How to keep flowerhorn cichlids? Detailed video guide to breeding techniques

The flowerhorn cichlid is a fairly easy fish to keep, with excellent adaptability, and it is not too demanding about its living environment. However, when keeping it, you still need to pay attention to some small details so that the fish and the tank stay in the best possible condition.

Aquarium

The flowerhorn's body size reaches over 20cm, making it a medium to large cichlid, and it has a strong sense of territory, so it is advisable to keep it alone in an aquarium. In addition, the size of the space also affects the flowerhorn's growth rate and body shape, so when keeping it, it is best to choose an aquarium of over 1m so as not to restrict the fish's growth. Using black or blue as the aquarium background helps the flowerhorn display its most beautiful body colour.

Substrate sand

Flowerhorns prefer neutral or slightly acidic water quality, so the substrate sand should ideally be river sand with a particle size of about 0.5-1cm, keeping the water quality on the neutral side, and the substrate sand can be spread to a thickness of about 5cm. When setting up the tank, avoid using driftwood or coarse rocks, to prevent the fish from accidentally injuring its scales.

Water quality

No matter what kind of fish you keep, good water quality is a very important part. The flowerhorn is not demanding about water quality, but because of its large appetite, when keeping it you should choose a filter with good performance, which not only keeps the water clean and increases the dissolved oxygen in the water, but also helps the growth of beneficial bacteria that keep the water quality stable. The water temperature is best at around 26-27°C; the pH value is between 6.5-7.2.

Feed

Live bait can be used: small shrimp, bloodworms and so on, as well as feed that does not contain artificial colouring.  

Lighting

Most tropical fish, when raised in artificial farms, are mostly kept in small outdoor ponds, and because they receive sunlight over a long period, their colours are very vivid. When aquarium hobbyists bring tropical fish home to keep, if they do not provide the fish with appropriate lighting, the colours on the body surface will gradually fade. It is recommended that daily lighting be controlled at around 10 hours, which will have a bonus effect on the fish's health and colour display.

In addition, since the flowerhorn is among the strong and robust breeds, as long as the water quality is maintained well and nutrition is also taken care of, there will be very little chance of disease occurring.