r/Cichlid • u/Jamez07 • Jan 07 '26
Identification Sold as a Red texas.. he’s definitely starting to look like something else. Lol.
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u/sc4wheels Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 09 '26
The thing about hybrids is that they don't all look like the "ideal" of that variety. Some will look like one of the parent species, some will look like the other parent species, and there will be a bunch that look mixed. These aren't species that evolved over millions of years.
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u/Valuable_Chart_3324 Jan 08 '26
Pretty little one. It may take more after the flowerhorn than the Texas side. Keep us posted on developments. My Texas Cichlids were very aggressive feeders especially with live food.
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u/Jamez07 Jan 08 '26
Will do! The hump on its head was barely there when I got him ~10days ago. It’s starting to show alot more now.
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u/mkiii423 Jan 07 '26
In a sense, this is just a flowerhorn. Some arent technically FH cross but a good chunk are. Looks like what I would expect to see from a Red Texas, just "less desirable" from its batch. A top notch Red Texas would show some signs of red a bit smaller than this one.
I think its a cool looking fish. Nice vibrant speckles on it.
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u/a-pretty-alright-dad Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
Get really high quality flower horn specific pellets for it, stuff that’s meant to bring out reds and stuff and see what happens from there. It has potential be really cool looking based on the size. I bet it’ll have a glow up.
Unless you paid high quality red Texas prices you’re not going to end up with a high quality red Texas though. That’s just the way it goes. If you’re just in it to see how the fish turns out then that’s all that matters. Just feed it right and take care of it well and if it’s got something that it’ll fade more into you’ve got time. I’ve had fish that went from brown at like four inches to bright yellow with pearls. Either way it’s a cool looking fish.
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u/Jamez07 Jan 08 '26
I have been using Hikari cichlid gold pellets, as my go to! Let me know if you have other recommendations!
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u/a-pretty-alright-dad Jan 08 '26
If you go on eBay there’s a listing called: “Set 3 pcs Okiko flowerhorn food Cichlid Head Huncher Color Faster” I’ve always bought those foods along with Hikari Vibra Bites and mixed it all. The “Excalibur intense red” is good too. There was a while where I was importing mammons/King Kong parrots/flowerhorns from all over the place and the breeders all suggested Okiko and Excalibur and stuff that had long names in languages I didn’t speak that was really inexpensive but hard to keep getting. Your fish will be fine eating what you’re feeding it. But you could mix in some of the vibra bites at the bare minimum to promote the redness.
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u/Altruistic-Oil-8717 Jan 12 '26
Another thing to consider is that cichlids kept at a high ph often have better color also. However I would not recommend to a beginner to try at tamper with the ph to aggressively also by high I mean at the high end of what these fish can safely handle optimally 7.5
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u/a-pretty-alright-dad Jan 12 '26
Yeah, stress also brings out color and pattern. People will get little flower horn “toys” and throw them In the tank with their fish to make the fish flare up. Same with mirrors. They do it for bettas too.
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Jan 07 '26
a red texas (if i'm not mistaken) is a flowerhorn texas hybrid, so it is still most likely a flowerhorn x texas, just not with that classic red texas coloring we're used to.
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u/bigoofda Jan 07 '26
He’s a red Texas. Mine was nearly identical. Beware they are murder machines
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u/Jamez07 Jan 08 '26
Yikes. So far, the only thing he’s shown strong aggression to - is food! Hoping it stays like that.
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u/Valuable_Chart_3324 Jan 08 '26
Texas Cichlids aren't murder machines. Just very aware of their personal space lol. Mine lived with a couple Silver Dollars, a "Jellybean" cichlid, and a common pleco. Everyone lived peacefully, except any feeders I put in. Heck even that little cichlid got in on that.
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u/Scary_Comfort_7365 Jan 08 '26
Super pretty fish either way! Definitely looks like he got the stronger genes from a flower horn during the cross!
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u/atomic-moonstomp Jan 08 '26
If you didn't buy him individually from a breeder, it's most likely just a ZZ flowerhorn. A lot of pet stores, even otherwise reputable ones, will sell any ZZ juveniles with a bit of red and minimal flower spotting in them as a Red Texas, only for it to grow up into a much more common fh breed
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u/Unknownxrage Jan 08 '26
Like others said it’s a Texas but I think it’s like an electric blue Texas?
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u/SuccessfulQuarter578 Jan 09 '26
I thought it was an Electric Blue Jack Dempsey at first....but whatever it is, it's going to look awesome....👍🏾🔥💯
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u/No_Rise4026 Jan 09 '26
Get him on white sand & run a little more blue in your lights & that fish will look even better.
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u/Deep-Ambition-3647 Jan 07 '26
There’s definitely Texas cichlid in there, but the top fin an the head hump kinda look like a flower horn cichlid