Flowerhorn male or female

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Flowerhorn neophyte

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hi everyone. I'm relatively new to Flowerhorns and I currently have 4 Juveniles that I must choose between. 100 gallon tank, EHEIM 2217 filter. help

Hi, I purchased 5 juvenile Flowerhorns back in March of 2021. I have four remaining in my tank and I am not sure what I have here (potential wise and male/female. I was hoping you could educate me a bit about who I have and who I should keep. I believe one is fertilizing eggs
 
Welcome to TFF. Someone here will soon help you with your questions. Post pics if you can.
PS: I merged your 2 similar posts.
 
Thank you Fishmanic. I kinda posted everywhere, don't really know what to do on a forum.This first fish is "Big Red" Looks like he is getting his hump, and he was recently laying or fertilizing eggs on this decoration. Now he's (?) super protective of the area and has wild dark vertical stripes and added aggression. The other fish are each separated by plexiglass. Pre eggs he was also quite a pest to the blue eyed plecco I added. They are in a 100 gallon tank with weekly water changes.
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Will post pictures of other 3 fish when I get back from LFS. Need to buy that stuff to keep bacteria away from eggs. May be too late, as they are fuzzy. Horrible picture, I know. He bites me when I try to move the head to get a better angle. Any advice appreciated.
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This is "Black Spot" he/she is smaller than "Big Red", doesn't bother plecco and is getting picked on by other fish he was kept with...
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This is the dominant fish in that scenario. I thought she (?) was the one who layed the eggs on the head decoration. This one doesn't give the plecco any grief either.
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Last, but not least, is my "Middle Man" He is the same size as "Black Spot" They both are coloring up very nicely. They are all supposed to be Super Red Monkeys... Could really use some help. @Wills where are you???
 
I'm not familair with super red monkeys? Are you sure they are flowerhorns? They look like a different kind of hybrid like a mix between a Veija and an Amphilophus species - maybe Synspillum and a barred midas?

In terms of genders I'd say first 2 are male and second 2 are female. In terms of breeding and fertility only time will tell a lot of them are infertile.

Wills
 
@Wills, thank you for the information. I just googled the other fish you mentioned and they all look like possible candidates.:oops: I ordered these "Super Red Monkey Flowerhorns" as small fry from a shop in California. They keep changing colors on me and change to stripes/no stripes all the time. Can you explain to me how you can tell the males from the females? Sorry to be asking so many questions, but I have to part with a few of them and I just don't know enough to make my choices. Appreciate the education.
 
I've found this on an other site - so I was pretty close with my guess :) Looking at the article it was not 100% accurate more of a guess but the conversation I saw suggests yours may end up looking like the later stages of this chart and maybe even the end stages.

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In terms of sexing them males have pronounced pointed dorsal and anal fins and sometimes ventrals. Females are more rounded or pointed without filaments. Also males heads will develop a nuchal hump which could start off as just a thickening of the skin or a squarer profile, the females will have a more pointed face. This isnt a perfect way as some sub dominant males wont develop all the male features and some females can just look male. The ambiguity can also be increased when it comes to hybrids.

The colour changing you mentioned is quite natural, it can be their breeding dress or it can be a sign of stress. If they look alert and swimming normally with strong stripes it likely means breeding. If they are clamped up and hide a lot with stripes its likely stress.

In terms of what to do with them it could be a bit trial and error as the species involved in this are very aggressive in their own right so who knows what you can expect lol. You might need to be prepared to end up with just a wet pet in the tank? you may get two of them to cohabbit in this size tank but you will need to see how they manage. I'm not sure what to suggest in terms of tank mates, maybe big plecs, dora type catfish, big barbs like Auralis or Spanners (not giants like Tin Foils or Bala Sharks).

Do you just have the one tank? Having a back up might be useful for these kind of fish just incase you need to separate them from each other or other fish.

Wills
 
I really appreciate the imput. I am going to take 2 to the LFS, and try keeping "Middle Man" who is apparently a female ☺️ and "Big Red" my dominant male. They will each have about 50 gallons on each side of their divider. There is one Blue Eye Pleco as a tank mate, but he will probably be the only other one. I already like their personalities, so I'm fine with whatever hybrid they turn out to look like. I have 2 other tanks, but they are both salt water. Once the eggs are gone I may try to see if they tolerate one another, if not I will just keep one. They are all swimming about and not hiding, but they will need more room, so I have to part with a few. I truly appreciate all the help you have given me. I'll let you know how it progresses if you have interest.
Susannah
 
hi everyone. I'm relatively new to Flowerhorns and I currently have 4 Juveniles that I must choose between. 100 gallon tank, EHEIM 2217 filter. help

Hi, I purchased 5 juvenile Flowerhorns back in March of 2021. I have four remaining in my tank and I am not sure what I have here (potential wise and male/female. I was hoping you could educate me a bit about who I have and who I should keep. I believe one is fertilizing eggs
Juveniles............. how long are they ?
 
They range from about 3 to 4 inches.
Gonna be hard !
Differential characteristics do not develop before it reaches 4 inches or about 10 cm long on this stage of its life fully.
By checking properly the part of the anal pore you should be able to note : a "U" shape if it is a female and a "V" shape if it's a male. Obviously, when aging males develop big hump.
Hope it helps ;)
 
I really appreciate the imput. I am going to take 2 to the LFS, and try keeping "Middle Man" who is apparently a female ☺️ and "Big Red" my dominant male. They will each have about 50 gallons on each side of their divider. There is one Blue Eye Pleco as a tank mate, but he will probably be the only other one. I already like their personalities, so I'm fine with whatever hybrid they turn out to look like. I have 2 other tanks, but they are both salt water. Once the eggs are gone I may try to see if they tolerate one another, if not I will just keep one. They are all swimming about and not hiding, but they will need more room, so I have to part with a few. I truly appreciate all the help you have given me. I'll let you know how it progresses if you have interest.
Susannah

Sounds like a really good plan - definitely keep us upto date :) When you say a blue eye do you mean a blue eye panaque?

Wills
 
BEP can grow up to 11-12 inches, do you think 100 gal are enough ?
That’s why I’m asking you get blue eye bristlenose too 😊 I’d like a big fish like the panaque in at least a six foot as a minimum really
 

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