Breeding Flowerhorn Part 7
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Previously we went over the behavior after the spawn. We will now go over the hatching of the eggs. Next we will go over how to raise and take care the fry.
Flowerhorn have large pawns and there can be more than 600 eggs.
After 72 hours, depending mainly on the temperature of the water, the eggs will begin to hatch out. If the turn white, that means they are not fertilized and will not hatch. Only the dark ones will hatch. They are dark because after around 36 hours, the eye starts to develop inside the egg and will show through the egg sack. Most of the fry will stay attached to the surface where the eggs were laid via a small membrane on the top of the head. A few often become detached from the surface they were attached to and will fall to the bottom of the tank. At this point the fry will look like a small comma to the naked eye. Under magnification, they are extremely ugly and will look like something straight out of a monster movie.
They will remain attached to the substrate for another 72 hours. They will have an egg sack and will live off of it until they become free swimming. The main concern unitl they become free swimming is fungus will start to grow on them and kill them. Adding Methylene Blue to the water will kill the fungus. If you are going to artificially raise them, and have taken the parents out of the tank, you should add strong aeration about one inch from the fry to keep the water moving around them. They will start to become free swimming about 3 to 4 days after hatching.
