Cyphotilapia frontosa

[KahluaZzZ]

Hey guys...i plan to get 2 Cyphotilapia frontosa alone in a 55g or 77g....( gotta figure wich one i keep for my reef ). It is said they don't dig too much and that they can live with some plants. Is it true ? Also...i'm a saltie so i was wondering what hardware should i use. I already have a AC500..but should i use carbon ? Are those frontosa really hardy ? I use RO/DI for my reef...should i use purified water or tap water ? I was thinking that i could use a sump with bio-balls to get the nitrifying bacteria. I already have 60 pounds of fine aragonite. I plan to use it to maintain high ph for a while.
I never kept cichlids before so anyone with experience...please answer me

 

[1979camaro]

you've got to keep the 75 for the reef

 

[SeaMonkeyMiner]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/frontosa_corner.php

I dont have any experience with fronts but like most cichlids 2 probably isnt the greatest number because the larger one will probably beat up the smaller one. That seems to be a common occurence with cichlids. Fronts might be differnt but I wouldnt bet on it.

For the water I would probably go with the tapwater(I dont know whats in your tap water so it might be a toss up) because my Reverse Osmosis water has a low pH which isnt great for the fish but you do have the aragonite to increase the pH I dont know how long it will take for it to reach the right pH.

Carbon. hmm well I havent used carbon in my tanks for about 2 years and I havent had any problems. I find water changes do just as good to clean the water as the carbon. I would only use it to remove meds or to polish off the tank if you someone over to judge it for a national contest or somehting but I havent really heard a strong argument for it in a while. so I would say no but that is up to you.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Tnx Seamonkey for the answers

Hey Camaro i wanted the 77g for the reef because my 55 was scratched ( finally not a crack ) but i fear for my corals and fishies..it's a mess to move !
I just got some new xenia frags and i chopped some mush to get more so now i dunno if it's the best idea for now. Changing params would stress 'em out.

 

[kay-bee19]

Like seamonkey said, frontosa won't do well in pairs long term (the dominant one will inevitably behave aggressively toward the other. They do best in groups of 5 or more (which would demand a fairly large tank..125gal+).

Frontosa are typically hardy fish and dechlorinated tap water works just fine. Carbon isn't required, but doesn't hurt.

If your looking to gain some experience with frontosa you could probably get a few and trade/sell them once they reach 4" (a 1" juvie could reach that size in 6-9 months).

A single frontosa could probably work in a 77-gal, but you wouldn't observe its natural behavior (like most african cichlids they're fairly social fish).

Oh, one of my fronts digs a lot (creates mounds of sand in front of the entrance to his 'cave').

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Ok i feared that. Well maybe i should check other cichlids then...natural behavior = what i wanna see.
Tnx kay-bee19

 

[SeaMonkeyMiner]

For smaller african cichlids with natural behavior I'd go for rift lake or tang species. Like shellies, Birchardis(fav), julies or others. Orion knows more about them then I do so hopefully he responds. If he doesnt just start using bad words and he'll come clean them up.

 

[Orion]

lol, no need for profanity to get my attention.

Front's truely are gentel giants. However they will eat any fish that they can fit into their mouths, it's just their nature. I have seen several people use 55's and 75's as grow out tanks for fronts before they get moved into a larger tank. 125 gallons seems to be the standard for minimum tank size for a colony of these. On the plus side, if you don't care to much about how close to wild blood they are, you can normaly get F2's for pretty cheap, especialy compared to F1's.

IMHO, cichlids from Lake Tanganyika offer some of the most interesting fish that one can get. Many for the most part do lack the eye catching color, but there are a few that are more spectacular than anything from any of the rift lakes, and I would even dare to say most SW fish as well (think Featherfins). What really draws my interest to these cichlids is the behaviours of the fish. The different breeding styles and habbits, the teritorial displays, watching a 1inch fish dig up the entire tank.

But for a 75 gallon tank, if you want to try your hand at them you can't go wrong with a colony of Tropheus.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

since i really wanted those fronto...i guess the 77g will be a reef finally but tnx for your answers guys

 

[SeaMonkeyMiner]

If you want the look of a front but cant keep that size fish you could go with a Neolamprologus tretocephalus. Someone told me that they were called the poormans front because they look the same. The can be aggresive I have heard but the one I have is pretty chill, but can hold his own. I only have one so I dont know what a group of them would be like. http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Neolamprologus_tretocephalus.php

 

[KahluaZzZ]

wow....that's nice