After going through many twists and turns, the flowerhorn cichlid remains completely unscathed, earning it the nickname "Luo Jianqiang" (Tough Luo).

First, let me introduce the flowerhorn cichlid:

Class: Osteichthyes

Order: Perciformes

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Cichlasoma

Species: flowerhorn cichlid

Chinese name: caidiao (colorful snapper)

Latin name: Cichlasoma sp

Place of origin: Malaysia

Water quality: PH6.8-7, water temperature 26-28°C

Diet: Can be fed live food, small shrimp, bloodworms, and artificial colorant-free feed

Back in summer, someone gave me two little flowerhorn fry. On the way home, one of them died - the bag leaked, and it was gone...

That was a fairly good-looking, promising little flowerhorn... I quickly checked the surviving one - GOD, so ugly...

But for a first time keeping a little flowerhorn, it was good for practice. And so, starting from 4 cm, it lived together with its dear pleco...

Now it has grown up. Apparently it used to compete against more than ten other flowerhorn fry and came out on top. It's the only tough fish left. With me, it has had parasites, enteritis, low temperatures, high temperatures, and been through tank cycling many times.

Every time, it pulled through. Even when I wanted to sell it, fate still favored it - the shops didn't want it, and the only one that did, the owner had something come up and transferred the shop.

My tough flowerhorn!

Its body length is now 16 cm. Back then, to make you develop a head, you ate 2 tubs of Shouxingtou (Longevity Head) food.

Feeding you dried shrimp gave you enteritis, but a little yellow powder and you recovered, and then you became addicted to dried shrimp. Now you won't even eat Shouxingtou!

With one mouthful of big teeth, you bit to death your childhood friend - Comrade Pleco! Are you avenging my ranchu for me?

A full-tank shot... Just live well. Tough flowerhorn!!

The mystery of the flowerhorn cichlid's head bulge

Some experts and scholars once had the heads of flowerhorn cichlids tested at a professional institution. A total of three flowerhorn cichlids were tested: one large-headed male flowerhorn, commonly known as a "water head," one male flowerhorn without a head bulge, and one female fish without a head bulge.

The tests revealed: the composition of the large-headed male flowerhorn's head was 45% water, 21% fat, 12% protein, and 22% other; the composition of the male flowerhorn without a head bulge and the female flowerhorn was 23% water, 46% fat, 9% protein, and 22% other.

Subsequently, professionals performed physiological dissections on these three flowerhorn cichlids, and the results showed that the flowerhorn with a head bulge had less abdominal fat, while the flowerhorn without a head bulge had more abdominal fat. The female flowerhorn had even more abdominal fat. And there is also a whole series of methods for how to make a flowerhorn develop a head bulge.

After consulting materials, it was learned that the lives of many animals and fish are affected by different seasons and climates, resulting in different body structures and feeding habits. When food is abundant, they eat more and store more; when food is scarce, they rely on previous reserves. Similar to land animals, burrowing species or primates, they store large amounts of food in autumn to get through winter. Fish, however, are generally migratory and cannot hide food, so they can only develop a warehouse within their own bodies to supplement their nutrition.

The mystery of the flowerhorn cichlid's head bulge can basically be judged as the accumulation of excess nutrition. Moreover, large-headed flowerhorns are all highly territorial and have strong male characteristics. Like humans, when male hormones are secreted strongly, male features such as a beard become more obvious. The head bulge of a flowerhorn can also be considered a male characteristic. Through testing and analysis, a female flowerhorn with a head bulge secretes male hormones even more strongly than a male flowerhorn without a head bulge. From this it can be known: how do you make a flowerhorn more likely to develop a head bulge? Just stimulate its male hormone secretion!

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