Flowerhorn Fish

Question

Last flowerhorn Fish  

Present Aquarium   Hi,

I used to have a FH when I went out of station ask my helper to feed the fish, he overfed the fish and killed it.

I would like to get a FH now, actually wanted to have a pair. I understand that until they are 4 inches their gender can't be told.

My question is what is the best automatic feeder I can keep when I am out of station. I am currently in India. I honestly don't care about the cost, I will get which ever you suggest from Amazon or whatever website it is available.

My second question is do I get a pair, irrespective of not knowing the gender and when they grow bigger give one of them off to someone interested, if they turn out to be the same gender. I understand they are very territorial and do not want them to fight to their death when they grow up.

I have attached a picture of my last FH, would you be able to tell what breed she was?

My last query is when I have the fish in the aquarium (image attached), what are the sort of stones of pebbles I should put in? While I had my last FH I had removed all the small stones and kept bigger rounded pebbles because she had this habit of digging deep and hurting her fins or sides of her body sometimes against the small stones though they were not sharp, so I removed them.

Hopefully my questions are clear.

-Nithya

Answer
Hi Nithya,
  Personally I have tried all sorts of automatic feeders and have not liked any of them.  I will not use them. The main problem is that the feeder by necessity sits near or on the fish tank. This means that there is a lot of moisture in the air. The food in the feeder soaks up the moisture and starts to rot, and also gum up the feeder mechanism.

  If you are gone for up to 4 days, you are best not to feed the fish at all.  Do not even give them "extra" food before you go -- that will rot and could easily kill them.  Most fish can easily go 4 days without food, many can go much longer.

  I am not an expert on the different breeds of flowerhorns so I cannot identify that particular one.  Keep in mind that all flowerhorns are manmade so you can call the whatever you want.

  I think going with the rounder stones is a good idea. The size doesn't really matter.  They will move them around no matter what size they are.  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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