Boom Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Hello, I am considering swapping out my current tank inhabitants (all males mix) in my 180 gallon, for Frontosa. I have the opportunity to get a WC pair of Blue Zaire Fronts, male and female, that are full grown. (Female is about 10", male is about 11 or 12") I'm told they are about 4 to 5 years old, of coarse being WC nobody can be real sure. They were caught and transported as juvy's though, so thats the best guess. I would prefer to have more than 2 fronts in a 180, so here are my questions: The current owner says they breed about twice a year, but haven't lately. If I get them, I would want them to breed and keep some of the fry. How old do fronts get and how long do they breed for? (till what age?) Can the fry stay in the 180 or should I seperate them? What tank mates can I have in the 180 and what are the chances of the Fronts still breeding with these tankmates? - 1 pair black calvus, 1 WC Goldhead Comp., group of firecracker lelupi's OR group of young electric yellows (would prefer the lelupi's to keep the tank Tanganyikan, but are they too aggressive?), how about Syn. petricolas? will they cause me problems (steal eggs/babies?) Other tangs that can go? What about other malawi fish, such as a large male Red Empress, or male peacocks? The tank has been established with many fish since October. It has a 33 gallon sump (with about 1400GPH flow) and 2 powerheads for filtration and flow. It stays at 78 to 80* and ph about 8.0. The tank has many rocks, sand substrate, a few pieces of driftwood, and fake plants. I would not be overly concerned with breeding anything other than the fronts, but would want them to breed hopefully repeatedly over several years. I do have several small tanks to seperate and grow out fry. Thanks for any help. Boom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 For what it's worth, I found all my answers for this on another forum. Thanks for all the help everyone! Boom :boom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Why the rolling eyes gif? You're asking a LOT of questions, that no doubt not many people here are qualified to answer. I can't answer all of your questions, but after reading the additional info that you posted on CF I would have to agree with Joe et al, pass on the WC "pair" (most likely being sold as they are not breeding for the curent owner) and get yourself a younger, larger group of cyphos & grow them out in your 180. If your long term goal is to breed the fish & sell the juvies, then your best bet would be to keep it as a single species tank. Also, the person on CF that stated that juvie cyphos are seldom collected/exported, is wrong, especially when it comes to the rarer variants. Even a 2-3" specimen is worth collecting & exporting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) Thanks Neil. Just being sarcastic, in humour of coarse. I didn't expect any one person to be able to know all the answers, but collectively there is an aweful lot of knowledge on THIS forum, I was hoping for some responses. At any rate, so people know, I am getting a group of 11 F1 mpimbwe frontosa, as well as a dozen firecracker leleupi's (2" +), from Harold (Fairdeal). I will add my black calvus pair, and WC golhead Compreciseps to the tank, as well as some Juli's and the syno. petricolas that are already in there. That setup will not likely be succesful for breeding the fronts, which is fine for now, they're not big enough to breed yet anyway. It should make a fantastic display tank! That will give me time to decide if I want to focus on breeding fronts, which if I decide to do, I will remove everything but the fronts, and have a species only tank for that purpose. I decided to NOT go with the adult WC Zaire blues because I do fear that with there being only 2 of them, and no way of knowing how old they are, the current owner might be selling them because they no longer breed and produce fry. Which shuts the door to that option if I decide. I think it'll also be nicer to grow them up, even though the ones I am getting aren't all that small. Rest assured I will be posting pics of the new fish in the 180! Look for it! Here is a question for you though Neil. At what size should I switch to 3mm pellets for the fronts? I'll be feeding them 1mm NLS for now. I still have 3/4 of a bucket of the NLS 1mm, and ideally would like to use that up. The fronts are between 3" to 4.5" when I get them on Saturday. Thanks. Boom :boom: Edited June 3, 2009 by Boom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denzkyasia Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hello, I am considering swapping out my current tank inhabitants (all males mix) in my 180 gallon, for Frontosa.I have the opportunity to get a WC pair of Blue Zaire Fronts, male and female, that are full grown. (Female is about 10", male is about 11 or 12") I'm told they are about 4 to 5 years old, of coarse being WC nobody can be real sure. They were caught and transported as juvy's though, so thats the best guess. I would prefer to have more than 2 fronts in a 180, so here are my questions: The current owner says they breed about twice a year, but haven't lately. If I get them, I would want them to breed and keep some of the fry. How old do fronts get and how long do they breed for? (till what age?) Can the fry stay in the 180 or should I seperate them? What tank mates can I have in the 180 and what are the chances of the Fronts still breeding with these tankmates? - 1 pair black calvus, 1 WC Goldhead Comp., group of firecracker lelupi's OR group of young electric yellows (would prefer the lelupi's to keep the tank Tanganyikan, but are they too aggressive?), how about Syn. petricolas? will they cause me problems (steal eggs/babies?) Other tangs that can go? What about other malawi fish, such as a large male Red Empress, or male peacocks? The tank has been established with many fish since October. It has a 33 gallon sump (with about 1400GPH flow) and 2 powerheads for filtration and flow. It stays at 78 to 80* and ph about 8.0. The tank has many rocks, sand substrate, a few pieces of driftwood, and fake plants. I would not be overly concerned with breeding anything other than the fronts, but would want them to breed hopefully repeatedly over several years. I do have several small tanks to seperate and grow out fry. Thanks for any help. Boom just visit this site you can learn a lot this forum all related to frontosa..www.cyphos.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) Funny, I was just going to post a link to http://www.cyphos.com/forums/index.php? Many members there feed NLS as their staple, so it might be best to ask there as far as when it's best to switch to the 3mm pellet size. (or just ask Harold - they may already be eating 3mm) Your Tang com set up will be fine for now, but as you already know it won't be ideal for long term breeding success. Too many egg robbers in that bunch. Edited June 3, 2009 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 The problem I see if you feed the 3 mil is the other fish in the tank might have a hard time with that size. What I often see if you feed pellets that are to big for the fish is they will struggle with them while the bigger fish eat all the food and then when the smaller fish gives up and spits it out one of the bigger guys will grab it and the little guys are left with nothing.You could try the 2 mil and see what happens. But if I rememember right fronts will do good on 1 mil till they hit about 5 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Good point Jorg, the rest of the fish will most certainly struggle with a 3mm pellet. Even 2mm may prove too large for some of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popik Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 try not to deplete all the local fronts as i still want to add a few more in the near future haha i picked up 4 from a local guy a couple months ago and they are some of the most interesting fish i have owned...kind of like a dog...but in water i feed mine 3mil and they are bout 4-4 1/2in but they eat the 1 mil when i trow some in as well. hope you enjoy them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Thanks guys. If I did switch to 3mm, it would be a slow switch to see how they did with it. And I'd also throw 1mm in at the same time for other fish. I didn't realize they even made a 2mm pellet? Must be new? I may have to try that as well! Besides NLS, what can I feed the fronts for live or frozen food? Neil, I know you'll say I don't need to. But if I want to, what else is good eatin' for them? I see videos of guys feeding their fronts out of their hand, what are they feeding them? I'm very excited to get them. Boom :boom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I find that adding different size pellets at the same time doesn't work well, the smaller fish still want the bigger pellets first and screw around with them until all the food is gone. On some of my grow out tanks I find that adding the smaller size first and then the larger size 30 seconds later helps everybody get some food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 The 2mm (Medium Fish formula) came out last summer, Nature's Corner Store has it in stock. If you really feel the need to supplement their diet, Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) would be a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairdeal Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I feed my smaller fronts (up to 1 1/2") NLS Grow, homemade European shrimp mix (my own special high protein concoction), cut up krill, flakes and earthworm flakes. The next bigger ones (up to 2 1/2") NLS 1mm, small krill, European shrimp mix, flakes and cut up earthworms (summer months). After 2 1/2" they get NLS 1 and 3mm, whole krill, European shrimp mix, small or cut up shrimp, whole or bigger pieces of earthworms and the big earthworm flakes ocassionally. The adults get NLS 3mm and twice a week NLS Thera A+ 5mm, whole shrimp, krill, European shrimp mix, big earthworm flakes and whole earthworms. Like all my fish after 2" they are fasted at least 1 day a week. They are fed twice daily up to 4" or so then they are fed only once daily. I feed lightly every morning for the smaller ones and then feed at different times in the afternoon or night so they never get into a feeding schedule. The different types of food also help them not get complacent about the food and they can hardly wait each day to see what is on the menu. The adults literally come out of the water to grab whatever is being served before it even hits the water. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popik Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 i feed my tank of Africans and a small group of fronts a steady diet of 3mm NLS with a 1 day a week fast...and on special days they get an additional treat of either blood worms or some brine shrimp...everyone is heavily coloured...happy and growing steadily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) Wishing you the best - I had frontosas in a 180 -mpimbwe. For about two years. Started out with about 9 of them 2-5 inches in size. They finally spawned. I kept them by themselves. Both the adults and the fry. A beautiful looking fish. I may try them again sometime. They were just a little too "placid" for me. I don't want aggression but these guys just were not active enough for my liking - a great looking fish though. Edited June 5, 2009 by punman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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