New Bonsai Flowerhorn

Here us a new flowerhorn I got last month but I forgot I have not uploaded pictures. I got this fish from the same person I got Bonee (my other red dragon bonsai flowerhorn).

So, here it is (and I hope it's a 'she'). It's a bonsai (short body) flowerhorn.

Bonsai Update

This is just for Bonie

Before (2 weeks after I got him)

After (a few weeks ago):

Bonee was in a 20gal tub so I had to raise him to take a photo.

This is them today (Aug 15, 2013)

The photos are around 3 months apart. I would say he got more round than before. It's nearer the coin shape. The mouth is also not as pointed as before. Kok has definitely grown.

What do you guys think?

Update (10/23/2013)
Male is doing better. I put him back to a crate to grow out some more. His colors really intensified!

The female is starting to fade out. She looks really pale now. Since she doesn't have much pearls, she'll be a pale white fish. :(

My Flowerhorn

Bonee

Saia

I really like the short bodied-flowerhorn (aka bonsai flowerhorn). I prefer them over normal-bodied ones. I like them because they are more than the usual although they can be hard to find. Also, one of the challenges to bonsai flowerhorn is developing their nuchal hump/kok/head bump. If you have one with a kok (a well developed kok), you have quite a catch.

I am planning to breed these two fish together (Bonee is the male and Saia is the female). Saia is hinting some kok development and I want to further develop the kok in future generations. I am also planning to get a titanium/thai silk female to pair with Bonee because I want to develop the pearling pattern even more. Bonee is showing some very promising pearls. There are other strains that I plan to cross with my bonsai to develop the pearls namely the Heavy Metal strain and the Pinoy Super Perfect strain. Both local strains have very good, very big koks and will help develop the kok too. But, I wonder what the effect will be to the body of my bonsai...I might have to breed out the bonsai body again after generations of damage control.

Hey! I stumbled on this fish in a local forum. I really like the fine pearling on this fish. A friend of mine told me that redness will also help develop the kok. The redder the fish is, the bigger its kok could get. So, this could be a very good candidate and stands as the number one choice in outcross breeders. I just hope I find one that is a short body.

I'll give you updates when I breed them. I'm still trying to make space for a 50gal tank for them to breed and raise fry in.