hello there to all fhusa members. I need some expert advice on how to keep and maintain a masterpiece. I have a 60 gallon tank right now with a bare tank. I don't have the fish in my tank yet because it is on its way from a recent group buy. My tank has been cycle for about a week and its ready for the fish whenever he gets here hopefully Sunday or Monday. I just want to know if a powerhead is necessary if my tank is bare, and would any air stone be a good for this little fish? Any other advice will be helpful well heres a pic of him.

Well the most important thing, as with any fish, is good clean water, and a well cycled tank. Also a well varied quality diet of pellets and treats. High quality filter. I am not real familiar with how ph and the like affect the fish. I have read that higher ph helps bring out kok, lower ph is better for color. Not sure if it's true or not, but I've read that. I have my first MP on the way also, so I am in the same boat as you bro. That fish is really sweet man, you have to give us lots of updates!! I'm sure others will chime in with other tips, there are a ton more people more knowledgable than myself that could help you out more. One thing I do suggest is feed pellet with anaxtacin stuff, it helps bring the red out. Raw shrimp (shell has the most), and krill are 2 very good natural sources of it.

and a partrige in a pear treeeeeee listen to him..

thanks alot vittleking you always give good infos. and i know you also bought a fish from the groupbuy. i wanted the one you had too untill it was paid in full by you then i fell in love with this fire malau

you got a very solid fish also bro. I think yours would have been my second choice. This is going to be fun

Nice, pick up, I really like the color on him. If you didn't add any beneficial bacteria from an old aquarium or from a bottle, 1 week of cycling might not be enough. You can easily run a filter from an older established tank on your new tank for a day and that should help out a lot. A powerhead or an airstone will be great for aggitating the surface of your tank water and this will increase the amount of O2 in your water. Depending on the type of filter you are using and how you place the filter, you may not even need an extra powerhead or airstone. FHs really like to claim a territory and they like some hiding places so I would give him some gravel to throw around and perhaps some plants and a flowerpot or ceramic plate so he can display or claim his territory, this will help bring out his colors and kok. Don't forget to update us once your MP settles down

i got aquaclear 70. should i just put a little bit of gravel? i dont like a big pile because it gets too messy on the bottom. i will try to come up with something tomorrow. thanks a lot simon

i would go with red gravel

i have like rocks? but its not like rough its a nice flat surface smooth rock. im going to put a bit so it doesn't leave anything on the bottom

gravel is good.. but not too much.. depend on the colour of ur fish and ur lightning colour that u going to use bro... and otherwise low ph bring out the kok ... high ph bring out the colour.. but not into every single fish.. every single fish got a diff treatment.. stay focused on the first few weeks.. and then u kno wuts to do.. good luck bro

thanks for the advice guys

Add 2 gallons of used water get it from a freind with a tank or a lfs might give u some put in some live glass shrimp or convict or two to help cycle the water gl luv the fh u got

Thanks for picking this fish bro and about how to take care a fish simple bro :

1. Make sure you already provided a good water system for these guy and also pay attention about the water conditions from Ph level until the temp coz maybe u need sum heaters coz the temp at US or so cold.

2. Before the fish are arrived make sure you already prepare hos tank and 24 hours before (minimum time) you already cycle the water at the tank that you already prepare for him.

3. When the fish arrived in ur hands open the fish bag then see if the fish still reacting normal or not??If not then u need to prepare a bucket and air pump then put the fish on the bucket until stable. But if still reacting normal don't you rite away put the fish into the tank after u check his conditions then put the bag into the tank (make sure u already clean the bag from dirt, etc) even the fish still in the bag. Then after 30 minutes slowly release the fish from the bag then see if the fish acting normal then turn off the lights and gave him sumtimes to adjust his new envi and after 1-2 hours pass then u can start to feed the fish with a PELLETS ONLY for a small amount (10-15 pellets) then after 3 hours a head u can gave him with the same amount.

IF your fish can finish around 30 pellets in hald hours I think ur fish already back to normal and you can started to pump him with sum variety foods that u likes bro as long CLEAN and will not making our fish sick.

4. Adding gravel is such a great idea bro coz that will help you to hold sum bad things when u doing water change like sum bad chemical that not good for fish since all of that bad chemical will slowly drown to the bottom, and remember bro as long you don't forget to clean that gravel once a week.

5. Lighting for me that also such a important things for me but I don't know what others members said but for me it's a important things even we human needs a sun lights rite bro??So what I see lights can be the replace the sun for our fish coz will also help to good water system to produce sum bacteria that will help for our fish benefit bro.

6. Menu for me the best food for FH is pellets coz sterile and most of them already contain a good materials on it but sumtimes we didn't realize using pellets will harms our water conditions that's why if you boost your fish using pellets than water must be in top conditions and I'm sure the pellets will works like they should be.

7. Good luck with him bro from point 1 until 6, hopefully u understand my standard english and once again Good luck with him....Many thanks and GBU

best regards,
jonz88

I'm going to pin this, there is some great information here. Bro Jonz, thanks again for your help. Not every breeder takes the time to help people out, so thanks for your great contributions to the community once again. I have a question about point #1 you made above. Could you explain a little more about how PH affects the fish? And what is ideal PH for your fish, I think that would help a lot also.

thanks alot jonzz cant wait this this suck to arrive. i will take your advice and put some gravel. i should be fine because i just bought a powerhead so hopeful it will help me save a bit of a time to clean the bottom of the tank

get one of those hydor V sponge filters and put the powerhead on that bro, that should do the trick well, and create good current too. Aquaclear powerheads have a filter attachment you can buy cheap if you have an AC. I like the ac's because they have the air line that puts bubbles in the jet.

Thank bro and actually I just try to help our friends here coz for me before we stated want to pump a masterpiece then we should master our water conditions that basiclly just my oppinion. About Ph effects to the fish okay let me try to explain this....

What I see from my observations FH likes Ph around 7.5-8 (maximum) and I'm not suggesting using any chemical for raising or dropping Ph level coz will harm our fish. One week I tested this Ph level stuff with my electronic Ph measure so I can check my Ph level every day or even every minutes...

Tank A : Kamfa diveded with ZZ

Tank B : KKP diveded with red base female (died yesterday )

When the Ph level are 7.7-7.8 they seems very active and eats well then when the Ph level reach 6.4-6.0 they acting diff not to active and then until I drop the Ph level until 5-4 they looks not moving to much and colors looks bad then the lowest point that I tested is 3-4 then they stop eating....then after that ASAP I change the water and then after 2 hours later they back to normal like day one.....hopefully this will help and answer regarding bro Joe question...Many thanks and GBU

best regards,
jonz88

well my tap water is usually around 7.8 so that works out perfect for me =) Thanks for such usefull information for everyone Jonz!!

my tank is ready. cycled for about a good week and. added some water from my 30 gal to my 60 gal to help with the cycling. i added some gravel very light on the bottom enoff to still see through the glass on the bottom. Got a airstone in it. Powerhead is working fine, current on the powerhead is not strong. I'm making it shoot right in the tank to the left. So theres no major current in my tank that would stress the new in coming fish. Aquaclear 70 works perfect. Will do a water change tomorrow so it will be crystal clear and good when the fish comes in on Sunday.

jonz...any tips on lowering the ph without chemicals????

wood will help out, peet or moss I think it is works also from what I hear. A lot of discus people use that I believe.

heres my advice:

1.) use coral substrates

2.) ph should be 7.5 - 8.5

3.) 30% water change twice a week

4.) feed your fish only twice a day (early morning and afternoon) live or pellets.

5.) use blue light for lighting your aquarium.

What for bro did ur FH needs low Ph level like discuss??But hopefully this not for ur FH hehehe I used woods and same like bro Joe said that stuff can helps bro!!!Thanks for good question and I really appriciated !GBU

best regards,
jonz88

i figured since this was a pinned topic...get all the info we could about it..thats all.. thanks bro

thanks for the info jonzz. im going to pick up the fish right now jonzz. i will take good care of it and ill show you some udates. ill have pictures of him when he setttle in my tank tonight

good info

Good info. I am getting ready for the Super Koky Red Flowerhorn fries from the GB. Really looking forward to this batch.

so is it true that red gravel or wat colour gravel really bring out the colour of the flowerhorn

Yes, it creates that affect.

imma go with red gravel also