The Flowerhorn cichlids and Arowana must have been on your list if you had ever wished to keep an aggressive kind of fish as a pet. If you get weary of calm, stress-free fish, these two should practically always be your first choice.
These two fish, though liked by many aquarists and sharing many of the same personality traits, each have positives and negatives in my experience. Your pick may differ depending on your personal preferences and style, but in the end, in my opinion, both fish are among your better options.
This article will answer all of your questions on which is better than the other, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining one of the two in your aquarium.f
Reasons To Keep Flowerhorn Cichlids In Tank
The following are some considerations that must be kept in mind when keeping a Flowerhorn as a pet or a breeding animal.
Easier And Efficient To Feed
These fish don’t have particular food requirements, and they’ll consume just about whatever you put in front of them in the form of frozen, live, or fresh, meaty items.
The best prey for the Flowerhorn cichlids fish is other young, healthy fish. It’s preferable to give them other healthy little fish to eat. This sort of diet will maintain the Flowerhorn cichlids’ body healthy, and it is color brilliant. You might also give dry feed, which includes fish, earthworms, etc., a try. You can also use earthworms, wax worms, and so on.
These types of meals are readily accessible at a moderate cost in your local aquarium store and are packed with nutrients that are essential for the Flowerhorn.
If you place it in their tank in small amounts, your fish will consume it, and you won’t need to feed them actively.
- Hikari Flowerhorn Fish Food
- OKIKO flowerhorn Cichlid Fish
- Fluval A6581 Bug Bites Cichlid Pellets
- Amzey Dries Shrimp Fish Foods
- Appetizing Shrimp Mealworms
- Tetra Jumbokrill Jumbo Shrimp
- Ocean Pellets Humpy Xo Flowerhorn Food
Prefers Living Alone
Flowerhorn cichlids are tough to find roommates for due to their aggressive temperament. There is just no way to avoid the fact that these are large fish and consider the tank to be their own. Therefore, keeping your Flowerhorn by itself is the best course of action if you want to go with the safest alternative.
Having a single fish implies less work for the aquarium owner to maintain the health and cleanliness of the fish and the tank because they can concentrate on the needs of that one specific animal.
Territorial In Nature
When it comes to their environment or tank, Flowerhorn fish have a reputation for being fiercely territorial. They need a lot of areas to survive because they are violent animals.
Due to their territorial nature, during breeding sessions, they can protect their female and their eggs from prospective predators, protecting you from a potential financial loss if you consider selling the baby fries.
Easy To Maintain Water Parameters
These fish enjoy the warm water. Thus, the tank should be kept at a temperature of 80 to 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Flowerhorn cichlids require water with a hardness of between 9 and 20 dGH, which is very easy to maintain, and an optimal pH range between 6.5 and 7.8.
To maintain the average temperature, nitrates, and hardness of the water, you simply need to install a water filter and a water heater.
Aggressive Temperament
It’s great to occasionally have a fishy partner who is aggressive. They are constantly moving about in the tank and are energetic. They enjoy social interaction and love to flaunt their exquisite coloring.
You can also teach your Flowerhorn to perform stunts and move along the tank screen using your touch. They typically aid in keeping you entertained and in excellent company.
Breeding Yield
At about 12 to 18 months of age, Flowerhorn is completely ready for breeding and reproduction. They, therefore, significantly reproduce at a young age.
A female can produce 700–1000 eggs during one reproductive cycle during breeding.
These Flowerhorn fries are sold for a very hefty price if they are sold in the current aquarium industry. If you can find a couple that is fertile, breeding and selling Flowerhorn fries will undoubtedly result in a profit.
Brings Good Luck
According to Feng Shui, the Flowerhorn cichlids Cichlid is good for the house since it can draw in positive energy and lessen the impacts of negative energy. According to Feng Shui, the Flowerhorn The colorful fish improves the owner’s success and happiness in many ways.
Happiness, fortune, wealth, and prosperity have all been attributed to the Flowerhorn cichlids’ presence in a family. With the use of this fish in the home, the owner can feel negativities fading away or losing some of their strength. Additionally, the homeowner, or the person who looks after and maintains the fish at home, will witness more and more favorable outcomes.
Colorful And Beautiful Fish
Fish with flowerhorns are stunning and proud creatures. In an aquarium, their vivid colors and Kok are certainly eye-catching. They are available in a variety of colors.
Due to their distinctive color pattern on their body scales and the enormous size of their Kok, which gives them an opulent and threatening appearance, many aquarists prefer to tame these fish.
Easier To Maintain Tank Than Arowana
Compared to Arowana, Flowerhorn is an increasingly average fish. You need a tank of at least 75 gallons with a canister filter, a water heater, and a filter cleaner so that they do not have exorbitant tank requirements compared to a Flowerhorn. Since they produce less waste. You simply need to clean the tank twice every two weeks, Arowana.
Reasons To Keep Arowana In Tank
You should consider the following points and factors when maintaining an Arowana as a pet or a breeding animal.
Ward Off Evil Forces
Arowana fish prevents bad energy from entering the home and promotes the flow of good energy. You can keep an idol of a golden Arowana fish gripping a coin in its mouth if, for any reason, you are unable to keep live Arowana fish inside your home.
In your home, you should keep this idol facing either northeast or east. Some zoologists assume that the Arowana fish established itself in the foothills prior to an earthquake.
Keeping this fish is like setting the alarm because you may shift to a safer location before a natural disaster comes by learning if there is an earthquake.
A Good Luck Icon
The Arowana acts as a magnet for luck and prosperity. The fish is frequently referred to as the most expensive aquarium fish and is one of the most precious feng shui emblems. This fish provides good fortune to its keepers. An old Chinese sacred symbol for the emperor is the dragon. The royal family was thought to be descended from a dragon. Business executives and owners prize receiving this symbolic item as a present.
Arowana’s Eye-Catching Colors
The Arowana’s massive scales and lengthy, whisker-like chin barbels are the reasons it is frequently referred to as a “dragon fish.” These scales are quite lovely and beautiful to add as a decoration to your area because they have a propensity to shine pearly in specific lighting conditions.
They are available in a variety of hues, including red, green, golden, silver, black, and pearl. This will allow you to select the appropriate color from a range of colors that complement your style. Additionally, you can offer them items that enhance color, which will help the color stand out even more.
Aggressive Behavior And Fun To Keep
Arowana fish have an extremely hostile and possessive temperament. They consequently tend to swim around a lot more and are typically highly energetic. Despite being bottom dwellers, they may jump to the surface and bump around, which makes them rather entertaining to watch and play with.
Due to their territorial nature, they may defend themselves and even their partners and young ones when necessary. facilitating the owner’s ability to care for the fry in a communal tank.
Healthy Fishes
Arowana is a resilient fish with very little disease susceptibility. If all fundamental requirements are met, including a balanced diet, good water quality, and water conditions, they hardly ever get sick.
Reasons Not To Keep A Flowerhorn cichlids
Here are some explanations as to why keeping a Flowerhorn for yourself might not be the best idea.
Aggressive To Towards Its Tank Mates
Flowerhorn cichlids frequently assault their tank mates because of their aggressive and possessive personalities. This is one of the main things that makes matching them with other species problematic.
We must select fish with characteristics that are similar to Flowerhorn fish in order to maintain these fish together because it is very difficult to keep them with any random species. Failure to do so may result in the harming of both fish as well as damage to your tank’s ecosystem and its equipment.
Susceptible To Diseases
Flowerhorn cichlids fish are extremely sensitive to their surroundings and the state of the water.
Inability to keep the water in the tank clean and healthy will stimulate the growth of harmful bacteria, fungi, or algae, which could spread to your fish. The Flowerhorn may become infected with diseases including Whitespot Disease, Ich, Hole in the Head Disease, Fungus Formation, and Flukes as a result of unclean and unsanitary water conditions.
To keep the nitrate levels under control and avoid the development of germs and fungus, we must change the Flowerhorn’s tank water every week or two.
Stress Issues
A rise in stress can affect a Flowerhorn in both positive and negative ways.
Yes, it is vital to building up stress on the Flowerhorn fish in order to encourage greater activity and interaction, but if the level of stress increases too much, the fish may become anxious.
This will ultimately lead to the fish acting strangely, like jumping out of the tank, hurting themselves by running into sharp things, and wanting to leave the aquarium’s favorable environment.
Numerous elements, including nutrition, feeding frequency, water quality and conditions, nearby fish, diseases, tank size, etc., play a significant role in stress development.
Most Male Flowerhorn Cichlids Are Infertile
Since Flowerhorn fish are hybrid fish that have been broadly constructed from many varieties of cichlids, they are not pure fish. This has had a somewhat unfavorable effect on their ability to reproduce.
This has led to the majority, though not all, of Flowerhorn cichlids being infertile. The majority of the time, male fishes lose their fertility and are unable to procreate with females. Therefore, if you were to purchase a pair of Flowerhorn for breeding, you would need to be lucky or seek the advice of a professional aquarist to discover a pair that can reproduce.
Finding a pair that can reproduce is quite uncommon.
Reasons Not To Keep Arowana
Here are some of the reasons for not keeping a Flowerhorn as a pet or for breeding in a tank.
Very Large In Size
Arowana, which ranges in size from 6 to 12 inches long, will quickly outgrow its tank in 8 to 10 months. As a result, they frequently require tanks that are larger than those for standard pet fish. You’ll need to spend money on strong or even several water filters and cleaners.
Active Jumpers
Arowana should always have their tanks covered because they are frequent jumpers. Due to their aggressive nature and disposition, they frequently jump out of the tank. As a result, the owner will always run the risk of finding dead fish out of the tank. This can also lead to the risk of damaging your aquarium equipment.
Vigorous Eaters
Young fish, Arowana pellet meals or frozen fish, shrimp, worms, or krill are all acceptable options. Feed adults what they can consume in three to five minutes per day and feed youngsters every two to three hours.
Very Fast Growing Fishes
Because of their surface feeder nature and quick rate of growth, Arowana requires a huge tank to remain healthy. The width of the tank is far more crucial than its height for keeping the fish.
Generally speaking, the tank’s breadth needs to be at least equal to the fish’s length. You should move Arowana to steadily bigger tanks as they become bigger in order to prevent them from getting a permanent spine curvature. The owner should use a tank of more than 200 gallons because mature Arowana can grow to be more than four feet long.
Paired Alone Due To Aggressiveness
Arowana is best maintained alone in a tank with only one species because of its big size and aggressive nature. They must be calm, ideally bottom dwellers, and large enough to avoid being swallowed if kept with other fish. Avoid more aggressive fish that might trample the Arowana’s lovely, long, flowing fins.
Oscars, Green Terrors, Pacu, Tinfoil Barbs, Siamese Tigerfish, and other sizable semi-aggressive fish that are large enough for the Arowana to feed on have all been successfully kept alongside them.
But it’s naturally really hard to pair them up with any fish as they are unpredictable.
Sensitive To Nitrites Than Other Fish
Since Arowana are more susceptible to nitrites than other fish, appropriate filtration, excellent water circulation, and 25 to 50 percent weekly water changes are necessary to ensure maximum health. For the health of these fish, stable water quality is essential.
If there is an imbalance in the environmental variables and the overall health of the water, the fish will show signs of agitation and illness.
FAQ
Can We Keep Arowana And Flowerhorn Cichlids Together?
It is more likely that they will get along if they are raised together, but because the Arowana is usually less aggressive, keeping them together when they are young usually results in the death of the Arowana from the Flowerhorn ‘s persistent badgering.
What Makes Flowerhorn Cichlid Fish Unique?
Aquarium beautiful fish known for their vibrant colors and recognizable head shapes include Flowerhorn cichlids. Nuchal hump is the formal name for the protuberance on their head. They are hybrids that, like blood parrot cichlids, only exist in the wild as a result of their release.
Do Arowana fish make good house pets?
Arowana Fish Is Very Significant.
One of them is the Arowana fish. It is quite advantageous to have Arowana fish inside the home. In Vastu-shastra, the Arowana fish is regarded as being extremely auspicious, along with the goldfish. This fish is viewed as a representation of strength, wealth, success, and good health.
Conclusion
There are many considerations to make and variables that could influence your decision between the flowerhorn and Arowana. Both offer comparable benefits and drawbacks to having one in the tank. making the decision to choose one somewhat more difficult.
Before you choose one over the other, the key considerations you should keep in mind are the food you can provide, their differences in size, the minimum tank size, and their temperament. However, whichever fish you decide to go with from these two, both are excellent alternatives for your aquarium.
So, decide on your fish pet based on the aforementioned considerations and your personal preferences.