Frontosa

[toebash17]

ok well my buddy gave me two frontosas about a month ago becuase he bought two of them and he did not do his research about the fish and had them in a 20 gallon tank, so once he found out how big they got he figuared that it was going to work out. so he gave them to me. they are only around 2 months old. they are both 6 stripped. but how old or how many months do i have to wait to see if they are male or not. i really like the hump in them. i know males get bigger humps then females do. but how long do i have to wait. and for all you asking how big my tanke is it is 125 gallons so i think that will be ok for them. thanks for you help andy

 

[mamafish68]

hey andy,

my big boy "blue" is over 5 yrs old and his hump is still growing. fronts grow slow, not as slow as comps or calvus but slow enough. dont plan on knowing the sex for a few years if you dont vent them by hand.



dont let this discourage you though, their like the Oscar of the africans and they'll eat from your hand, let you pet them etc. if you treat them right and be gentle, slow movements around the tank while feeding them.



what ARE you feeding them btw?

 

[toebash17]

thanks for asking me what i am feeding them becuase im not sure if i am feeding them the right food or not. i have done small research but not to much. i have been feeding them some blood worms but only like once a week. and the some pellet food and thats about it. is that right or wrong or is there more i can feed them. thanks for the help mamafish68. im still new at this game. i have only had my tank for about 6 months so all the help is much need thanks again.

 

[gaz guildford]

try tyhis link ive never kept fronts but this site has never sent me wrong

species guide

 

[mamafish68]

stop the pellets unless your willing to PREsoak them in some tank water!!!!!!!!!!



fronts are prone to bloating up like a balloon, (mine never has) but I'm careful how I feed him.

If you havent noticed when they go to gulp up floating food they will also swallow a bunch of air... hence the FLOAT... unless you want to take a syringe to the belly and take out the air bubble before he dies, well you get the idea.



my menu consists of cocktail shrimp (walmart for $3.49)

romain lettuce

night crawlers

spirulina flake-I pinch it them submerge my fingers to wet it and he eats from my fingers

HBH super soft pellet w/ krill-medium PREsoaked in tank H2O

any unwanted fry from other tanks, he gets first dibs.



once a day.

I'll rotate the "treats"

 

[Boids-n-more]

With the pellets are you refering to malawi bloat.

 

[mamafish68]

no

 

[toebash17]

the pellets i use they sink is that ok then?

 

[Cheffi]

When do Frontosa's get the hump? Now let me see, hmmm, well if you don't feed them for one, definately if they are all male and no girlfriends, if you don't do regular water changes oh and if there's no footie on the tv.

 

[mamafish68]

cheffi, it's when do they get THE hump not, when do they get TO hump...





ROFLMAOOO!!!!!!!!!


Toebash,
think about it like this, when you give your front freeze dried or pellets they absorb moisture in the belly and expand right? So do you really want that to happen? No, we dont, hence the reason for Presoaking foods. sinking pellets would imply they are premoistened but if you've ever seen a floating frontosa, you'd think twice about just tossing in foods.

 

[toebash17]

will do thanks for the advice im still new with this game

 

[jumpman]

the pellets i use they sink is that ok then?

Toebash,

Sinking pellets are absolutley fine to feed them. And pre-soaking foods is not neccessary. IME Fronts only get float when they are stressed out for whatever reason or water quality is not top notch. (and I had Mpimbwe which are the kind most susceptible) Keep on top of that and you shouldn't have a problem. Are yours wild caught or tank bred?

Pellets of all kinds are readilly eaten by them, even floating ones, but make sure they have a high protein content of at least 50%. Compliment this with bloodworms, krill, prawns, artemia, and most other protein rich foods, and they will do very well. No ned to worry about Spiriluna. I fed only once every day or so, and they grew very well.

Good luck, you will enjoy them, especially once they are tame and you can stroke while you feed them

jump

One other thing to consider is that Fronts natural behaviour is much more evident when you have them in a group. In a pair, one will tend to pick on the other, and they may be a little skittish. My suggestion would be to add 3 or 4 more, but of course this is easier said than done!!

 

[mamafish68]

the pellets i use they sink is that ok then?

Toebash,

Sinking pellets are absolutley fine to feed them. And pre-soaking foods is not neccessary. IME Fronts only get float when they are stressed out for whatever reason or water quality is not top notch. (and I had Mpimbwe which are the kind most susceptible) Keep on top of that and you shouldn't have a problem. Are yours wild caught or tank bred?

Pellets of all kinds are readilly eaten by them, even floating ones, but make sure they have a high protein content of at least 50%. Compliment this with bloodworms, krill, prawns, artemia, and most other protein rich foods, and they will do very well. No ned to worry about Spiriluna. I fed only once every day or so, and they grew very well.

Good luck, you will enjoy them, especially once they are tame and you can stroke while you feed them

jump

One other thing to consider is that Fronts natural behaviour is much more evident when you have them in a group. In a pair, one will tend to pick on the other, and they may be a little skittish. My suggestion would be to add 3 or 4 more, but of course this is easier said than done!!

I cant disagree more, water quality has nothing to do with it at all, frontosa are bottom dwellers by genetics and feed most easily at night on the lake/tank floor. when we feed floating foods fronts tend to gulp and take in air that builds up, even when feeding live feeders they can collect excessive amounts of air just from the air in the swim bladders of the feeders. There is no "most susceptible" variant thats a falshood. The fact that Mpimbwe are imported most in recent years and their eating habits (pigging out/over eating) leads people to believe that it's specific in Mbim's. It happens to all variants...

 

[jumpman]

the pellets i use they sink is that ok then?

Toebash,

Sinking pellets are absolutley fine to feed them. And pre-soaking foods is not neccessary. IME Fronts only get float when they are stressed out for whatever reason or water quality is not top notch. (and I had Mpimbwe which are the kind most susceptible) Keep on top of that and you shouldn't have a problem. Are yours wild caught or tank bred?

Pellets of all kinds are readilly eaten by them, even floating ones, but make sure they have a high protein content of at least 50%. Compliment this with bloodworms, krill, prawns, artemia, and most other protein rich foods, and they will do very well. No ned to worry about Spiriluna. I fed only once every day or so, and they grew very well.

Good luck, you will enjoy them, especially once they are tame and you can stroke while you feed them

jump

One other thing to consider is that Fronts natural behaviour is much more evident when you have them in a group. In a pair, one will tend to pick on the other, and they may be a little skittish. My suggestion would be to add 3 or 4 more, but of course this is easier said than done!!

I cant disagree more, water quality has nothing to do with it at all, frontosa are bottom dwellers by genetics and feed most easily at night on the lake/tank floor. when we feed floating foods fronts tend to gulp and take in air that builds up, even when feeding live feeders they can collect excessive amounts of air just from the air in the swim bladders of the feeders. There is no "most susceptible" variant thats a falshood. The fact that Mpimbwe are imported most in recent years and their eating habits (pigging out/over eating) leads people to believe that it's specific in Mbim's. It happens to all variants...

I have seen and partaken in many discussions about this on frontosa forums, and there is a large amount of disagreement between many fishkeepers on this. If you are talking about wild caught then I would agree with you to some extent, but I think F1 fish and beyond are much more adaptable to aquarium life and should not have as much of a problem expending air. As soon as the fronts eat from the surface they expend air through their gills just like any other fish would.

I think that a lot of problems are due to when fish are collected, and not being acclimatised properly when being brought up from 50m down, this takes a long time, and if rushed would explain a recurring problem of their swim bladder.

Your right it does happen with all variants, but Mpimbwe are commonly believed to be more likely to develop it. IME with F1 fish and talking to other Front keepers, there is very rarely a problem with F1 Fronts.

A topic that no one can ssem to agree on, comes down to personal experience in the end I guess...

If anyone is worried about your fish taking in too much air, then stick to sinking pellets.

 

[mamafish68]

lets add this one to the list, along with ...

sand or gravel

hang on back or canister

glass or plexi

buffer or no buffer

big tanks or smaller.....noo bigger is always best! B)

I like to error on the side of caution with my cyphos