In this thread i will try to shed a little more light on specific traits of flowerhorns.
One thing that everyone should learn is the basic traits, if only to save yourself from being ripped off..
There
are small differences in each strain that you may or may not know
about, but hopefully after reading this, you will start to notice these
traits and be able to see what traits a fish has, and possibly what its
make up is..
I will cover Kamfa traits, Zhen Zhou Traits, and kamalau / Golden monkey traits...
Faders can fit into each of these categories, as you can have faded kamfa, faded zz, etc etc..
But usually these are all grouped together into the gold base class..
I will start with one of the most obvious traits, The Mouth..
Kamfa mouth: will have smooth, even thickness lips, that close together without overlapping..
ZZ mouth: Will have an underbite, or lower protruding jaw, where the bottom lip and jaw stick out further than the top..
Kamalau mouth: will
close evenly, like kamfa, but not be the same thickness, the lower lip
is generally thicker than the lower lip, and it will not protrude like
ZZ, but will be pointed upwards giving it the "Monkey" face..
Eyes..
Kamfa eyes: Should be sunken or inset, and can range in colour from, white, blue , yellow, orange, red and any shade between..
ZZ Eyes: will be bright red, and protruding, sticking out a bit from the head..
Kamalau eyes: Preferably should be sunken, just like kamfa..
Tail and fins
Kamfa tail and fins: The
tail of a kamfa should be strong and fan shaped, with the fins curling
inward to wrap around the tail and not leave big gaps..
ZZ fins and tail: ZZ
have a weaker, rounder tail, that sometimes tends to droop when they
are older, and there fins tend to spread away from the body, leaving
large gaps between the tail and fins..
They can also have long trailers on there fins..
Kamalau fins and tail: Should be stronger and wrapped slightly like kamfa, fan shaped, and not have trailers..
Body
Kamfa Body: Should be thick, solid and square
ZZ body: Will be more oval, egg shaped.
Kamalau body: is
solid and squared also, and quite muscular, to the point there can be a
defined line of muscle along the side of them, which is not seen in
other strains..
A few notes: I wont go to far into script, colour, and pearls, because it varys so much these days, but i will add;Script
on the head is originally a ZZ trait, and kamfa had NO head flower, but
these days most flowerhorn strains are bred together for various
reasons and can have these traits.
Worm pearling is a Malau trait, but can be found everywhere also..The only other thing i can think of to add at this time is, if you have any zz traits in a malau, its classed as zz..
You
cant have traits of a lower class fish, in a higher class fish like
malau, without reducing its quality and therefor how its judged and
classed..
For example, a lower protruding jaw or a weak tail on a malau, NOT good..
It is very rare to find a fish with ALL the traits above for its strain.. unless you have found a true Masterpiece..
There is a lot of variation in each strain, and although aiming for all these traits, its hard to get them all..
If anyone has any trouble identifying a fish they are thinking about buying, ask me and i will gladly help!
I
would prefer to look at a fish and tell you its not a king kamfa, or a
golden monkey, before you fork out 4 or $500 for a ZZ..
Also, feel free to ask questions at any time if you would like to know more about anything..Thankyou all for reading, i hope it helps...
Regards, Paul..
