Frontosa and Water Changes

[dean9922]

i am wondering how often people do water changes when they keep frontasa. I have purchased Mpimbwe fry and wonder if there is a benefit to this.

i used to have discus and did water changes daily or every second day and from what i've been reading 30-50% changes once a week is good enough.

what i am asking is that if you do more does it aid in the growth factor of them as it would with discus.....thanks

one other thing i forgot to mention is that i am fully set up with holding tanks and pumps to fill and drain and my water does not vary, so it would be stable conditions for them.

 

[dragonfish70]

Yes it does affect growth. Keeping good water quality is essential for mpimbwes as well as a varied diet. I think a weekly 50% water change would definetely help.


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[neutrino]

IME (I've kept them for years) you want to limit your activity into or disturbance of a front tank or they can get nervous/skittish, sometimes to the point it spooks them having you approach their tank or even with feeding. Doesn't mean you can't occasionally rearrange their tank, do some cleaning, or even hand feed them, but it can happen if you're constantly fiddling in their tank.

In any case, if you feed them sensibly (quality food, no beef heart, don't overfeed-- or "power feed", no need for it), don't overstock, have a sufficiently sized tank, good and well maintained filtration, reasonable parameters (temp, ph, hardness.), there's no need to do more than a weekly water change. I typically do 30-50% weekly, depending on stocking, etc. and I've consistently gotten them to 6 inches or more in one year (larger males, females and secondary males somewhat smaller), 8-8.5 inches their second year and an inch or two per year for the next few years. After spending years on a well known cyphotilapia forum, that's basically optimal growth for them and not everyone get them to grow that well.

 

[dean9922]

thanks DragonFish and Neutrino....appreciate the comments. They are only about an inch and a half right now and are not skittish at all.....maybe i will do 2 water changes a week and monitor to see if they are getting spooked.....

basically if they don't get spooked, the fresh water is good for them and should ensure healthier fish.....