Frontosa in my community tank 55 gal?

[jvbfamily]

Want some advice prior to making the purchase. I just started the cichlid hobby all because I really like the blue frontosa. Was tricked into buying a Tilapi buttikoferi by lfs telling me it was what I was looking for.

I know frontosa is a calm non aggressive fish and want to be sure he does die.

In my tank I now have:

1 yellow lab
2 snow whites
1 Tilapi buttikoferi
1 clown loach (1inch)
1 red jewel
1 blue jewel
1 red zebra
1 Venus
1 angle
1 hap


All seem to get along well at the moment

 

[ricco34]

They get really big from what I hear. But I've seen them do fine mbuna. I'm pretty sure you'd have no problem if you had a bigger tank

 

[jvbfamily]

They get really big from what I hear. But I've seen them do fine mbuna. I'm pretty sure you'd have no problem if you had a bigger tank

Thanks, my biggest concern is the Butte, will he attack the crap out of my new frontosa looking the same?? I know Frontosa are only aggressive in appearance but weak. Would be great if I can put them together being only 1.5 inches each, but until I get some advice from personal experience I am housing temp housing the Butte with my 2 Oscars.

 

[jvbfamily]

Thank you everyone for input.

My boys all happy and healthy and living in harmony.

Have moved my 2 inch Butti to my other tank with my two 3 Inch Oscars because i went out and got my favourite Frontosa (1.5inch) and worried the Butti looking the same may harass him to death.

Really don't know what to do with the Butti as in Hong Kong LPS I don't believe take back fish

 

[Mebbid]

I hate to break it to you but that tank is far too small for quite a few of your fish.

The frontosa needs a 75+
Clown loach needs a 125
Venus needs a 75
Buttikoferi needs a 75

On top of that you have some big problems with crossing different species of cichlids.

They may seem happy for now but you will run into major problems in the near future.

 

[jvbfamily]

Thanks,

I am aware that my two 55 G will be too small for a couple of the fish I have and will most likely upgrade once I can make some room. Living in Hong Kong which is very space limited gotta just do with what I have at the moment.

Hopefully will have room to upgrade in the 6-8 months.

Clown Loaches need 125??? thats huge for 1 loach. I know they can get to over 1 feet in size and prefer to be in groups, but after a couple of deaths and how hard it seems to get them over here I think I should have some time. Being alone won't get them stressed and result in death will it??

As for crossing, I was told that if I do single males mixing shouldn't be an issue with compatibility with the ones I have chosen. Correct me if the info I received is wrong.

 

[Mebbid]

Thanks,

I am aware that my two 55 G will be too small for a couple of the fish I have and will most likely upgrade once I can make some room. Living in Hong Kong which is very space limited gotta just do with what I have at the moment.

Hopefully will have room to upgrade in the 6-8 months.

Clown Loaches need 125??? thats huge for 1 loach. I know they can get to over 1 feet in size and prefer to be in groups, but after a couple of deaths and how hard it seems to get them over here I think I should have some time. Being alone won't get them stressed and result in death will it??

As for crossing, I was told that if I do single males mixing shouldn't be an issue with compatibility with the ones I have chosen. Correct me if the info I received is wrong.

The clown loaches are a schooling fish and are much more comfortable in groups. Whether or not it will cause them to die or not is impossible to say. There's just too many factors. Even keeping an acceptable size school of clown loaches in a 125g nearly fully stocks the tank.

What I meant to say about crossing the cichlids is that you have south american cichlids in with africans. Generally due to water requirements and aggression you should only ever pick one single type and stock species based on geographical location. Mbunas while not being overly aggressive towards fish that are of a different species, they are still bruisers and angels are fairly fragile. I would expect some fin nipping from them.

 

[GreenLily]

I agree with Mebbid 100% on this. You don't want to be crossing your cichlids. They might get along now, but as they age, the aggressive breeds will start to show more aggression. Also, it's really not fair to the angel to keep him single, since they are a schooling breed. This is also true for the clown loaches.
You may want to call around to see if any LFS around you could take some back for store credit or trade. A good LFS wouldn't have a problem with this.
I hope that your fish DO get along and stay that way, but don't be surprised if it doesn't stay peaceful. Good luck!

 

[jvbfamily]

I agree with Mebbid 100% on this. You don't want to be crossing your cichlids. They might get along now, but as they age, the aggressive breeds will start to show more aggression. Also, it's really not fair to the angel to keep him single, since they are a schooling breed. This is also true for the clown loaches.
You may want to call around to see if any LFS around you could take some back for store credit or trade. A good LFS wouldn't have a problem with this.
I hope that your fish DO get along and stay that way, but don't be surprised if it doesn't stay peaceful. Good luck!

Thanks, I am actually researching now if there are any LFS in Hong Kong that do take back fish. To my knowledge and what I have encountered so far no. And unfortunately the culture here is anything to make a buck so I have found out the hard way already in some cases already since starting this new hobby that I was given wrong info about which fish are good tank mates.

Of course at the end of the day I want to keep the fish healthy and happy. Really surprised there isn't a community like this one for locals here having so many fish keepers.

Thank you for all the advice. Rest assured I will be taking it, just need to figure things out and how to make it work in my limited space.

 

[GreenLily]

Yes, unfortunately, a lot of LFS will want to just sell you whatever they can sell you, and usually, their knowledge on compatibility isn't so fabulous. At a glance, fish seem like a simple thing, but they're not. lol