Frontosa Help!!

[DustyBZoo]

So I thought i had 3 males( 11", and 2@approx.5-6"). But when I moved my tank the other day I took the chance to look at their vents. I'm pretty sure one of the smaller ones is female. She's been beaten up pretty good, and stays in one spot all the time.

Would any of this possible help:

Take her out, and add another larger male?

Take her out, and add nothing

Take her out, and add juveniles.

Unfortunatly I only have a 4'X2'X2' 120g. I've got to do something. I don't want the female being beat to death.

p.s. if anyone is in south western indiana, I might have a free 6" female....

 

[DustyBZoo]

So i think I'm gonna take the female out and get some 2" fry to putin

 

[ovyaker75]

I wouldnt add fry that small, they might think its a snack!

 

[love The Jack Dempseys]

agreed^^

 

[Crispy]

it's preferred to have multiple females to one male. the aggression gets spread out that way.

 

[DustyBZoo]

....and the tumbleweeds roll though as I wait for good advice.....

 

[Mokujin22]

I haven't kept fronts before, but adding more non-snack-size fish sounds like the best option. Is this a possibility practically or financially? I think the 4x2x2 should be a good tank size for a while, no?

 

[SkySouza]

Honestly, I wouldn't add any more frontosa in a tank that size. Frontosa need a tank with at least 6' in length as they are skittish fish and will hurt them self by running into the glass when startled. This is also the reason that sharp rocks and driftwood are not good additions to a front tank. The fish will hurt themselves as they instinctively and uncontrollably dart from sudden movement. I've seen tons of fronts with eyes missing and scars down their flanks from inadequate environments.

If I were you I'd try to rehome the 11" male. That'll give you time to save up for a larger tank while the other two grow. Frontosa are slow growers. It'll be a year before those two get 12". If you can lose the big male you could also pick up 8 or so 2"ers and grow them out as well.

what variant of frontosa are they? Any chance you could upload pics of the fish and the tank itself?

 

[DustyBZoo]

Here's the tank currently...

The 2 males

I've got the 3 burundi, 3 silver dollars, 2 calvus, 2 yellow labs, and a synodontis.

They've only been together for about 3 weeks. The big male is not currently picking on anyone. The female just stays behind the plant in the back corner.

You're probably right about getting rid of the male, but I really like him. I'll have to consider it. Also the female is pretty ugly. I actually named her Capt. Hideous!

She's the one in the pot.

 

[Ash]

Well the more males and less females the more agression.

I would either agree with getting rid of the larger male and getting 3-4" to replace him. You could consider trading off the two smaller ones +cash for some larger, perferably females. You can consider getting rid of all 3 of them and buying .75-1.5" and growing them out in a hug colony (buy 15+ and then grow them out and sell them off). You can remove the female and see how it goes. You can add more later, but make sure you have lots of females and a male to avoid agression. If you have to many males you will have agression issues. Also if you plan to keep a bunch of fronts you do need a 125gal tank or so, frontosa grow to 12" and can grow larger.