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Remember:
1. Whenever in difficulties, try asking among your friends who have experience or you could ask around in our forum too. As time passes, you will be able to pick up the skills in no time.
2. Never give up easily and keep asking. Do not keep it to yourself as it will only add to your frustration and anger.
3. Is either you hit the right tone, right path or vice versa.

The notes below only serves as a guideline in setting up your first fish tank. It may and may not suit your opinion.

   [ Your First Flower Horn ]

First impression last forever? If you agree, so does your Flower Horn. Your first Flower Horn could be crucial to you. How and guides on selecting your first Flower Horn.

   [ Tank Size ]

   SIZE DOES MATTER!

High cost        : Any size
Medium cost   : 3 feet or bigger
Low cost         : 2.5 feet long x 1.5 feet wide x 1.5 feet height or smaller

   [ Tank Preparation ]

Wash your newly bought tank with clean water by soaking it overnight to test for any leakage and removing any unwanted chemical from the usage of glass sealant.

   [ Tank holder ]

Low budget: Strong table. Not office table as it costs more than a customized aquarium stand.
Medium - High Budget: A customized aquarium stand.

   [ Tank Location ]

Anywhere but not at these places:

1. Near the door where fast moving things passes by everyday. (shock matter)
2. In the kitchen or facing the stove. (psychology matter)
3. Beneath an altar. (religious matter)
4. Bed room. (family matter)
5. Unstable and higher surface than our shoulder like cupboard. (physical matter)
6. Exposed to direct sunlight. (cleanliness matter)

   [ Tank Cleaning ]

Best if you could clean / change your water twice daily. It will stimulate growth and increase the oxygen level in your tank.

You may opt to clean around 50 - 75% of the water a few times before doing a thorough changes.

   [ Compartment Size ]

Best ratio: 0.5:1, half tank for 1 Flower Horn.

   [ Companion ]

Possible companion: Fish of the same size with ample hiding spot in a BIG aquarium.
Our advice: Let Flower Horn roam freely alone in its own aquarium.

   [ Filter ]

Recommended filtration system.

    [x] Inside Filter, Power Head Sponge Filter

    $$$ Wise
 >  Reasonable
    Filtration Result
 >  Good
    Setup
 >  Easy
    Advantages
 >  Easy to clean, effective for all small - medium sizes and filtration results.
    Disadvantages
 >  Less space for fish, power cord limitation, air hose could detach.

   [ Lighting ]

Recommended lighting set.

    [+] Incandescent bulb
    $$$ Wise
 >  Reasonable.
    Power Consumption
 >  Low.
    Heat
 >  Less heat

Additional light can be installed to stimulate and day and night situation. Night light can be switched on before switching off the day light.

   [ Water Quality / pH / GH / KH ]

Factors which affects your water quality, if you have not read it earlier.

Flower Horn will live, eat and breed well within a pH of 7 to 8. As for the countries where pH is not the standard in classifying the alkalinity of the water, read below to get a clearer picture on GH/KH.

At pH 7, based on 120 Gallon (approximate 454 Liter) of water and temperature at 88 F (approx 31 C):

dGH        145 particles per minute (ppm), 8 General Hardness (GH)

dKH        50 particles per minute (ppm), 3 Kalsium Hardness (KH)

   [ Water Temperature ]

Suitable temperature range should be within 25 C - 30 C.

   [ Water Heater ]

Recommended water heater system

    [+] Fully-submersible
    $$$ Wise
 >  Medium
    Ease of Use
 >  Yes.
    Built In Thermometer
 >  Yes.
    Precautions
 >  Not applicable
    Installation
 >  Below water level

Conversion Units:

1 gallon [US, liquid] = 3.785412 liter
1 inch [US, Length] = 2.54 cm

Water Quantity / Aquarium Size L x W x H (inch) / Power Consumption
5ºC Above Room Temperature

10 Gal / 38 Liter       20 x 10 x 12        25 watts
20 Gal / 76 Liter       24 x 12 x 16        50 watts
25 Gal / 95 Liter       24 x 12 x 20        50 watts
40 Gal / 152 Liter     48 x 12 x 16       100 watts
50 Gal / 190 Liter     not available       150 watts
65 Gal / 247 Liter     not available       200 watts
75 Gal / 285 Liter     not available       250 watts

The best time to check your water temperature is after feeding session.

   [ Aqua plant ]

A few plants will be more than sufficient as your tank will not be depending on the biological filter.

   [ Gravel / Sand / Stones ]

Small natural stone / rocks at the bottom and let your Flower Horn dig around your tank for their bower. Bear in mind, it may make your cleaning task takes a bit more complex.

Again, avoid using colored / artificial stones. It's could be poisonous to your Flower Horn.

   [ Ornaments / Decoration ]

Ornaments will only taking up precious space in your aquarium. Just pin up poster to decorate the back and the bottom of your tank will do. Neat, cheap and easy. Your Flower Horn must look good, not your tank decoration.

If you insisted on putting some ornaments in tank, a medium size tree branch (found in the river bed, NOT you create for them) will do to create a hiding spot.

   [ Fish Food ]

Feed your Flower Horn if possible according to schedule. 5-6 times meal a day will be sufficient. Remove all the left over of food after feeding.

   [ Training ]

The MOST important part in training is YOUR PATIENCE. Do not expect your Flower Horn to react to any of your reactions without any training or even after a short term of training. Flower Horn will need to familiarize themselves with their breeder (that's YOU!) before you can attempt to go one step ahead. The best training time is during feeding session. Scheduled daily feeding can be used as the initial attempt to get your Flower Horn familiar with your activities.

You may even place a mirror to show its own reflection, as if there's another fish within the tank. The purpose of this training is to actually make it pearl dots / nuchal hump to become more appealing. Besides, it also promote a better understanding, establishing and familiarizing itself with the environment and atmosphere surrounding them. Your Flower Horn may not react to anything in the beginning or even got frightened but as time passes combined with your patience, your Flower Horn will slowly react to their own reflection.

Once your Flower Horn familiarized themselves with you and the relationship bond is further strengthened, they will know and can differentiate whether you are washing the tank or dipping your hand into the aquarium to play with them. They will even recognize you as you are walking toward the tanks or taking out their food from the freezer.

Flower Horn can react to your palm and fingers movement. They can also "get angry" if you tried to imitate and "tried to dash" toward them. They have the tendency to grab your hair too! They did so many amazing things in the aquarium and your hard work and patience finally paid off. They will do more act for you than your friends. That's the most wonderful part. Isn't this amazing and unbelievable?

   [ Miscellaneous Items ]

Pails, scrubbers, fish net, water siphon and hose.

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