Large Frontosa's+Small Frontosa's=risky?

[kaybee]

Has anyone here ever added smaller frontosa's to a tank already stocked with large (10-12"+) frontosa's? How small would be too small?

[Northernguy]

Crispy and Brookfish have fronts.They may have at one time or another.
One of them is breeding them,I think Brookfish.
I would say at least 4" with a safe place to hide.

[Deleted User]

Has anyone here ever added smaller frontosa's to a tank already stocked with large (10-12"+) frontosa's? How small would be too small?

If the smaller fish isn't big enough to fit in the larger fishes mouth it maybe OK. But as with all Africans you would have to add more than five or 6 at a time to stop any possible bullying. :ssmile:

[Crispy]

Fronts are predators in the wild. The largest part of their diet is smaller fish. If the small ones can fit in their mouth, they're at risk. It's a gamble and since most tank-raised fronts do not eat feeders it could work. Hybridguy has small fronts with large I believe.

[kaybee]

Thanks for the info.

I was thinking about getting a few more frontosa's from a local breeder (zaire blue Kapampa variant), but they're in the 2.5"-3.5" size range and seem to be border-line snack-size for my larger fronts. If they were all 3.5" I might chance it.

Fortunately he has some larger frontosa's on-site as well (Kipili variant) that are decently priced; I'll have to take a look at them.

[sailor]

What varient do you have in your tank now. Front keeping purists like to keep varients and strains in same groups to keep hybrids from happening. Most people wait till their new fronts are min 4 inches before introducing them to the colony of full grown adults to reduce bullying and the chance of being eaten.

[kaybee]

Three frontosa variants are established in the tank: burundi, kigoma, and mpimbwe.

I'm not planning to breed them and the aquascaping of the tank isn't conducive to fry survival (I'm against creating cross-variant frontosa's). The tank is more of a multi-variant display tank rather than a variant-specific tank.

I went by the breeder's place yesterday. He had an awesome Zaire Blue Kapampa juvenile colony at a killer price. I had to pass on the colony because most of them were too small (~2.5"). As it was I did get the largest one in the tank (a 3.5" kapampa). In a different tank he had the larger kipili's (being about 4"-4.25"), so I got four of those.

Once in my tank, the frontosa juvie's schooled together and quickly attracted the attention of my largest frontosa (a burundi at least a good foot in length). I couldn't tell if he was viewing them as intruding tank mates or potential snacks. They held his semi-stalking attention for nearly 2hrs before he lost interest; they granted him a wide berth.

My 9.5" mpimbwe seemed to stalk them for just a couple of minutes then lost interest. The 2nd largest in the tank, a 11"-12" kigoma, completely ignored them. The smaller 9"' kigoma just shoo'ed them away from his spot; and previously smallest front (a 7"-kigoma), sized them up for a bit then lost interest as well.

Today, the burundi only paid them occasional attention; he seemed more interested in interacting with his rivals.

So far so good, around 4" seems to be the magic size. I'm pretty sure that the burundi and mpimbwe would've tried (and probably succeeded) in eating the smaller kampampa's had I got them instead.

Here are some pics:

One of the new kipili's in close proximity to the 11-12" kigoma
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20Cichlids%202009/African%20Cichids%202010/kip_kig.jpg

The mpimbwe and kipili's (fellow-Tanzanian's)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20Cichlids%202009/African%20Cichids%202010/tanz.jpg

Kipili
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20Cichlids%202009/African%20Cichids%202010/kipili.jpg

Kampampa
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20Cichlids%202009/African%20Cichids%202010/zb2.jpg

[kathymac]

Beautiful fish and nice shots.//

[Crispy]

Beautiful fronts Kaybee!! Sweet how you have a tank showing off multiple variants. thumbs2:

[hybridguy]

I know this post may b a little late but i usually introduce my fry at 1" and sometimes smaller. I have had great success with this. I actually have 5 1" fry in my 220 now with a 12" male and he never looks at them. Everyones fish r different though. What works for me may not work for u. I have been doing this for 4 yrs now and i have not had any dissapear.

[kaybee]

I'm fairly certain 1" front fry would be goners very quickly in my tank judging on the the behavior of the burundi and mpimbwe. I think if I did get some of those 2"-3" zaire blues I'd be a few short by now.

My kigoma's on the other hand seemed to be a bit safer judging on how they reacted, even the 11" one. So you're right, the individual drives of each one plays a large role.

The small (~4") fronts are doing well very well thus far.