How to Breed the Flowerhorn, Raising Fry, Sexing Flowerhorns

This is a great fish if your looking for a fish to display in your tank.  Breeding Flowerhorn cichlids is something alot of people wish to do and it's easier than you think.  When breeding flowerhorns their are quite a few things to think about before you jump into the investment.  Their are new balloon flowerhorn cichlids that I have seen recently which have caught my eye.

Tank Setup for Flowerhorn Cichlids: These cichlids require a large tank if you have a single breeding pair i recommend a 55-75 gallon tank but as always the bigger the better.

Conditioning Parent Fish:  No matter what people tell you do not feed feeder fish to condition these fish or any other cichlid.  To condition the parents feed frozen silver sides, beef heart, and even blood worms, and live earthworms.

Sexing Flowerhorn Cichlids: While sexing them can be confusing it's best to buy them at 4-6 months of age if you want specific genders.  With males their will be a thinker jawline, and a hump on their head.  Also look at the genital papillae. V-shaped papilla indicates a male fish, while a U-shaped papilla indicates a female fish.

The tempature isn't a huge deal but usually I set it for around 76-78F.  Flowerhorn cichlids breed like many south American cichlids, they pick a flat surface and lay eggs and are usually great parents and are very protective so make sure their in a tank alone.  Any other fish will be a threat to them.  To view pictures of sexing them check out this forum http://www.flowerhornusa.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14646. 
 Eggs usually hatch in 2-3 days and free swimming usually in a week, like I said the parents will pretty much take care of the fry.  Learning how to breed flowerhorn cichlids is easy, if you have any question leave them in comments.