How to make small frontosas eat
- Thread starter Death03
- Start date
Keep feeding them not too much at one time. Feed a few small feedings a day but keep up with water changes.
Well I'm not experienced with Frontosa myself but trying to help until someone with experience chimes in. I do have a little experience with a few lake Malawi species.
Gotcha! I'm currently feeding them 3 medium pellets then 2 pcs of massivore once a day (all crushed). Would that be enough? or should I lower the pieces?
Small fry should be fed atleast a couple of times or more a day for adequate growth. Feed the same amount but twice a day if possible.
In my 15 years of African cichlid keeping I have had frontosas on three occasions for a total of 7 years. This includes breeding and raising fry.
With the fry, they got fed New Life Spectrum pellets or North Fin pellets. I started with the 0.5 mm size and if that was too big, would grind it up a little. These are sinking pellets. My fish would go after these better than floating where the fish have to come to the surface - which frontosas are not really surface swimming fish.
That is a pretty big tank for the fish that small to find the food. I'd try turning the powerhead off during feeding. It might be that your food is not what they are used to and it may take another week or so. I also have to say that my frontosas at any size do not attack the food as viciously as many other species, but at that size the juveniles should be eating up to three times a day with small quantities being fed.
With the fry, they got fed New Life Spectrum pellets or North Fin pellets. I started with the 0.5 mm size and if that was too big, would grind it up a little. These are sinking pellets. My fish would go after these better than floating where the fish have to come to the surface - which frontosas are not really surface swimming fish.
That is a pretty big tank for the fish that small to find the food. I'd try turning the powerhead off during feeding. It might be that your food is not what they are used to and it may take another week or so. I also have to say that my frontosas at any size do not attack the food as viciously as many other species, but at that size the juveniles should be eating up to three times a day with small quantities being fed.
Frontosa can be picky eaters, some even go into a funk if they really hate a certain food. Back when I used it from time to time-- 20 years ago and before-- mine didn't care much for Hikari. That said, some of them can be shy-- another topic-- and yours may also be avoiding you somewhat and eating some when you're not around. They often come around as they more get used to you, sometimes it takes a while.
Without writing an over 20 year Cyphotilapia feeding history here, mine currently get NLS, including one tank I'm feeding NLS Ultra Red, which I'm experimenting with and they seem to love-- it's not making them red, LOL. They also get occasional freeze dried treats, typically mysis shrimp, occasionally other freeze dried shrimps or freeze dried brine shrimp. (I quit frozen foods years ago.)
other points--
1) Cyphotilpaia are a lake fish, typically deeper water, not fond of too much water current. Contrary to what some forums say, Lake Tanganyika does have various currents in it, so fronts don't mind some current, just how much can vary, but some people find a little less = happier fronts.
2) I've kept groups of 1.5" fronts by themselves in 6ft tanks. They were not intimidated by tank size and did not have trouble finding food. If it smells properly like food, they quickly know there's food in the water and have no problem finding it, not that I've ever seen. In fact, think about it, small fronts in a big tank comes closer to the scale of their natural habitat in a huge lake, and resembles their habitat even more if you give them at least a couple of decent sized rocks on the bottom in a mostly open tank.
Without writing an over 20 year Cyphotilapia feeding history here, mine currently get NLS, including one tank I'm feeding NLS Ultra Red, which I'm experimenting with and they seem to love-- it's not making them red, LOL. They also get occasional freeze dried treats, typically mysis shrimp, occasionally other freeze dried shrimps or freeze dried brine shrimp. (I quit frozen foods years ago.)
other points--
1) Cyphotilpaia are a lake fish, typically deeper water, not fond of too much water current. Contrary to what some forums say, Lake Tanganyika does have various currents in it, so fronts don't mind some current, just how much can vary, but some people find a little less = happier fronts.
2) I've kept groups of 1.5" fronts by themselves in 6ft tanks. They were not intimidated by tank size and did not have trouble finding food. If it smells properly like food, they quickly know there's food in the water and have no problem finding it, not that I've ever seen. In fact, think about it, small fronts in a big tank comes closer to the scale of their natural habitat in a huge lake, and resembles their habitat even more if you give them at least a couple of decent sized rocks on the bottom in a mostly open tank.
I've been keeping Fronts for about 18 months and when I got mine they were extremely fussy eaters. They wouldn't eat anything from anywhere near the surface or off the bottom. The food had to be literally suspended it the water column in front of them for them to even take it and even then they'd spit it out. I've managed to get them eating a variety of different foods now. I was patient at tried a few different foods to see what they would take. Now they are like vacuum cleaners.
