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Submitted by: Keith Titus
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We will be starting a new series of articles on how to breed Flowerhorn.
We will begin with sexing them. It is nearly impossible to sex Flowerhorn less than 3 inches. The only techniques that can be used at that size is the males will grow slightly faster and will usually be the most dominant fish in the tank of fry. With that said, there will be exceptions to both. At around 3-4 inches males will start to develop a KOK (hump). This hump is made up of fluid and fatty tissue and will actually increase and decrease in size depending on the conditions. When spawning, it will slightly increase in size. Males will also grow longer streamers from the Dorsal and Anal fins. Males will grow to be larger than females, often significantly larger.
Females will have a more plump and rounded belly. When they become egg laden, this will become even more apparent. When mature their sexual organs will become visible. Directly before the anal fin will be the oviduct in the female.
It will be a round tube (for laying eggs) that in a mature female often be 1/16-1/8 inch long and about the width of a spaghetti noodle. Males will have a much smaller urogenital tube that will also be at the very front of the anal fin. It will look like a very small penis, but is not intended to ever be inserted into the female. Instead it helps them direct the spray of sperm onto the eggs that the female lays. Usually you cannot see it, but at spawning, it does become visible. The male urogenital tube will be about the width of a straight pin.
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Last month we went over how to sex them, this month we will go over how to keep a pair.
Sexing Discus is not the end, it is actually just the start of the most difficult part of breeding Flowerhorn. The problem with breeding Flowerhorn is that the male will often kill the female, sometimes within hours of putting them together. Males can be relentless in attacking females (and other males). There are several ways to deal with this problem:
Occasionally you will get a pair that are not overly aggressive towards each other. While this is rare, it can happen, and if you do get one of these pairs, count your blessings.
The best way to get a pair that will be OK together is plan well in advance. If you by 6-10 of them at a very small size, usually they will grow up without becoming fatally aggressive. They will still be very aggressive, but not fatally, starting around 3 inches, so make sure you have many, many hiding places. Usually, the largest male will pair off with the largest female when they become mature. This pair can then be kept in a separate tank together. Once again, while they will not kill each other, they will still be aggressive, especially between spawning, so make sure there are plenty of hiding places. Often if you keep the ones left in a large tank, another pair will separate out after you take out the first pair.
Another trick is to keep them in a divided tank. This will keep them from killing each other while they are not spawning. Once Flowerhorn start the process of spawning (we will go over this in a subsequent Newsletter), they will stop being so aggressive towards each other. The female will actually become the dominant one once the eggs are laid and will often chase the male off. Be careful with this technique as they will often go to great lengths to get together. I have experienced ripped screens, broken dividers, dislocated dividers, fish that tunnel under a divider and fish that will try and jump over a divider (often ending up on the floor).
The last, but least effective technique is to keep the female alone in a tank until she becomes so egg bound that she lays the eggs even without the male present. The problem with this technique is that when you introduce the male, he is often so stressed by the new surroundings that he does not fertilize the eggs. The incidence of unfertilized eggs is much higher with this technique.This is when the fun is over and the frustration can start. The first two issues that you will be confronted with are eating of the eggs, especially by the male, and infertility.
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Last month we went over how to keep a pair, this month we will go over breeding tank set up.
The first thing to be aware of is that mature Flowerhorn are very strong and no matter what you do, they will most likely completely rearrange the tank when they spawn. As part of the pre spawning courtship, they will move, pile, re-move and then pile again any gravel in the tank. They like to spawn on flat, horizontal surfaces. I always place several large pieces of slate to lay flat on the bottom of the tank. Flowerhorn can lay up to a thousand eggs at one spawning, so you need to make sure the pieces of slate are at least 8 x 8 inches.
With that said, it is my experience that they usually choose to remove all of the gravel from an area of the bottom of the tank and actually lay the eggs on the glass bottom of the tank.
Directly prior to spawning, the male sometimes will brutally hurt the female. During spawning, they will often get along fine. Directly after spawning, the female will become extremely protective of the eggs and I have seen her actually beat up and kill a male that just days before was abusing her. I mention this so you will know that it is extremely important for you to have plenty of hiding places in the tank during the entire breeding process. I usually try and put several 8 inch pieces of PCV pipe in the tank that are large enough for the female to go into, but small enough that the male, who is usually larger, cannot go into. This can be easily accomplished as PCV piping is sold in 2, 3, 4 and 6 inch diameter sizes. Also, I always place several pieces of driftwood, that are riddled with large holes, in the tank. I usually will stack them on top of each other to great a small hill of porous caves.
I always add extra filtration to the tank a day after the eggs are laid to keep the water exceptionally clean during hatching. I remove the extra filter directly before the babies become free swimming.
About the Author: Check out SomethingsPhishy to meet all of your Discus, Angelfish, Flowerhorn and Pleco needs. Buy a tropical fish today at
somethingsphishy.com/
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