hi everyone i was wondering what would be the best tank setuo for a frontosa like gravel or sand? and what kinds or decoration like dead coral or flat rock to make caves and stuff like that if you want post some pics or your frontosa tank plz thanks kevin

Frontosa sift and dig sand. Gravel is hard for them to sift for the food. So sand. Coral sand will raise the ph and harden the water for them. So Coral Sand. I use Eco Complete Cichlid Substrate.

I used 75 lbs of lace rock in a 125 usg tank with two males and 4 females. I should have used 25 lbs more. I had to remove one of the males and a female recently because the dominant male and females were tearing them up badly.

The pics of the tank and fish are posted in the pinned thread above.

Frontosa are an expensive commitment and investment. My 3"-4" wild caught blue Moba fronts were over a $100 apiece + shipping (over $100) more than a year and a half ago. (I believe I saw an F1 blue Moba for $45 plus shipping at AB recently.) So I spent something like $800 just for the fronts. The tank and stand was over a $1000.

My fronts grew from 3"-4" fairly quickly to over 6" in a year. But the two Bismarks I got at the same time are still small. The 12" (w/ the tail) wild caught Burundi I bought at the same time didn't grow at all. He cost me good, and I lost money when I parted with him. He was a grand fellow.

The pimwe is a grand fellow as a choice. I am sure I spelled that wrong.

I feed them New Spectrum 3mm sinking Cichlid Pellets. More expense. But it is a grand show tank.

For me: The best set-up I've seen was this:

125 gallon

Dark blue lightning

Coral sand

A large piece of wood with anubias attached to it

Smooth black river rocks

Happy fronts

I totally agree with evil, the more subdued the lighting the better, fronts are shy by nature and they feel secure in low lighting. the dark river rocks in contrast to a lighter sand and a black back ground would be stunning and help them feel more at ease.
a vaired diet is key also. they can get bored with one food 24/7, not to mention, hand feeding them once they've accepted you is a blast, they LOVE presoaked krill and shrimp.

why are these fish so expensive and wanted by everyone? They look exactly like a convict. I dont know much so maybe someone like to fill me in on what Im missing here? lol

I dont think they look anything like covicts.....well sorta. I kept mine under full actinnic. dont know if i spelled it correctly. And the spectrum is the bomb huh jolly sue? Ill give you a good deal on the stuff.

I am not sure what about them looks like a convict. A convict is a max 9" grey and white striped (maybe pink) round/oblong shaped easily bred S.A. fish. A Moba frontosa is a light and dark blue striped 12" fish w/o the tail which is another 3" with a large frontal lobe. From the front the fins look like a plane coming in for a landing. The fins are maybe six inches long and a striking blue. They are a very grand majestic fish which is not so easily bred and must be caught and shipped from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. I have seen no other fish that looks like a frontosa.

This is an immature 4" male after I fist got mine and just beginning to get his lobe



an average 12" with the tail Burundi



a 12" w/o the tail pimwe






The fish is much grander than the pictures.

This post has been edited by jollysue: Jul 27 2007, 05:32 AM

while they ARE the hardest to breed, mobas are being bred successfully all over the US and other countries. If they HAD to be caught in the wild for any of us to have them, then there would be far far less.





stripes is the ONLY thing they have in comon w/ convicts btw.