If your Flowerhorn is staying in the corner, don’t petrify. Before taking any action, it’s critical to figure out what’s causing the problem. We’ll go through the reasons for fish staying in the corner, as well as some common symptoms and treatment methods, in this post. We’ll also give you some pointers on how to keep your Flowerhorn healthy and playful in the first place.
There are various reasons why your Flowerhorn fish stay in the corner. Before raising a Flowerhorn fish in an in-house aquarium, you should examine several things, including water temperature, pH, oxygenation, feeding, tank environment, filtration system, and so on. We’ll go through the most common reasons and how to remedy them in this blog post.
Why Is Flowerhorn Staying In The Corner?
Flowerhorn fish is a lovely addition to any tank and has playful nature. Poor nutrition, water quality, stress, ineffective filtration system, unfavorable temperature and pH, and unsuitable tank environment are the most common reasons for Flowerhorn fish to stay in the corner.
If staying in the corner is because of more serious sickness or diseases, you may need to treat the fish with medication.
Causes Of Flowerhorn Staying In The Corner
A variety of factors, including nutrition, water quality, and stress, might contribute to this.
New Environment
One of the most common reasons for Flower horn fish to stay in the corner is exposure to a new environment. It might be due to its urge to hide away because of the new environment it has been brought to.
There’s a chance it was in different circumstances at its prior house or store. you should make a seamless transition for him so that he can adapt to his new environment. You should give the individual a week to adjust to his new surroundings and meet new people.
Stress
One of the most common reasons for flower horn fish to stay in the corner is exposure to a new environment. It might be due to its urge to hideaway. It might hide because of the new environment it has been brought to. There’s a chance it was in different circumstances at its prior house or store.
It is very important to be gentle with the fish; make it a seamless transition for him so that he can adapt to his new environment. You should give the individual a week to adjust to his new surroundings and meet new people. When a fish is under stress, its body color changes. Two quick techniques to see how your fish is doing in their tank.
- If the colors on its body are bright and gleaming, it is at ease in its surroundings.
- It is in an extremely uncomfortable/stress phase if its color changes to pale white with black vertical stripes all over its body (something like a zebra pattern).
Diet
Flowerhorns are giant eaters who will eat anything you put in front of them, so regular monitoring of their caloric intake is crucial to avoid weight gain and stress. It requires feeding twice or three times every day. So, a lack of appetite indicates a behavioral change (cornering).
The Flowerhorn fish is an omnivore that eats whatever it can get its hands on. It eats a wide range of foods and isn’t picky about what it eats. It’s critical to provide your Flowerhorn fish with a high-quality meal that includes all of the essential elements. Most pet retailers have specially made flowerhorn food.
Some of the food you can feed your flowerhorn is:
- Omega one pellets
- Ocean Nutrition Instant Baby Brine Shrimp 0.7-Ounces (20 Grams) Jar
- Omega One Freeze-Dried Blood Worms, 0.96 oz
- Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Daphnia for Pets, 0.42-Ounce
- Hikari Tubifex Worms Fish Food (0.7 oz.) [Set of 2]
Water Quality
You should also test the quality of your water regularly to ensure that it remains within the approved range. It’s crucial to keep the water temperature and pH level consistent. If any of these values are above or below the recommended range, you must take action to adjust them.
| the pH of the water | 7.0 to 8.0 |
| The hardness of the water | 8 to 20 dGH |
| The temperature of the water | 78 to 84 F (25 to 29 C) |
Ammonia And Nitrite Poisoning
The other most probable reason is ammonia contamination in the fish tank. Ammonia and other poisons build up in the water as a result of the decomposition of fish waste. It includes food and dead plant materials. This will make the fish sick and stressed and eventually kill the fish. Hazardous waste builds quickly in an aquarium due to its ‘closed’ character.
pH
You should check the pH of water frequently since the fish’s food, excreta, and various external toxins (particularly in an aquarium without a cover) can alter the pH, affecting the fish’s natural behavior. Use a good water testing kit and adjust your tank’s pH level as needed to maintain a healthy pH level.
API 5-IN-1 TEST STRIPS Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Test Strips 100-Count Box is easy to use and cheap to carry out. There are many strips in one which you can use for future too.
Temperature
Temperature fluctuations are very stressful for them. They demand slightly greater temperatures than normal fish. The temperature should be between 78 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
It enjoys hot water, so keeping the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius should be enough. It’s possible that drinking cold water will make it eat less.
Tank Size
It will require a huge tank with plenty of room to swim around in; it would require at least 50 gallons, but a single fish may demand as much as 100 gallons.
SeaClear Acrylic Combo Aquarium can be a very good option that comes with the following plus points:
- It can hold temperatures
- Acrylic
- Reasonable price
- Durable
- Comes with a lifetime guarantee
Tank Mates
The other probable reason might be due to other fish in the tank. Flowerhorn is very territorial and does not like the entrance of other fishes into its territory. They are so aggressive that if a bug happens to hover above the tank top, they will jump and seize the bait, possibly injuring themselves in the process.
When we move our finger on the outside of the aquarium glass in the direction we are moving, our FH will follow it. This is because they do not want any intruders to evade their personal space. So, when introducing new fish into FH’s tank, you should be very cautious, or else this might also piss them off, resulting in staying in the corner or threatening the counter fishes.
Treatment
If your Flower horn fish is staying in the corner, you should take action as quickly as possible to cure the situation.
Grooming
You are concerned that your Flowerhorn fish is staying in the corner, one can remedy this by grooming regularly and making them comfortable in a new environment. Keeping the lights on and feeding it after that. Just as humans change their habits, so do fish. It would gradually return to normal.
If it doesn’t work, removing the cave hiding places from the aquarium might work for their gradual exposure to a new environment. So, at first, keeping the lights on and feeding the fish; will be the best solution if the reason behind is due to the trauma of the new environment; ultimately, it will adjust to its new surroundings.
Salt
You can add aquarium salt to your fish’s tank if you can’t figure out what’s causing them stress. This will help to improve their environment while also perhaps reducing some of the symptoms.
Instead of ordinary salt or table salt (which contains iodine, which is harmful to fish) or rock salt, use Epsom salts (MgSO4) or non-iodized salts (NaCl), which have good healing properties and are disease resistant (if not purified, contains a lot of impurities) should be used.
I mostly use the API salt but you can choose anyone from the following:
- API AQUARIUM SALT Freshwater Aquarium Salt 16-Ounce Box
- Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt For 160 Gallons, Enriched Formulation For aquariums
- Epsoak Epsom Salt 19 lb. Bulk Bag Magnesium Sulfate USP
- Amazon Brand – Solimo Epsom Salt Soak, Magnesium Sulfate USP, 8 Pound
Tank Setup And Size
They require a tank of at least 50 liters to move freely. Else they may become frustrated and isolate themselves, and self-destruct due to stress. Roughly a tank of 150 gallons is needed to make sure there’s enough space for two fish.
If you do a community tank set up with plenty of hiding locations for fish, introducing other fishes will be good, ideally from the cichlid family, as other fishes may struggle to live.
Water Filtration
If you believe your fish is staying in the corner as a result of poor water conditions, you should focus on water filtration. They are temperature sensitive and require two air filters with pumps, as well as fresh water from a water heater set to 26 degrees Celsius.
Because these fish are messy eaters, you should have powerful external filtration and an under gravel filter to keep the water clean to pale white. Penn Plax Aquarium Cascade Canister Filter helps you maintain such parameters in the tank.
Monitor Parameters
If you can’t fix the underlying source of your fish’s behavior of staying in a corner, you’ll have to keep a constant eye on their health. Checking for changes in behavior, swimming patterns, and hunger is part of this process. Any outward indicators of sickness and stress should also be kept an eye out for.
Flowerhorns are sensitive to their surroundings and require special attention. Unless it’s fine-grained gravel, never use gravel, stones, or fake or natural plants in the tank. They require a tank of at least 50-150 liters to move freely. Else they may become frustrated and isolate themselves, and self-destruct due to stress.
Good Tank Mates
If you plan a tank buddy, a medium-sized fish such as a pleco, an Oscar fish, or a silver Arowana that can handle similar environmental conditions should be a good choice. You should not pair them with smaller fish that can’t hold their own against the Flowerhorn.
Roughly a tank of 150 gallons is needed to make sure there’s enough space for two fish. If there is a community tank set up with plenty of hiding locations for fish, introducing other fishes will be good, ideally from the cichlid family, as other fishes may struggle to live.
Nitrogen Cycle
The ‘Nitrogen Cycle,’ a natural mechanism, could be beneficial to remove the deposited ammonia and nitrites. Once developed in an aquarium, it turns harmful waste into safer compounds. So, before we add fish to a tank, it must first go through the nitrogen cycle, which produces unique beneficial bacteria that consume the ammonia produced by the fish.
Ammonia will contaminate the tank if not cycled. It takes roughly a month to produce this without fish. Thousands of ‘Nitrifying’ bacteria survive and grow in the biological media of the aquarium filter, carrying out the Nitrogen Cycle.
Good Water Filtration
You should clean the filtering system regularly and keep clear of clogs. The common reason might be that ammonia (waste) is building up and making him feel sick and not to eat, and more territorial and aggressive. So good water filtration is necessary.
Water Change
Due to the presence of factors such as feed-in excreta, no filtration system will be able to clean water completely, requiring frequent aquarium water changes. After the tank has been flushed, you should regularly change the water by 30 percent until the tank is recycled and the fish are safe, happy, and playful.
Feeding
The Flowerhorn fish is an omnivore that eats whatever it can get its hands on. It eats a wide range of foods and isn’t picky about what it eats. You should include plant-based meals (including pellets), and a protein-rich diet of worms, spirulina, crickets, and prawns. Peas, lettuce, and spinach are among its favorite foods. You should reinforce the high digestibility of the food components to reduce tank water pollution.
Treat For External Parasites And Infectious Diseases
You should consult your veterinarian if you suspect your fish is stuck in a corner due to an infection or disease. It’s critical to get treatment as soon as possible. There is also a capsule called amoxicillin, which kills bacteria.
FAQs
Is Flowerhorn Fish Territorial?
Flowerhorn fish like interacting with their owners and can recognize their faces. However, depending on the breed, they might be territorial and won’t tolerate having another fish in the tank very often. Flowerhorns are normally content to be alone, and combining them with another fish can result in one of them attacking the other.
What Is The Ideal Lifespan Of Flowerhorn Fish?
Flowerhorns live for an average of 8-10 years, while some accounts indicate they can survive for much longer. There are other factors to consider, including genetics, tank conditions, and water temperature.
What Is The Ideal Water Temperature And pH For Flowerhorn Fish?
The ideal water temperature for Flowerhorn fish is rather high, which is 26 to 30°Celcius (78 to 86 °F). The ideal pH level for Flowerhorn fish is between 6.5 and 7.8.
The heater you can choose is hygger Saltwater Tank Titanium Tube Submersible Pinpoint Aquarium Heater with Digital Thermostat.
Are Flowerhorn Freshwater Or Saltwater Fish?
Flowerhorns can only survive in freshwater. In a saltwater environment, the Flowerhorn would drown quickly. In a saltwater aquarium, a flowerhorn fish would “dehydrate.”
What Is The Ideal Hardness Level For Flowerhorn Fish?
Use a good water testing kit to make sure your hardness level is within the specified range. Flowerhorn fish prefer a hardness level of nine to twenty dGH. If the hardness level is not between 8 to 20 dGH, your flowerhorn can feel the stress.
Thus, you can see the flowerhorn staying in the corner of the tank. Use some of the API water testing kits to make sure that the hardness and ph level of the water is in the check.
Conclusion
To prevent flowerhorn from staying in the corner, you should focus on the aquarium being fully equipped with an effective filtration system, temperature, pH, oxygenation, feeding, tank environment, time for tank set up, and water change routine. This can prevent its uncalled behavioral changes, making flowerhorn fish playful and healthy. By following the tips in this article, you can help to keep your flowerhorn fish healthy and prevent them from staying in the corner.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to help you get your fish back on track. Thanks for reading!
