Frontosa Mobas

[soxfan692]

So right now I have a 125gal (72x24x17) that is a Malawi tank with mostly Lions Cove Yellow Labs, some Cynotilapia Afra:"Afra Cobue"'s, and some Iodotropheus Sprengerae "Rusty".

I started to order another 125 with the same dimensions when I started looking at what I wanted to stock with. I wanted to do something different than the standard Mbuna tank. I fell in love with the Cyphotilapia gibberosa "Moba" fish.

Now, I don't know jack about this fish but I love their look and the action they give. Apparently they get up to 15" long, so to have a decent colony, I'd need a massive tank. I'm sure the wife is going to love that idea. So basically, I'm looking for advice from people who have this fish or used to have this fish to see what I need in order to achieve a spectacular colony.

Any advice/tips/warnings are welcome!


p.s. is 600gal enough? (wife is going to kill me)

 

[Ash]

600gal is more the enough that is huge. Really for a good colony a 150-180gal should be fine I guess it really depends on how large of a colony you want. Obviously you will want lots of females for one male. This is to help keep agression down especially if you plan to breed. Also these fish are very pricey so be prepared for the bill. Its cheaper to buy them young and raise them up to a larger size. With that in mind if you plan to breed once they get larger and you start to sex them you will want to keep your females but pick the best quality male or 2 and keep them, sell off the rest of the males. With the male or males you decide to keep you want to find someone with a male of same quality and trade the males off (not with the breeder you get them from) as you don't want to breed the mom/dad/brother/sister together. Keep up on your water paramaters and they will be healthy. Front's are also generally skiddish so dont be suprised by that either. As for good I feed all of my fish new life spectrum which is fine to feed the fronts, I am not sure what food you use. Make sure your food is sinking and not floating to avoid issues with float. Make sure you have sufficient hiding spaces. I have not personally kept numerous front's. I am sure there is more but my brain as stopped here.

I've order my fronts from here: http://adawayaquatics.com/stocklist.html

I personally have only got my fronts from him, but I believe he sold his moba's. I know there are other people who have experiences elsewhere that can provide other good souces also.

 

[soxfan692]

Thanks for the info. I keep my Mbunas at a 1male to 3female ratio in order to reduce aggression and was planning on doing the same for the Mobas. I feed the new life spectrum to the Mbunas so I'm glad to hear that it works for Fronts too.

I'm mainly concerned about the water parameters. Do Fronts need water/conditions that are much different than Mbunas? I have a 7.8pH and hard water in my Mbuna tank and it's kept at 80F.

If I go with a 180-300gal tank how many fish am I looking at keeping for a colony? It's probably going to end up a Moba only tank with a sump and a Fx5 for filtration. Rocks will be numerous and I'll have a sand substrate.

I've never done a Tang tank so that's why I'm a bit skittish about starting it up and making sure I have things set up correctly to avoid as many problems I can from the start.

Thanks for the stock link also. I've always got my stuff from Daves Rare Fish, but am always looking for new places to check out. Mobas are expensive and I know there are other Fronts that are very similar to Mobas so I may check those out as well.

Thanks again! Look forward to more replies/advice/suggestions etc.

 

[Ash]

Hey no problem. I cant really tell you what a good stock is for the tank as opinions vary. I can tell you in a 150gal I will be keeping 6-8 adults. In a 600gal you can easily keep a large colony. In a 180gal I would personally have 6-10. I know people who have kept larger colonys in those size tanks and those who have kept smaller. Its a matter of opinion, filtration and water changes. As far as Tang's the water quality in my experience isn't different. I keep tang's now with the exception on 3 malawis and I keep them all in the same water conditions and all show nice coloration and look healthy. My water at my moms house has a pH of 8.2ish and my tap here has a pH of 7.9 I have had fish in tanks at both places and have not had any issues. I just make sure everything is in the correct range and do regular water changes. I do keep my fronts in a temp. range of 74-78 and they do fine. As always with a new tank make sure you cycle it before putting them in. Dave's is a good place to get fish too.

 

[swk]

your 125 is fine imo. you can do 6-8 adult fish just fine. fronts aren't that active. As far as reaching 15"...I don't know. I have one of the first moba male s that were imported in the early 2000's and he's maybe 13" long. He lives in a 100 gallon by himself.

Have fun, they are cool fish!

 

[cschilly]

I just ordered moba fry from ValleyAquatics dot net. I'm picking them up at the airport tomorrow. He charges $30/fry. I got 12 fry for my 130 gallon. That way, I'll be able to eventually end up with a colony of 6-8 with hopefully the right male/female ratio.

 

[soxfan692]

Thanks guys. I'm thinking I'm going to go with a 150gal minimum and more than likely a 180g setup. I think I'm ultimately looking for a 10-12 fish community.

Now I just need to see if I can find a deal on a tank or bite the bullet and purchase a new one.. then I'll be asking more questions and researching like mad while it's cycling.

I've read that they like plenty of hiding places and caves they can swim through. I don't want to go the THR route as the rock has just become way too expensive for what it is. I'm thinking lace rock. What do you all think?

 

[swk]

I would pass on lace rock. Fronts can bolt extremely fast and really do some damage to themselves. Look for smoother stones with lots of pvc and/or large flower pots

 

[soxfan692]

River rock maybe?

 

[Ash]

I would pass on lace rock. Fronts can bolt extremely fast and really do some damage to themselves. Look for smoother stones with lots of pvc and/or large flower pots

Yup I agree with this. River rocks would do, I am actually looking into getting some also. I also use pvc and clay pots you can get for 50-90 cents at home depot garden area (just make sure to pick the ones with smooth edges not the ones with jagged edges or chips.