Could a Frontosa mix in with these SA/CA's?

[tiger15]

A 90 gal footprint can only house one full grown BB or Frontosa, with a few small tankmates, but no way have room for two 14' fish together. Despite known to be mild temper, my 12" Front is a silent killer wiping out half a dozen of my 7 to 8" haps and GT in a sudden turn to aggression. He ended up living alone in a 75 gal with a bunch of tiny Tang that can hide in the rocks. He never bothered tiny fish anyway. I have no experience with Black Belt, and assumed BB has the same temperament as Syns, so I could be wrong. But looking at the video, the BB were kept in breeding pair, and that could be the problem. My strategy of a mixed tank is to keep big fish singly, never in pairs, but it's OK to keep a bunch of small fish in pairs.

 

[BC in SK]

the BB were kept in breeding pair, and that could be the problem.

No not really.....in this 125 gal. they were a pair at times, but only for parts of a day. As long as the female was willing to help fight or clean a rock she was tolerated; otherwise she was chased around a lot . Male BB was hyper-aggressive.....chasing or fighting pretty much non-stop, all day long. Previously i had housed him with a male salvini in a 180 gal., with a big Tilapia zilli keeping the peace.......I am certain that had I tried to keep these two males (BB and salvini) together long term, one or the other would have killed each other. I posted the video to show what kind of bullies BB's can be...that's the far right side of the tank and the cons have fry. There coming right into their area.....the BB are the aggressors, not the cons with fry

When my young BB male killed my male con in 2011, in my 180 gal., he was certainly not paired. He very hyper-aggressive during this period, chasing fish and picking fights non-stop. Kept BB's as singles enough times to know they exhibit the very same sort of temperment/behavoir.

 

[bassfisher91]

I've kept both. The blackbelt may kill the front or vice versa. The best advice will be to get rid of the bb is you want a front. Something else I haven't seen mentioned is how slow fronts grow. it will take around 3 years to reach even 5-8 inches, 14 inches is a whole nother story. They are worse than clown loaches imo. Also, larger fronts are worth quite a bit since they grow so slowly so worst case scenario, you have a big valuable fish to trade in.

 

[tiger15]

You are right the Front is a slow grower. I recalled my Front reached 12" mark in about 6 years, and my Syns reached that size in half the time. My Front was a calm fish, never hyer aggressive. When I started to pick up dead fish, I couldn't figure out at the beginning who did it. My Front did the dirty work when I was not watching, and I only discovered him pushed his victim a couple times, and by next day his victim was dead. Front is not innately aggressive, just not getting enough personal space so if I had housed him in a bigger tank, he would be a nice tankmate. Unfortunately, my Front never reached his full grown size of 15+" as I accidentally killed him in a water change for under dosing dechlor.

 

[JDH]

Tilapia Buttikoferi is often kept successfully with ca/sa cichlids. Given the right tank space I wouldn't count all African cichlids out.