View Full Version : Front
FlammingWoodChuck
11-04-2005, 1:13 AM
Can sum1 give me sum info on fronts. Im thinking of buying one and i want to know how fast they grow, what tank mates are suitable, What they eat, and anything else u can think of
DeLgAdO
11-04-2005, 1:26 AM
fronts like to school, a group of at least 3-6 will suffice, they grow very slow, but like dats the can get very large, about 14 inches.
fronts can get along with just bout any fish that doesent easily fit it their mouth.
rallysman
11-04-2005, 7:05 AM
They do grow very slow. I feed mine veggies, blood worms, cichlid sticks, krill, and some different pellets. very awesome fish though. Never had a problem with them picking on other fish, but ive had a few more aggressive cichlids (small) that liked to bully them. They should be ok with any other semi aggressive fish.
They do not "like" to school, you keep a group if you want to breed them, one male multiple females. If you want a singular fish just for display, he will do fine:grinyes:
The group that I keep in my 125 hardly ever school, they have their own little territories in the tank.
frontosa_man
11-05-2005, 11:07 AM
They do not "like" to school, you keep a group if you want to breed them, one male multiple females. If you want a singular fish just for display, he will do fine:grinyes:
The group that I keep in my 125 hardly ever school, they have their own little territories in the tank.
:iagree: only my younger frontosa's school. the older ones form trio's.(1 male 3 females). i feed them lots of greens and krill. i lost a few F0 frontosa from them getting air in thier system so now i pre-soak all the food so it will sink to the bottom. the males take about 3-4 years to devolpe the hump on the head, which make it really impossalbie to sex them when fry or young.
repair
11-05-2005, 6:49 PM
You cann't rely on the hump to sex frons.... pick it up and turn it over and look... it's the only real way.
frontosa_man
11-06-2005, 1:01 PM
You cann't rely on the hump to sex frons.... pick it up and turn it over and look... it's the only real way.
look for what? and the hump is a sure fire way to tell them apart. the males have large ones and start to from them faster and earlier then females.
I have seen females with big heads:eek:
MaJiKTeRRoR
11-06-2005, 9:37 PM
Fronts do colonies. Fronts do well in a 6 foot tank. 4-7 fronts introduced as juvs should give you a nice change of successful breeding colony. Lovely fish I love mine well except that they hide when I walk up to the tank. They are extremely sensitive to light they like a darker tank. If you don't believe me try a moonlight and see how much they move with the lights off.
Get'em they are great fish.
This might sound confusing but if your eventually going to breed em then dont mix the varietys for example dont put burundis with kitumbas. (at least I think) can someone tell me if im wrong.
Fronts grow slowly, but have very creative attitudes especially the Mpimbwe's. You should keep an all front tank, but if you would like to just pop 1 into your community tank, then you should make sure that all your other fishes are not aggressive or else the front will get injured. Oh yeah they like a high range ph around 7.8 to 8.8.
repair
11-07-2005, 8:57 AM
look for what? and the hump is a sure fire way to tell them apart. the males have large ones and start to from them faster and earlier then females.
If you turn them over you can look at the sex organs..... they look diff.
MaJiKTeRRoR
11-07-2005, 10:30 AM
Fronts are not sexable till they are 4 inches at least. The males grow faster than the females in a colony. You can tell which are males and females after a couple of years without taking a peek at their goodies.
repair
11-07-2005, 11:49 AM
Fronts are not sexable till they are 4 inches at least. The males grow faster than the females in a colony. You can tell which are males and females after a couple of years without taking a peek at their goodies.
Thats not allways true ... sometimes you will get males that stay small and look like a female to avoid the wrath of the alpha male.
You are right about not being able to sex them untill they are around 3 of 4" but I think it's funny that when you go to an auction you see a lot of 3-4" frons as "unsexed"..... they are allways males.
MaJiKTeRRoR
11-07-2005, 1:13 PM
True.
IMO if you want to keep 6 Fronts then you shouldn't buy them from the same person. If they breed then the fry won't be the best quality (inbreeding).
Some suggest that you buy a larger group and keep removing the Alpha male as the mature. Be sure you check their vent as "repair" stated. You should then be left with only females. When the females are close to breeding age, buy yourself a male from someone else.
frontosa_man
11-07-2005, 11:47 PM
IMO if you want to keep 6 Fronts then you shouldn't buy them from the same person. If they breed then the fry won't be the best quality (inbreeding).
Some suggest that you buy a larger group and keep removing the Alpha male as the mature. Be sure you check their vent as "repair" stated. You should then be left with only females. When the females are close to breeding age, buy yourself a male from someone else.
this is what i did. worked out great for breeding them
BTW how do you "check their vent"?
repair
11-08-2005, 11:03 AM
Have you ever had a wild "F0" next to a what you buy in the pet shops? It is shocking how much sharper the lines and colors are on the F0
FlammingWoodChuck
11-08-2005, 8:12 PM
how much do they cost at 1in???? and 3in??? @ my lfs he has 1in ones for 11$ and 3in for 26$
:thumbsup: how much do they cost at 1in???? and 3in??? @ my lfs he has 1in ones for 11$ and 3in for 26$ Well it depends on which type of Variants your looking for... the Ziare ones are a little more pricey... But their Damn worth it!!
repair
11-08-2005, 9:26 PM
:thumbsup: Well it depends on which type of Variants your looking for... the Ziare ones are a little more pricey... But their Damn worth it!!
I agree.... wish I had more Zire blues wild are 100-$200.
frontosa_man
11-09-2005, 1:22 AM
Have you ever had a wild "F0" next to a what you buy in the pet shops? It is shocking how much sharper the lines and colors are on the F0
yes i have. i got an F0 about 3 years back that was holding fry. i only kept one of the 15 and you can see the difference from the ones at the store. much darker and more pronounced stripes. most of the LFS here sell them for 39 small and 49 med.
fsc46
11-10-2005, 10:49 AM
What kind of front do you have Repair and Front_man? There are a few Zaire Blue's.
And I can't believe no one on the East coast is selling Front fry! These are supposed to be some of the most popular fresh water fish from Africa.
repair
11-10-2005, 11:13 AM
What kind of front do you have Repair and Front_man? There are a few Zaire Blue's.
And I can't believe no one on the East coast is selling Front fry! These are supposed to be some of the most popular fresh water fish from Africa.
Mine are Zaire Blue's I also have a couple of regs I think "mumbas" I'm sure this is misspelled
I haven't seen any good Blues for sale. I can get tons of mumbas but thats not what I want. Heck if we wait 5 or 6 years there will be plenty.
R1_Ridah
11-10-2005, 11:16 AM
Fronts are my favs next to my pulchers. Here's a few in my collection. I mostly have males in my tank because I have no plans on breeding any of them. At least I believe they are males. I know females do develope humps as well They all get along with no problems. I should vent them to confirm.
1 x Moba 12"F0
1 x Moba 8"F0
1 x MPIMBWE 8"F0
1 x Burundi 9"F1
4 x Burundi 5-6" F2's
repair
11-10-2005, 11:20 AM
Nice frons!
Good looking fronts!!! :thumbsup: Just curious... how come you don't intend on breeding??
R1_Ridah
11-10-2005, 4:38 PM
Good looking fronts!!! :thumbsup: Just curious... how come you don't intend on breeding??
Don't really have the space nor time I guess :confused:
However my F0 MPIMBWE is tempting me. Very nice color on this guy. I may have to set up an extra 100 gallon or something and get a few females for him =-) so he can get his boogie on. He's actually the mate of an ALBINO FRONT my buddy has.
Taz2478
11-10-2005, 5:07 PM
what size tank are they on and ow many clowns do you have with them?
R1_Ridah
11-10-2005, 5:12 PM
what size tank are they on and ow many clowns do you have with them?
96x48x30.... I have 4 Loaches in there.
Frontosa's grow slowely and they get aggressive as they grow..i would recommend getting a colony. That would be amazing. If they breed you got some money in your pocket! :D
Cory
frontosa_man
11-12-2005, 12:47 PM
What kind of front do you have Repair and Front_man? There are a few Zaire Blue's.
And I can't believe no one on the East coast is selling Front fry! These are supposed to be some of the most popular fresh water fish from Africa.
all are Burundi now. afew years back my F0's were 5 strip congos.
MaJiKTeRRoR
11-12-2005, 3:48 PM
I have 6 burundi and 1 kigoma
cichlid_
11-12-2005, 7:31 PM
I would have to disagree with most of you.
Frontosa grow very fast. They can reach 6 in
in a year no sweat. As one of you stated, the only
way to sex a front is by venting them. Looking at there hump
too try and judge the sex is absolutely unreliable. The males will grow
faster. As frontosa are colonly fish, they will feel unconfortable alone.
I would recommend a minimum of 3 (1 male 2 females) as the smallest
group. The alpha male of my f1 mpimbwe frontosa group that I have reached a length of 8 in one year. If you are looking for a good quality front do not buy them
from a lfs. They usually get farm raised burundi that where grown out in ponds, and
this is when you get the dull lines. I would suggest going to Jeff Rapps web site
www.tangledupincichlids.com if you want some good quality fronts. You could also
try going to www.cichlid-forum.com and going to one of there sponsers. They have some very good suppliers sponsering them.
loach43
11-12-2005, 8:34 PM
Quick dumb question for all you front keepers:
Do fronts (healthy well kept adults in a large single species tank) generally hang out about mid tank or do they tend to stay closer to the bottom?
Just curious
repair
11-12-2005, 11:05 PM
Mine use the whole tank
all front have humps not only the female... from what i have seen...
MaJiKTeRRoR
11-12-2005, 11:57 PM
My fronts are 2 years old and my alpha is only 5 inches.
ill_eagle
12-01-2005, 1:18 AM
ive got 24 mobas in a 75 gallon tank. sounds crowded well it is they are about 1.5 inches. took them from a 20 gallon strait to the 75 and they have grown an inch at least in 2 weeks. i breed mobas kigomas and kitubas. people say that they are almost the same fish just diff varients. they are close but have some suttle difference. mobas seem to be the most sought after and expensive. so if you want to buy mobas dont just take some1s word, do some research and dont let some1 drop a kitumba on you and say its a moba. i love my fronts. best pets on earth. besides my wife
Bizdaddy
12-01-2005, 12:36 PM
2 years old and only 5 inches! What size tank do you have him in? How many other fish? Filtration?
Frontosa can grow 6" in the first year, then slow down considerably. When I got my Burundi group the Sub-dominant male was 2.5 years old and 10"+.
I'm not trying to give you a hard time, sorry if it sounds that way.
Justin
I would have to disagree with most of you.
Frontosa grow very fast. They can reach 6 in
in a year no sweat. As one of you stated, the only
way to sex a front is by venting them. Looking at there hump
too try and judge the sex is absolutely unreliable. The males will grow
faster. As frontosa are colonly fish, they will feel unconfortable alone.
I would recommend a minimum of 3 (1 male 2 females) as the smallest
group. The alpha male of my f1 mpimbwe frontosa group that I have reached a length of 8 in one year. If you are looking for a good quality front do not buy them
from a lfs. They usually get farm raised burundi that where grown out in ponds, and
this is when you get the dull lines. I would suggest going to Jeff Rapps web site
www.tangledupincichlids.com (http://www.tangledupincichlids.com/) if you want some good quality fronts. You could also
try going to www.cichlid-forum.com (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/) and going to one of there sponsers. They have some very good suppliers sponsering them.
I did not see, nor have I ever heard of Rapps selling Frontosa:grinno:
jgdelgado
12-11-2005, 10:54 PM
breeding the diffrent regions of fronts in looked down apon by many frontosa keepers. Try to keep them from the same regions. also check out cichlid-forum.com for more info on fronts.