Frontosa w/ yellow labs in a 220 (yes or no)

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dtank1

Feeder Fish
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Feb 15, 2006
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ST. LOUIS
I just recently move (12) 2"-5" Frontosa (10) 2"-4" Yellow labs (8) kinds of different calvis's & compressiceps and a few syn. cats. from a overcrowded 125 to a 220 gallon tank.

People have told me I shouldn't keep the labs with the fronts and there are people that say that it will not hurt anything. So I was going to leave things how they are But I started paying a little closer attention to everyone behavoir in there and it does seem like the labs are kind of stressing out the fronts.

The labs a constantly on the move and super hyper. and the fronts hind and don't come out and move around a lot.

Also at feeding time the labs are going crazy and it freaks out the fronts. the fronts back off and stay back, they aren't fighting for the food.

So I was thinking about getting rid of the labs and getting a few more calvis's or compressiceps.

Maybe the fronts will be more active and start getting a little more food, and maybe they will grow a little faster.

It just seems like the labs rule the tank, and I would like for the fronts to rule the tank. That is what I wanted a FRONT Tank not a yellow lab tank.

What do you all think?
 
It wont hurt them at all, I keep frontosa with datnoids, arowana and knifes they are fine. I kept my fronts with parrots, still fine! Kept them with my yellow labs guess what? All ok =) They arent that shy in the tank either... if they arent fine I'll give you a dollar. If they have enough hiding spots and stuff they should be ok, if they are out in the open then it might be a problem, but if you dont keep africans in a colony or they dont feel comfortable then they most likely will just hide all day.On that note I would like to say that keeping a conpressiceps with them or the labs may not be a smart move... then again it might work for you, I had ALOT of problems with mine he ripped up one of my labs fins and attacked my only sa/ca cichlid and is mean to my africans that are 3x bigger then him. Other then that I ve had Calvus, labs, zebras etc (including the guys that died in my sig) in with my fronts and everything was cool! Wish you luck!!

Oh and for your fronts to rule the tank then I would suggest putting them in a colony by them selves... I am pretty positive if the labs go that conpressiceps will start dominating over them. They are mean little suckers... or from my experience and a few people I know. Hope that helps!
 
I agree with fin. way to many fish in that tank. If you like the fronts get rid of the yellows for sure or put them in the 125 with the calvus and comps. FYI the calvus will mix with the comps and that's not good IMO. Who wants to buy that?

Anyways the fronts will never breed or eat well with all that action in the tank :( . Try the tank without the yellows and if that doesn't work get rid of the others. Start with the most aggresive calvus/comp. I'm pretty sure you'll be down to only a few when your'll all done. You might need to get rid of them all. Comps and calvus are know for stealing food and 'C' blocking fronts! lol. Good luck, hope this helps.
 
I would agree for the most part except to me knowledge calvus are not agressive at all unless it is towardas another calvus from my experience and from the background and what I have read they are pretty layed back if anything whats going to cause the biggest prob. is the comps. And at that those two shouldnt even be mixed the comps will def. show agression at the calvus - they shouldnt even be mixed.

Its kinda like a trial and error thing I think. I had no prob. with my fronts in a mixed tank they are not shy and eat alot, but if it is too crowded then that would become a prob. and they prob wont eat as much and hide alot alot. If anything you need to split the fish between the two tanks try to keep the fronts in one tank and the rest in the other, but seprate the calvus and comps for sure. also.
 
Some peopel have kept all of these together without incident, but if you want you fronts to breed the calvus and comps are specialized egg stealers so your fry count will be down.
Jason
 
It is a 220 gallon tank.
The (12) Fronts are 2"-4" (only a few being 4")
The (10) labs are 2"-4" (Only a few being 4")
The (8) Calvis's & comp. are all about 2" (2 of them are about 3")
There is (1) 7" syn. cat and (1) 3"
and (1) 10" sailfin pleco.

I would say that is overcrowding the 125, that is why I moved to a 220.
The tank looks about empty with what I have in there.
The tank is 72" x 24" x 30" and I have huge canister filters and am good about water changes.
Now when everything gets larger I plan to weed out fish (some of the males)

I pulled out 1/2 of the labs last night so now there is only (1) male lab in there and things seem better already.
 
Fin said:
My personal thoughts are that your tank is full with 12 Frontosa's in addition to that you other cichlid plus other fish .
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yeah i agree. make a frontosa colony, they look sweet in huge tanks like that!
 
Fronts are quite slow moving fish, seem to lack energy, as they live at quite a depth in the lake. Dark and feed mainly at night on a fish which is found in rather large shoals. This means they don't have to exert much effort when feeding. The reason why they tend to always look as though they are just hanging around.
The cat should be okay with them. I would take the rest out and put them back into the 125. How about some pic's?
:naughty: :woot: :clap :headbang2 :thumbsup:
 
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