Questions about Frontosa's

[Benfica]

Im thinking about getting some frontosa's. About how many gallons fo each frontosa? At what age they start breeding, and theyre mouth brooders?Do they perfer gravel,sand, or argonite?

And anything else you might find useful. Oh ya how do you tell a male and female a part thanks.

 

[Red Devil]

this is basic for all frontosa..Origin: Cyphotilapia Frontosa are found off the congo shore line of Lake Tanganika in East Africa...

Size: Adults to max. of 16 inches in aquarium environment.

Coloring: Males and Females are colored alike..mature males develope extra extended filaments in their fins and they obtain a somewhat frontosa hump. But large females can also develope hump so this is not a sure indicator for sexing...

Diet.. will except frozen, flakes, pellets ..feed larger specimens larger size pellets according to their mouth....

Need to know information: Cyphotilapia can easily become aggressive towards conspecifics when they approach maturity.. they grow slow so juveniles can be reared in smaller tanks and moved to roomier compound as they mature.. It is best to house them in groups of at least four. The Zaires seem to like more rock structure then other varieties.. PH 7.8-9.5 Temp. 72-83 degrees..

Spawning: Males will display for females.. They are maternal mouth brooders holding sometimes up to 5 weeks or more. The Blue Zaires are reported to be the most difficult to spawn of the Frontosa types.

Tankmates: Bare in mind the sedate nature of zaires...they can be kept with many other fish that do not present a meal and are non aggressive types.



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[Red Devil]

In photos i have noticed that the male vent area sometimes will be more triangle shaped and the females opening more round or circular in shape when no tube is dropped.

 

[Ash]

You need a 125gal minimum to house frontosas if you want a decent colony I suggest a 150gal or larger (you get a little width with the length). They are easy to take care of. No floating foods - all sinking foods. You need to stick to one variant. I perfer using sand - its up to you. If you plan on breeding you want to keep it species only. It really depends on the variant to when they will breed I ve heard of some variants breeding early while others breed at an older age.

 

[Deepsouth]

How many Frontosas do you keep in your 125?