Lone Male Frontosa

[Cap'n]

My friend has a big male frontosa which I may inherit if he decides to move. Over the 10 years this fish has spent in his tank (which is too small now) he has killed off all his other frontosa tankmates. He has left all the other inhabitants alone to such a degree that he shares the tank with a breeding group of buescheri.

If I get a new, larger tank and stock it with frontosa before I bring the big male over, will he let them live and possibly breed with them? Or should I accept the fact that I will only have one, awesome frontosa specimen in the tank?

[wandj]

Frontosas are supposed to like to be in groups. So long as you have a very big tank, give it a try. I think it's a good idea for you to do what you said.....but why not introduce them ALL at the same time? Then they are all swimming around dazed and confused and NO ONE will put up stakes before the other fish get a chance to explore the tank.

Edited January 15, 2006 by wandj

[RDFISHGUY]

Some fronts are just bad to the bone.I had one male that just kicked the crap out of anything in sight until I got another male large enough to take him over. The new dominant male was much less agressive overall and kept the agressive male in check. My mom's boyfriend has that group now and its gone from 6 fish to 13 . They even spawn with clown loaches in the tank. Bottom line is to get another male with a more accepting personality. If he's been the boss for a while he may never accept females or another male until he gets put in his place. If you're going to try it you're going about it the right way. Let another male or 2 get established then rearrange the tank and add the bad boy. Watch closely for a few hrs. Good luck.

[Cap'n]

I like the idea of getting another male, but this guy is over a foot long, where am I going to find another, mellow male that size?

I don't think he is an exceptionally aggressive fish, or anything. He just got crowded, and to be honest, the living conditions in my friends tank leave a lot to be desired.

I'm thinking that he'll have to stay solo, but I'm trying to find out for sure, first.

[RDFISHGUY]

My experience with fronts is that big males that have led a solitary existace don't do well with their own kind but flourish with other species . I had one male when I first started with africans ,15 yrs ago,that did very well in a 77gal with a large jack dempsey, a salvini and 2 oscars. when I put him ina 90 with some girlfriends he killed all 3 inside 3 days. Perhaps 3 wasn't enough but that was my experience. They should probably be kept in six foot tank anyway and with a lot more females so he can't single any fish out . The old lost in the crowd theory. It works well with most Africans.

[African_Fever]

If you think you'll have trouble finding additional males, how are you going to find enough large enough females to put in with him as well? And even then, making sure that they're the same variants can be tough (though if your friend has had this one for that long, chances are good it's a burundi).

[Cap'n]

Yeah, I figured it would be hard to find any fronts suitable, how large would females have to be before he would even consider them?

As far as variants go, I was going to post some pics and see if some experts could indentify. Why do you assume he must be Burundi because of his age?

Well, I'm getting the answers I expected. I won't be wasting my many on additional frontosas.

[African_Fever]

For females, I'd think you'd be after at least 4 in the 6"+ range, the more the better.

My guess about it being a burundi is just that they were the most common front around 10 years ago, and still are the ones that are seen in most LFS's. Try Cyphos.com for all the front info you could ever need, and advice from people keeping every variant as well.