Tropical Fish Forums

[aquaBee]

Hey all! I'm in the process of cycling a 125 gallon aquarium that will be housing frontosa. Just got my nitrite spike, so hopefully another 2-3 weeks and we'll be good to go. We plan on having 1-2 males with 8 females. Few questions:

1) If we get our fronts as juveniles, what's the best way of achieving the appropriate male to female ratio? I read that males grow faster, so one way to do it is start selling off your larger fronts until you have what you think may be all females, and then wait until you can see their egg tubes protrude. Then you buy an adult male and introduce him to your tank of females. Is this really the best way?

2) All the juveniles I've seen at several LFS don't seem to be that healthy. Besides that, I want to be sure my fronts are all the same species. In your experiences, do you recommend buying from an online breeder, say liveaquaria or aquabid? I've never gotten any of my fish online.

Thanks as always,
bee
_________________
All bleeding stops eventually...

[diademhill]

What are the tank's dimensions please?
I'm sat next to a 400 litre tank (105 us gallons) and no way would I put frontosa in it so I think your tank is probably too small for your planned fish.

[aquaBee]

The tank is 72+ inches (~185 cm) long (exact dimensions in inches are 72 1/2 by 18 1/2 by 23 3/8 ). It's mostly the length we're concerned about with frontosas, right? Everywhere I've read regards 125 gallons and 6 feet long as a comfortable size, depending on your stock. Would it be more prudent then to decrease to one male with 5 females, or something of the sort?
_________________
All bleeding stops eventually...

[diademhill]

It is the narrowness of your tank that concerns me. A male frontosa at 12 -15" is a big fish in a tank only just wider than his length.

I'm in the process of switching my pet Geo at 10" SL - 13" TL to an 800L 6'x2'x3' tank as I think he is a bit restricted in his current 5' x 20" footprint tank.

A smaller group or a smaller species?

[aquaBee]

[diademhill]

Personally I would get a group of Neolamprologus tretocephalus instead

[aquaBee]

And why is that?

"extremely aggressive... Kills almost anything in its path... Vicious carnivores..."


_________________
All bleeding stops eventually...

[diademhill]

That applies to adult males -you can keep one males & several females and they won't outgrow your tank
They are usually a species tank fish of course but I kept a group for years with cyprichromis & brichardi in a 6x2x2 tank.

(and most people mistake them for young fronts.)

[aquaBee]

Interesting. I will research them a bit more and also check their availability in our area. But in case we decide on the frontosa, the plan of 1 male to 4-5 females should still be alright yes? At least for the first 2-3 years of their lives? I know I've asked this multiple times but I can't see how it wouldn't work with a smaller group of juveniles who get upgraded soon after reaching maturity.
_________________
All bleeding stops eventually...

[diademhill]

Half a dozen fronts could work & I wouldn't risk any more.

You can often exchange adults but spare males can be difficult to rehome.