Facts and Rumors of Flowerhorn Fish

Facts and Rumors of Flowerhorn Fish

Flower Horn fish is a Cichlid which is classified under the genus Cichlasoma that comes from the South American Cichlid family. Within just a few years, it has ignited a new trend in the tropical fish market all over Asia and spreading to western countries as well.

Similar to Blood Parrot fish, Flower Horns originated from selective cross breeding. This beautiful hybrid is thought to be cross-breed between Cichlasoma Trimaculatus, Cichlasoma Festae and Jingang Blood Parrot. But to date, a lot of better quality Flower Horn has been produced due to the intensified eagerness of breeders to produce the best quality fish resulting in availability of various strains such as Golden Flower Horn (aka Kam Fa), Golden Mercury, Coronation Link, etc. The most distinguished feature of Flower Horn fish is by its protruding head and its unique body design.

Flower Horn fish is highly adaptable and is not very demanding when it comes to techniques of care. In general, they are relatively easy to raise and suitable for fish hobbyist who has never kept a tropical fish before. As all living things, Flower Horns display their most glorious forms and colors when they live comfortably in a suitable environment. For detail techniques of care, the instruction can be found at Basics of Flower Horn Fish Keeping. Choosing a healthy beautiful Flower Horn is as important and the graphical description can be found at Flower Horn Fish Standards.

Some parties have claimed that we can ‘play’ with Flower Horns. As Flower Horn originated from South American Cichlid, they are quite territorial in nature. In actual fact, the Flower Horn fish is actually trying to get rid of the intruder; be it a stick or a hand. Thanks to its aggressive nature, Flower Horn is said to be more interesting and responsive, unlike most pet fish which shy away under the same condition.

In the aspect of ‘feng-shui’, a fully developed hump on the Flower Horn’s head symbolizes prosperity, luck and longevity. It is believed that a huge hump on the forehead enhances a better feng-shui for the owner. Thus, the saying goes “the bigger, the better”!

Another interesting feature of the Flower Horn is the black horizontal markings or known as just ‘flowers’. Some of these markings resemble Chinese characters and this fetch a high price for the owner. Additionally, rumor has it that early Flower Horn hobbyist had won lottery numbers by the digits supposedly seen on these horizontal black markings / flowers. This resulted in a believe that Flower Horn brings prosperity, luck and longevity.

All in all, the unique appearance of Flower Horn is the main reason that attracts people’s interest and attention. This is undoubtedly one of the causes that Flower Horn fish has been able to generate such popularity in such a short time.