hey guys can you answer me this?:

do the young flowerhorns get more colour as they age? the two i have are just 2 inchs long so still very young but i was hoping theyd have more colour than they do.. they are well settled and in a light tank (have tried a black tank but that dosnt bmake any diffrence) obviously mine were very cheap so not show winners but im hoping they may show a little more colour when older?

Hi Dan,
Yes, the colour do change and get more intense as they grow, to the food they eat and their genetics.
In the past, there were hobbyists who used wallpaper which were all red, giving the flowerhorn a 'glowing red colour' . Although it could actually give the fish more stress, black is still best avoided when dealing with flowerhorns. They are temperamental animals and do not like their surroundings to be dark.

Btw, what is their diet currently? :)

bro....still small cannot see lah.....wait till it grow bigger first.

right thanks guys so they should get more colour as they age...

im feeding a red colour inducing cichlid pellet that i use for all my cichlids. i like to feed frozen food to all my stock too.. mainly bloodworm and artemia, i find it the best for conditioning and artemia does a great job for rearing young fry very quickly.. i also have my own microworm culture for fry which is unbeatbale..

cant wait for them to grow i "think" i have a male and female but its a little early to tell.. ive not tried to vent them yet but i may soon.. the suspected male has a good size lump on his head already even though he is so young so i reckon he will be a good looking fish when mature

Hi Dan,
Do you have aro sticks at UK? If you can get your hand on one, it s best. Aro stick pumps up the fish and try feeding small slices of market prawns, as they are also rich in protein.
Becareful not to use colour enhancers. If they are natural food which may induce colour like carotene or spirulina, it is fine. Cause when the flowerhorn market started in S E Asia, many people turned to enhancer food, which is extremely unhealthy to the fishes. The red chemical stays in the veins of the fishes beneath the surface of the skin, giving it a reddish shine, and is eventually absorbed into the liver.
I used prawns, aro sticks and bloodworms to pump up all my flowerhorns. =)

hey thanks king thats good advice! i never knew about that! we learn every day artemia is pretty much the same as prawn and full of protein which as you say is great for the fish.. do any of you guys feed live feeder fish to yours? i have always thought live feeders were only any good for spreading disease from one tank to another..

i dun recommend using live feeders..
main reason , it's very gross~~ secondly, they carry bacteria and that might lead to internal bacteria disease.. it could be fatal if it is a serious case.

Live feeders like goldfish always carry diseases. However, if you have frogs, (not too sure about the type), you can try. Frogs are hardy and they dont fall sick easily.

Dip your prawns in some spirulina+ garlic(Seachem) and you can see very good results in your flowerhorns.

:clap:

garlic guard(seachem) to be exact.