Breeding Flowerhorn Part 6
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In our previous artical we went over the Flowerhorn spawning process. Next, we will go over Flowerhorn behavior after the they spawn.
The great news is that Flowerhorn, unlike many other species of cichlid, will usually not eat their eggs. With that said, they will display several post spawn activities that many other Cichlids display. The female Flowerhorn will take up a position above the eggs and will mouth the eggs continuosly. The purpose of the female Flowerhorn mouthing the eggs is to get rid of any eggs that are infertile and to keep fungus from forming on the eggs. She will defend the eggs with her life. If you are brave enough to put your hand in the tank somewhere near the eggs, she will viciously attack it (and it can hurt). Much of the time she will drive the male away from being around the eggs, but not always. The amount of aggression betwen the couple can vary significantly between different pairs of Flowerhorn. The male will usually stay somewaht near the eggs guarding against any other threats such as other fish, but will not be so close as to irritte the female. If you put your hand anywhere in the tank, even on the other end, the male Flowerhorn will attack it. While the male and female will show some aggressive behavior towards each other, they will not usually do any actual damage to each other while the eggs are viable. Once the eggs hatch out, that can change and the male will sometimes kill the female. We recommend that you take the female out before the Flowerhorn fry become free swimming.
