Amazing Blue Zaire Moba's tank
- Thread starter thaiho
- Start date
Slightly understocked, but it should fill in nicely as they grow out.
Substitute cardinal tetras and numbers might be okay for the tank. It's a sight to behold, lot of money there, but has to be a distributor or fish store, etc... No one should think you can keep them like that.
Don't like to be the one to mention this, but you realize Cyphotilapia are from Lake Tanganyika... in Africa... thread in the wrong forum.
Don't like to be the one to mention this, but you realize Cyphotilapia are from Lake Tanganyika... in Africa... thread in the wrong forum.
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Awesome tank.
What's wrong with the stocking? I've seen tilapia stocked much heavier than that and thriving. Fronts are open water schooling fish anyway, so it's not like they need the privacy. Cyphotilapia or tilapia, how different can they be?
They both come from Mozambique.Lol
I would never tell anyone this is a good idea, but if I had a breeding colony I would definitely set up a thing like this with some extra fry.
What's wrong with the stocking? I've seen tilapia stocked much heavier than that and thriving. Fronts are open water schooling fish anyway, so it's not like they need the privacy. Cyphotilapia or tilapia, how different can they be?
They both come from Mozambique.Lol
I would never tell anyone this is a good idea, but if I had a breeding colony I would definitely set up a thing like this with some extra fry.
Like all of the other photos recently posted by the OP, this appears to be a store display tank. In that regards, the stocking is fine, as it's temporary. The reason that you would not tell anyone that this type of set up with this species is a good idea, is because long term, it obviously isn't.
Wrong on several counts. Sounds like you're going by what you've been told by non-experts.
Yes, fronts will congregate in groups in the wild, often mostly younger fish, but they are not schooling fish, they don't swim or socially interact as schooling fish, especially not moba and other gibberosa (the southern species). Individuals like their space, especially as adults, and some especially so. Divers studying them report often seeing adult gibberosa as small groups of just a few individuals or single large males. Adults tend to live deeper than younger fish and in smaller groups.
Contrary to some of the forum posts you see, which mistakenly assume deep water means open water, they're not really open water fish. They're associated with rocky habitat, plunging rocky shoreline, boulder strewn sandy bottom, etc. A little time spent surveying taxonomic or biology sources, as opposed to some forums, and you can confirm this for yourself.
In fact, fronts very much like their privacy and they can be quite shy. Common questions and complaints from those first trying their hand at keeping them is how to get them out in the open rather than sulking and hiding. It often takes time, the right setup, a balance between too many and too few for the tank and/or the right mix of tankmates (if it's not a front-only tank) to have them be comfortable enough to see their natural relaxed behavior.
Finally, if you want to breed them (gibberosa, which includes moba), a lot of people have found their success after breaking them up into smaller groups, as in 5,6, 8, as opposed to larger groups. Not an absolute law, but this is the experience of many.
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Below is a translated excerpt of an article by Eric Genevelle with collaboration by Thorsten Reuter. Not sure if it's kosher here to name other forums, so I won't give the name, but I've been a mod for years on the forum where a member who spoke French did this translation with Eric's permission. Genevelle anticipated their being split into more than one species by a few years, although he thought they'd end up as 3 species, with a 'sp. North' that never materialized (except on some forums). Note the different observations between the two types, frontosa and gibberosa. It would be understandable to hear about Brichard's observations and expect this to be true of both fish, but it didn't turn out that way. By now it seems like moba and some other gibberosa have been around a long time, but historically they're a recent discovery and it wasn't that long ago very few had them or knew much about them.
Gibberosa have different moods, some moods are more sociable than others and you can affect this somewhat by tank arrangement ime, but it's also a common mood ime for big males to want to be left alone, to maintain a personal space, running off others that come too close. Some find their alpha males spend most of their time sulking in a cave. Of course, if anything is true about them, it's that they have individual temperaments, so this can vary.
Regarding the congregating of the northern frontosa species, other science sources I've read say these are 'loose aggregations' rather than schools. Might seem like a fine distinction, but even in Brichard's observations above they're described as keeping some distance between individual fish.
Gibberosa have different moods, some moods are more sociable than others and you can affect this somewhat by tank arrangement ime, but it's also a common mood ime for big males to want to be left alone, to maintain a personal space, running off others that come too close. Some find their alpha males spend most of their time sulking in a cave. Of course, if anything is true about them, it's that they have individual temperaments, so this can vary.
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Well said on all points.
One thing that doesn't vary much among experts is that the leading cause of illness and disease in captive fish is typically triggered by some form of stress, and one of the most common forms of stress in aquarium kept fish is overcrowding.
One thing that doesn't vary much among experts is that the leading cause of illness and disease in captive fish is typically triggered by some form of stress, and one of the most common forms of stress in aquarium kept fish is overcrowding.