would like some advice on tank mates for a flowerhorn.

[nem]

as title states im after some advice on what a suitable tank mate(s) would be for my flower horn.

the tank is a 6x2x2 and has a sump filter.

the flower horn(affectionately nicknamed "cuddles") is about 3 years old.

also in the tank is a female bristle nose catfish i rarely see her, but theres tracks up the glass where shes been.

i should also mention that cuddles is rather aggressive.

any advice/thoughts on the matter much appreciated.

thanks in advance
michael

[nem]

heres some pictures of cuddles

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv25 ... ia/010.jpg

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv25 ... ia/013.jpg

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv25 ... ia/012.jpg

sorry about the dodgey pics im not a very good photographer

[Carylnz]

I suspect adding something at this late stage may be impossible. Cuddles considers the tank "his" territory and will likely attack anything you try and introduce.

[nem]

fair enough then, ill stick to adding some plants and rocks.

[Carylnz]

You might get away with it if you totally rearrange his tank and make sure there are spaces out of line of sight.

[nem]

You might get away with it if you totally rearrange his tank and make sure there are spaces out of line of sight.

so if i added more places to hide and some larger features, what kind of fish should i look at?

currently i have a fair bit of drift wood and gravel substrate.

i had thoughts of building some tunnels from PVC pipe and placing them under the gravel

[Carylnz]

Found the following information which should help you...
As the Flower Horn is from the South American Cichlid family, this fish is very territorial. Thus, they are very aggressive in nature. Co-existing with other fish is not advisable, especially smaller fish. Some parties have claimed that we can "play" with the Flower Horn. In actual fact, Flower Horn is actually trying to get rid of the "intruder" (be it a stick or a person's hand). Therefore, it is advisable that we keep our hands to ourselves as the fish has quite a nasty bite depending on the size of the fish. Flower Horn is not selective on food and their consumption is high. Worms, small shrimps and pellet fish food will do fine. What type of food or whether their stomach is fully filled are not a major issue, but the type of food which do not pollute the water should be taken into consideration. You can underfeed but not overfeed Flower Horn, thus it is advisable to feed them two to three times daily. Flower Horn may grow up to approximately12 inches in length depending on its breed and may live to 8 to 10 years. I have seen Flower Horns that were 16 inches long, breed by a skillful fish breeder.
Whether or not your FH will accept "ANY" tankmate, especially when mature, depends on the individual fish... But I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.
The Flowerhorn might co-exist with a syondontis catfish or two, and perhaps a pleco (give them plenty of hiding places, though). Other than that, no new tankmates.

Someone had a 473L tank and was told large cichlids in nature will stake out territories that are 4 feet in diameter or more. Thus most tanks in the hobby are not large enough to contain multiple competing species. This guy had tried to add an oscar and the FH ate it.
I think your tank holds roughly 594L. You might like to try a bottom dweller but, as suggested, make sure there are plenty of places for it to hide from the FH. You may not see it much! It looks like general opinion is against trying to add anything that shares the same swimming space.

[nem]

Found the following information which should help you...
As the Flower Horn is from the South American Cichlid family, this fish is very territorial. Thus, they are very aggressive in nature. Co-existing with other fish is not advisable, especially smaller fish. Some parties have claimed that we can "play" with the Flower Horn. In actual fact, Flower Horn is actually trying to get rid of the "intruder" (be it a stick or a person's hand). Therefore, it is advisable that we keep our hands to ourselves as the fish has quite a nasty bite depending on the size of the fish. Flower Horn is not selective on food and their consumption is high. Worms, small shrimps and pellet fish food will do fine. What type of food or whether their stomach is fully filled are not a major issue, but the type of food which do not pollute the water should be taken into consideration. You can underfeed but not overfeed Flower Horn, thus it is advisable to feed them two to three times daily. Flower Horn may grow up to approximately12 inches in length depending on its breed and may live to 8 to 10 years. I have seen Flower Horns that were 16 inches long, breed by a skillful fish breeder.
Whether or not your FH will accept "ANY" tankmate, especially when mature, depends on the individual fish... But I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.
The Flowerhorn might co-exist with a syondontis catfish or two, and perhaps a pleco (give them plenty of hiding places, though). Other than that, no new tankmates.

Someone had a 473L tank and was told large cichlids in nature will stake out territories that are 4 feet in diameter or more. Thus most tanks in the hobby are not large enough to contain multiple competing species. This guy had tried to add an oscar and the FH ate it.
I think your tank holds roughly 594L. You might like to try a bottom dweller but, as suggested, make sure there are plenty of places for it to hide from the FH. You may not see it much! It looks like general opinion is against trying to add anything that shares the same swimming space.

thank you for finding that.

i did a quick calculation and my tank totals 679 litres id say actual water held would be closer to 670, not including sump.

there is one bristle nose in there shes quite large, ive been told shes around 7 years old. i rarely see her as she matches the colour of the drift wood.

i thought maybe some night dwelling fish may do better, from what i can tell my flower horn is predominately a day creature, when the light go out he becomes very sluggish and tends to hide down behind some drift wood.