Can a frontosa and labs live together?

[Joostrom]

I was wondering if I can place labs with my frontosa?

 

[Mrc8858]

They shouldnt be kept together but I have before and they did fine.

 

[garfy]

Your problem is that eventually your fronts will be big enough to eat the labs and Frontosa eat other fish in the wild.They are generally peaceful and shy fish but are very powerful with huge mouths when they get bigger.
Should be fine when they are smaller though.

 

[chaser98989]

I have a friend with a 150 gal tank with 3 fronts that were at least a foot long and about 20 juvenile labs and they didn't mess with them at all

 

[garfy]

I have a friend with a 150 gal tank with 3 fronts that were at least a foot long and about 20 juvenile labs and they didn't mess with them at all

I've seen Frontosa eat smaller fish so I'm just putting that over as a heads up.It may or may not happen.

 

[Mrc8858]

Ya I've had lab fry with 8+" fronts with no issue but given the chance they will eat them on occasion

 

[chaser98989]

My fronts eat other fish I should have put that as well to clarify... It may or may not work... My tiger barbs also eat minnows which is kinda neat haha random I kno

 

[Joostrom]

Ok great info guys that's awesome! I hope he is small enough that I don't think he will bother the others

 

[Lady_Alia]

Lets not forget the fact that labs are mbuna and eat algae and frontosas require meat.
Frontosa get big, labs don't.
Frontosa hunt at night, labs sleep at night.
Soooooo, eventually you're gonna have a smallish lab sleeping and a big hungry meat eater who's hungry....catch my meaning

That said, frontosa are pretty gentle. They may get along splendidly. Do you really wanna take the chance though?

 

[Joostrom]

They are just such a beautiful fish. And my LFS has one left and they are on sale for 10$.

 

[Lady_Alia]

They are just such a beautiful fish. And my LFS has one left and they are on sale for 10$.

Frontosa or lab?

 

[Joostrom]

For the frontosa that's why I didn't want to pass that up! But if he's going to get hurt I don't want to do that to him

 

[Wyomingite]

A fully grown 4"-5" lab ain't likely to end up gettin' nommed by a front. Labs can get nippy though, and the fronts fins would be a temptin' target as it matures.

WYite

 

[Joostrom]

Wyite do you think it's worth the risk? Would you try it?

 

[Wyomingite]

Wyite do you think it's worth the risk? Would you try it?

No, I wouldn't do it. I don't mix fish from the different lakes. I tried a few times in the past and ended up with problems more often than successes. I have seen some nice set-ups with fronts and mbuna, though, so I know it can be done successfully. I've even seen one set-up with RDs and fronts that had been running long term and all the fish looked great. Still wouldn't try it myself.

As far as bein' worth the risk, I can't say, really. Do ya have another tank to move fish to if things don't work out? Are ya willin' to possibly lose a few fish to predation? There are a lot of variables you hafta ask yerself; I can't answer them for ya. I sincerely think that the biggest problem would be the fins on the front gettin' shredded rather than the mbuna gettin' nommed, once the mbuna are adult-sized. But ya never know what could happen and ya can't always foresee every contingency.

WYite

 

[kay-bee19]

A fully grown 4"-5" lab ain't likely to end up gettin' nommed by a front. Labs can get nippy though, and the fronts fins would be a temptin' target as it matures.
WYite

The nippy 5" yellow lab in this link nipped the wrong 11" frontosa (an alpha male mpimbwe). (warning: graphic image)
Fight!: Mpimbwe Alpha vs. challengers

I've seen Frontosa eat smaller fish so I'm just putting that over as a heads up.It may or may not happen.

Apparently even smaller frontosa's will attempt this: owner rescues neolamprologus brichardi from palm-sized frontosa attempting to swallow it (the neolamprologus survives the ordeal). I would have thought the brichardi was too large to be considered as prey by a frontosa of this size.
FRONTOSA KILLER - YouTube

 

[Wyomingite]

Fronts are naturally piscivores, no argument. I would've thought the brichardi too large to be on the menu, though. As for the lab, hafta say that gives the damage done by the larger fish-eating CAs a run for the money. Hafta remember that the next time someone starts spoutin' how whimpy Africans are in comparison...

Still, there are numerous examples on the web, both pics and tank profiles, of tanks combinin' fronts with smaller species with no conflicts. Like I already said, I wouldn't combine mbuna and fronts. It doesn't mean it's impossible, 'cuz other people have had success.

WYite