Bought a Cyphotilapia Frontosa today....

[Andos99]

I picked up a Cyphotilapia Frontosa today.....very excited. I have fairly limited knowledge of these guys, but enough to get by for now. I'm not looking to breed them at this point as I don't have the space to setup a species only tank. I have him in a 20 gal for now (he's just a baby), but I'll be moving him into his own 75 gal (I have yet to purchase) once he gets a bit bigger. I was thinking about combining him with a few Altolamprologus calvus.....but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not because I know the potential of a frontosa. So I guess I'm wondering if there are any suitable tankmates. Anyone have any frontosa experience, thoughts or tips they'd like to share?

[BrianNY]

Frontosas are terrific cichlids. Years ago I kept some and found them to be very hardy and adaptable. They grow very slowly but get quite large. IMO a Frontosa only tank is simply awesome to behold. Although some people (myself included), have mixed them with SA or CA cichlids, they will do best given a tank to themselves.

[DeFeKt]

I agree, a front colony tank is always breathtaking..
What sort of fronty is it?

Matt

[Andos99]

It's a Cyphotilapia Frontosa.....he's very shy! Day three and he still scurrys away like a little scaredy-cat whenever I approach the tank. He seems to be eating fine though....loves blood worms and cichlid pellets so far.

[DeFeKt]

It's a Cyphotilapia Frontosa.....

Very broad!!!
moba?, Ikola?, burundi?, kigoma?, mpimbwe?....to name a few...
very good score either way,
very high demand and rather expensive adults over here.

[DeFeKt]

ps. this might help with identification..
http://frontosa.com/gallery/

[kay-bee19]

Originally Posted by Andos99

It's a Cyphotilapia Frontosa.....he's very shy! Day three and he still scurrys away like a little scaredy-cat whenever I approach the tank.

Frontosa are generally passive fish (when compared to aggressive active swimmers like mbuna) and some (but not all) can be skiddish and reclusive.

There are basically two stripe patterns (6 stripe and 7 stripe) and three primary groups of frontosa (cyphotilapia sp. north (6-stripe); cyphotiliapia frontosa (7-stripe), and cyphotilapia gibberosa(6-stripe)).

Each group may contain several variants (c. sp. north: burundi & kavala which originate from the north portion of the lake); c. frontosa: kigoma (which is a 7-stripe frontosa); c. gibberosa contains the blue sub-groups which originate in the southern portion of the lake like the various zaire blues, the zambians and the mpimpwe which are further broken down into additional variants like moba, ikola, kapampa; kitumba, bismark, samazi, etc.

The c. gibberosa blue variants tend to be the most expensive are usually acquired through importers or breeders.

Burundi, kigoma and sometimes mpimbwe are usually the variants most commonly found at the LFS and may all be sold as "frontosa" or "C. frontosa"

Frontosa's appreciate prestine water conditions and a quality and varied high protein diet. Their growth rate is fastest during their first year of life and usually achieve 4-6" during that time. After year 1 growth rate slows. They do well with alt. calvus and alt. compressiceps.