i guys i my flowerhorn is been stress for almost one week now he have this stripped pattern on hes body and its really turning darker and darker ive already clean the aquarium,put stress coat, salt and my temperature is on 86 right now. and still no change on its color does the background effect the stressness of the fish?? what can i do to lower or remove the stressness of my fish?? iam feeding my FH chingmix 3 times a day

here is the pics of my FH before and after and my tank set up. please help iam new on Flowerhorn tnx a lot guys.
sorry guys iam having a hard time up loading the pics so i just put it on photobucket i hope it will work.


here is the pics before the fish got stressed out.



and here the pics when hes already stressed.





And here is my 55 gallon tank set up






please help guys iam new on FH tnx a lot..

Maybe... just maybe its not stress mark, its possible to be breeding marks or possible be a female =)

That Fh is clearly NOT a female..


to the OP: I'm having the same problem.. except mine doesn't turn completely black.. I walk up to it and it gets scared of me.. Bumps into the tank and turns semi black then I stand there for a bit and he turns regular again.. Is yours frightened when you approach the tank?

I HAVE A SAME PROBLEM TOO..NOW GETTIN 2 DAYS MY FH HIDING AT THE CORNER..HUHU..MAYBE MY FH NEED TIME.NOW 1 HAVE 4 FH..JUZ 1 FH NEED MORE TIME TO GET USE IN MY AQUA..HUHU

First of all, your fish is male Red + Pearls. And I believe that your fish will have dark face forever since the pearls blood had that gene. By the way, for the stress bars you can try these following.

1. Change the background. He adapted it to his skin. Try full black or full blue sky with good tank decoration. You might planted some plants. But it need thicker gravel like 3 inches with plants base (brown with no white is recommended). This will make your fish have something to do, something to see and something to attract. Not just put him into a tank of water like that! He will have nothing to play with. That's why the kid is stressed.

Let me explain this more clear. When you took it from the fish shop or from the breeder, you would see the most beautiful fish. And that was the reason why you chosen it. But in the breeder house or the fish shop you bought him is the place where many fish tanks or many people doesn't it?

And during that time the fish will have some window play, right? Like when you get him, your fish is really facing you, right? You didn't choose the fish that not facing you, right?

What do you have then?

So?>>> Let do something huh?

here are two other tricks.
2. Lower you venturi pump to the middle hight. Check if your pump will circulate at least 5 times of the whole amount of water in your tank.
3. The white gravel is not good. Better try only brown with

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Frankly say, you are the fish guy. BUT that is not enough. You have to be the artist as well. Hmmm, this is why I like the signature of someone here "Keeping fish is ZEN".

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Good luck!

u should buy a tank mate..give a try for 2 or 3 days..if no difference..don't turn a light on for a few day..

Add salt. increase temp to 90 degrees. feed once a day, medium amount until he gets better.

salt - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. a tablespoon is roughly a kitchen spoonful.


if this doesn't work tell us. my masterpiece was stressed after i changed his water 80% at once a couple weeks back, and i did this treatment and now he's back to his normal self.

He is new, so he will be stressed. It took my FH a week to eat. He needs to settle in and he will.

"Not just put him into a tank of water like that! He will have nothing to play with. That's why the kid is stressed. "

This is not really true, tons and tons of people have bare tanks including myself. My flowerhorn went from sand and lavarock, to red/black gravel and plants, to bare tank with a handfull of gravel to spit around. All the while never showing any signs of stress, whatsoever. Healthy appetite, no bars, no hiding, just a happy energetic little guy no matter what i change, though i try not to change things too quickly/dramatically just a little at a time.

I would however change that background back to blue like he had before, that may be what brought it on. I have never changed the blue background i have its bright and he seems to be happy with it.

See here he is, happy as a pig in in his bare tank. Video of My Flowerhorn