 days consider treating the fish.
3. With either of the above conditions or combined you might also notice a change in behaviour, the fish can loose confidence, cowering at the back of the tank, colours can also fade, fins retracted.

How to treat As Ive said before I have tried medications such as Clout and metro to treat this problem without getting results. I tried Oxytetracycline and found almost immediate change and improvement in fish with the above problems, with the fish eating within 1-2hours after treatment, depending on how sick the fish is it can take up to 12 hours before it starts eating again, but there is more research to be done and I encourage you to consider this medication and post your results here so we can learn to combat this common and terrible problem in our hobby.

1. First step is to ensure you water quality is impeccable, since its likely the problem has arisen from lax water maintenance, so do a 30%water change, vacuum gravel and service filters before you start any medications. Medicine options available; Some fish seem to respond to Oxy others to DMZ, if one doesn't work try the other, its probably best to try the DMZ first as its the correct medication for Hexamita.
2. Dimetrozole (DMZ) DMZ can either be added to the water or mixed with food as per directions on the bottle, the bottle I used was 1 teaspoon per 100litres, if no response from either of these methods then you can also try force feeding with a syringe with airline tube attached, I have heard of good results from this method, with fish making fast recovery and returning to feeding within a day after being force fed. Mix pellets with water to create a soft paste add DMZ as per directions on the bottle and feed, heres some tips and video on this thread:

Force feeding

• video:viewtopic.php?f=29&t=298 Some fish exhibit the signs of Hex but don't respond to DMZ, if fish doesn't respond to DMZ then you can try Oxy;

Oxytetracycline Below is a basic guide:

• Make sure when using Oxytetracycline or any other medication that you read the instructions very carefully to ensure you don't put yourself or your family at any risk so please use carefully as per the recommendations of the products manufacturers and avoid contact with this medication and the treated water. I dosed the tank as recommended at 1 level teaspoon per 50litres of water
• on the 3rd day I did a 30% water change with water treated to same temp as the tank (30c) and repeated the dose and then the same again on day 6.
• Its important to treat for at least 7 days to ensure you eliminate the problem and don't create superbugs that can evolve to become immune to the medication so make sure you don't just stop the treatment because you see the sometimes almost instant results of the fish eating and acting normally again, which can happen very quickly.
• Also make sure you don't expose the water to direct sunlight and if you can keep the tank darkened it will stop the medication from breaking down, when it breaks down the water will turn from yellow to brown and that not a good thing, if it happens change 50% of the water immediately with treated water and add a fresh dose of meds and avoid contact with the old water.
• Here is some more info on Oxytetracycline, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SAdDtT7YRRoC&pg=PA276&lpg=PA276&dq=Oxytetracycline+Hc1&source=bl&ots=5ANLV77P3l&sig=qHe-ZtPzmB1P5ywikTP6l7tWe5o&hl=en&ei=sQCQTZX6MoSGuQPL9uG-DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBQ#

• Ways to avoid it in future, I have had very few problems with this disease, Ive been able to avoid it through vigorous water maintenance, daily vacuuming and water changes(5-10%) together with regular filter maintenance, however new acquisitions can arrive with this problem and thats how Ive experienced it, so its important to quarantine all new fish and make sure they are OK before introducing them to a water system that contains other fish.
• Also do not overfeed, not only do you risk Hex disease I have also seen fish that develop bloat from owners who overfeed, overfeeding also reduces water quality with all the excess food and faeces rotting in the tank, your fishes belly should look full but not overly fat, also over feeding can cause all sorts of other health issues, fat overweight fish are a ticking time bomb.

 Worms or hex? Which one you are dealing with?

 

• I have heard members talk over the past year about various fish exhibiting signs of hex, however they don't improve after metrodonizole treatment, so it could be that either their dosage was wrong or the fish could actually have had worms, because some of the symptoms like white stingy pooh can be a sign of either hex or worms or maybe if your unlucky your fish has both? Signs your fish may have worms. Worm infections in fish can show one or more of the following symptoms that can be confused with hex:

1. White/translucent stringy feces
2. Wasting
3. Bloated abdomen
4. A bulge in the lower abdomen near the vent. To treat for worms use levamisole, it can be absorbed through the fishes skin, the tank needs to be vaccummed after the treatment to remove the worms. Found this really good article in this link that explains everything;

https://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1

Medicine Cabinet

These are the medicines and other stuff that i think should be in a flowerhorn keepers medicine kit.

 

1. salt- salt can prevent infection and i believe that it also relieves stress when changing water. it also replaces electrolytes.
2. Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) epsom salts can be used to treat agains pop eye as it extracts the fluid from behind the eye.
3. Melafix- melafix is a antibacterial remedy to make torn fins and open wounds heal faster and also prevent infection.
4. promethyasul. a broad spectrum medicine cures bacterial, fungal and parasitic diseases.
5. stability- used to prevent new tank syndrome and help cycle a new tank. it contains beneficial bacteria.
6. chlorine remover- i use seachem prime as it is concentrated and it removes amonia,chloramine,chlorine and de toxifys nitrate and nitrite.
7. Metro (metronidazole)- used to treat against heximita a internal infection that can kill your fish eventually, you cannot buy metro from a fish shop you need a doctors prescription to obtain it but there are afew members here who sell it
8. Levamosile - for treating worms, all fish should be worm treated as I think worms are more common in the hobby than we think. Oxytetracycline- antibiotic for treating bacterial infections. Metrodonizole - antibiotic for bacterial infections and hexamita.

Tips for taking good pictures

• Some tips on getting good pics; Flash or no flash? Its best to have good lighting on the tank and to avoid using flash, if you must use flash then angle the camera slightly up or down so that the flash doesn't reflect straight back to you from the aquarium glass.
• Imagine the flash light like a laser beam, you want it to bounce away from the camera lens when you snap the photo.
• Lighting Good aquarium lighting and positioning the lighting properly can make a big difference with the quality of your pictures, with good lighting you can get nice pics even with the most cheap crappy camera.
• To avoid reflections on the glass its best to make sure the tank is well lit and that the room is dark, best to take pics at night time, turn off TVs and room lights and you will avoid reflections on the glass. Some examples of lighting Fish directly under the light(one growlux tube)
• light is behind the fish in the middle of the tank, so front of fish gets in shadow.

Taken with no lighting

 

• Same fish with lighting(one growlux tube)

• so you can see lighting is not just important to display your fish, what you see is what you get, so get your lighting right and be proud to show off your fish!

About fish colour, genes, lightning, food and water

 

• Just wanted to quickly share a discussion I had about base colour of the fish, theirs 3 factors I am aware of: Genes + food + water quality = the fishes colour.
• You can have the greatest/brightest base colour and pearl genes in the fish, but if you feed low quality food or if your water quality isn't good the colours wont show up to their brightest. So its all about the fishes genes + food + water quality = max colour, you need all 3 to be at their best to get the best out of what the fish has to offer.
• Also lighting is critical, to take it to the extreme, if the fish is in a completely dark room you cant see it, so lighting is important, if you have blue/white/yellow spectrum tubes you wont see the reds or the pearls so well, you really need the red spectrum for flowerhorns to be in the mix, and alot of white lights are low in the red spectrum, thats why the growlux tube or full spectrum lighting I think is best for them.

What is a king kamfa?

 

• This is a topic I have always been interested in, what members believe a king kamfa is and what people believe king kamfa must look like. Here are my understandings, this information came direct from an expert from flowerhorncraze. - King Kamfa is just a name - King Kamfa does not actually mean quality - King Kamfa is basically just a second gen kamfa, basically mother bred back to another flowerhorn as males are low fertility rate I think it is a common misconception that King instantly means quality even though there are of course differences in quality, double script does not necessarily mean king nor does it exclude fish from being called king.

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