flowerhorn fish

Question
i just got a flowerhorn about 4 days ago he seem shy, scared and not really swimming around and not really eating, whats the problem?


         Eric

Answer
Hi Eric,
What you are seeing is very common when cichlids like flowerhorns are introduced into a new environment, this is especially true if they came from a tankful of other fish and are suddenly alone in a new place. One thing you can try to help the shyness is introducing a group of bold active fish to help your flowerhorn feel secure. Sometmes that is all that's needed to get shy fish to come out and eat.
Some bold fish to consider are:
Barb species (rosy, tiger, gold, black ruby)
Giant danios
Larger tetra species.

A good size group would be about 6-8

The other fish may not be able to stay long term when the flowerhorn is larger but at least they could give a young shy fish confidence.

Make sure there are plenty of caves for the flowerhorn to hide in as well. And make sure the water quality is healthy, try to get the water tested to make sure the levels are as follows - ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-20 or less.

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Susan~