Breeding Flowerhorn Part 3
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A month ago we went over how to keep a Fowerhorn pair, now we will go over the breeding tank set up.
One of the first things to be aware of is that mature Flowerhorn are very strong and no matter what you do, they will completely rearrange the breeding tank when they spawn. As a part of the pre spawn courtship, they will move, pile, re-move and then pile again any rocks, gravel, driftwood in the tank. They like to spawn on flat, horizontal surfaces. Slate works best. I place several large pieces of slate to lay flat on the bottom of the tank. Flowerhorn will lay up to a thousand eggs just at one spawning, so you will need the pieces of slate to be at least 8 inches x 8 inches.
They often choose to remove most everything from part of the bottom of the aquarium and lay the eggs directly on the bottom glass of the tank.
Just prior to spawning, the male often will attack and hurt the female. Then once they start spawning, they will often get along fine. After spawning, the female will become very protective of the eggs and I have seen the female actually beat up and kill a male that just days before was attacking her. I go over this so you will know that it is very, very important for you to have plenty of hiding places in the tank during the entire breeding process. I 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 almost always 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 place several pieces of large driftwood, that have large holes, in the tank. I usually will stack them on top of each other to create a small hill of porous driftwood caves.
Add extra filtration to the tank a day after the eggs are laid to keep the water exceptionally clean during hatching. You will then need to remove the extra filter directly before the babies become free swimming.
