Flower horn tank mates.

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Rabin Singh

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Messages
22
Location
India
Hello. I've read online that flower horn generally like to live alone or they'll live with fish large enough as them.
So I've got a flower horn about 5 inches in size in a 75 gallon tank. Will it be okay if I added a 6-7 inches pleco to the tank? Or will the flower horn get aggressive?
 
I mean you could get away with it in 75 for a while but it'll probably outlive the flowerhorn and then need to be re-homed somewhere. I had a lfs owner try to get me to take one about 7inches long that he had in a 75 at the store. I've seen em 8'-10' long in the Amazon. They eat and eat and eat down there. And really will probably just hide from the flowerhorn all day so not much for company. A school of some larger cories might be better... not for nothing but Joey the king of diy just housed one with an arrowana. There's footage on YouTube
 
So anything else to pair up with the flower horn? Except, you know cories and plecos.
 
Since your flowerhorn is already 5" long, introducing any new fish will probably be difficult. It might be necessary to add several juvenile fish at the same time rather than a single.
Just before adding new fish revamping your tanks aquascape will greatly increase your new fish chances for survival. New hiding places and line of sight obstructions need to be constructed.
Common Pleco are big time waste makers and as noted get really big. A bristlenose pleco probably a better choice. My large cichlids tend to ignore the Plecos in my tanks.
As for possible tankmates for your flowerhorn, I suggest you research these cichlids,
Salvini, firemouth, convicts and maybe the green terror. I still keep these varieties and I believe they can hold there own against the flowerhorn.
 
I mean you could get away with it in 75 for a while but it'll probably outlive the flowerhorn and then need to be re-homed somewhere. I had a lfs owner try to get me to take one about 7inches long that he had in a 75 at the store. I've seen em 8'-10' long in the Amazon. They eat and eat and eat down there. And really will probably just hide from the flowerhorn all day so not much for company. A school of some larger cories might be better... not for nothing but Joey the king of diy just housed one with an arrowana. There's footage on YouTube
And some freshwater stingrays. Anyone else have a 2000 gallon tank sitting around? (Also the Asian Arowana is illegal in the US without a permit.)
 
Since your flowerhorn is already 5" long, introducing any new fish will probably be difficult. It might be necessary to add several juvenile fish at the same time rather than a single.
Just before adding new fish revamping your tanks aquascape will greatly increase your new fish chances for survival. New hiding places and line of sight obstructions need to be constructed.
Common Pleco are big time waste makers and as noted get really big. A bristlenose pleco probably a better choice. My large cichlids tend to ignore the Plecos in my tanks.
As for possible tankmates for your flowerhorn, I suggest you research these cichlids,
Salvini, firemouth, convicts and maybe the green terror. I still keep these varieties and I believe they can hold there own against the flowerhorn.
But don't the chiclids get pretty big? I've seen pretty big green terrors.
The fish store that I usually go to has Oscars in stock. About 3 inches long. I thought of buying those. Would that be okay?
 
So I got the Oscar today. When I put him in with the bag for the temp to adjust, the flower horn started nibbling and biting at the bag. But after sometime it just started to ignore the Oscar. But just an hour later, they're both hanging out as if they're bff's. :)
 
Oscars are good fish with a lot of personality. As for the size of green terrors, I have 2 males
(Different tanks) the biggest is a 4 y.o. he maxed out at 8" and is quite a specimen. Both your flowerhorn and Oscar will grow at least that big probably more.
Don't worry that won't happen overnight.
 
I've seen em 8'-10' long in the Amazon. They eat and eat and eat down there. And really will probably just hide from the flowerhorn all day so not much for company. A school of some larger cories might be better... not for nothing but Joey the king of diy just housed one with an arrowana. There's footage on YouTube

You have seen 8-10 foot Hypostomus plecostomus in the Amazon? That certainly would be a record...
 
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