Frontosa tank - fighting and offspring

[JohnnyTBags]

Hey all,

I have a 150g frontosa tank.Originally housed 30-40 African cichlids but recently rehomed them all and now only have 6 frontosas 4 are around 3-4 inches. One around 5 and an other around 6-7 inches.They are all fairly skittish but when tank is on there doesn’t seem to be much confrontation. But every week that goes by a few look a little more beat up. Torn fins, mouth scars etc. the hard part is I think the 7 inch is a male (very skittish and docile) and I’m not sure about the 5 inch. I’m assuming the 5 is the beta and causing the issues if male but I can’t tell. Do schools of frontosa usually have standard conflict like typically cichlids or am I dealing with a larger issue here where I might have to rehome one? Another note: there are 3 babies in the tank (nooooo clue how, as they all seem young in the tank). And haven’t seen any breeding activity at all. Super odd. Any thoughts on the behavior (skittish and fighting) and suggestion on what to look for in breeding as well? Thanks all.

 

[neutrino]

I kept them for about 25 years, kapampa most of that time, multiple breeding groups and generations. They're intelligent fish and among the most individually variable cichlids I've ever had in terms of temperament-- which means that what works for one group doesn't always work. A lot depends on the alpha male in my experience, I've had gentle ones and rough ones. For example, I had one that was so superior yet gentle that all he'd do was cruise the tank and give a sort of nod to the other males to put them back in line-- the one in the video below, actually. I also had a Burundi group where the alpha and beta got into some magnificent, tank rattling, tsunami producing battles, yet they never actually damaged each other. You just never know. I had a female once that would fight any fish over 3-4 inches, male or female, frontosa or otherwise, but could be trusted with small fish, including one inch grow-outs.

Because each group was different, I got good at observing temperament, etc. and adding/subtracting either males or females to arrive at fairly peaceful breeding groups-- so there's no guaranteed magic formula ime. Some groups worked with 5 or more in a tank, including a male or two, while some only worked with 3 (male and two females).

Spawning-- look for tubes to start showing, and often the group will show a different kind of energy. Some-- or sometimes they spawn surreptitiously, at night, etc. and some while you watch. A male may start following or displaying at a gravid female, but it can also be very subtle. Watch for the circling when a spawn is actually approaching. Video of an actual spawn, notice how gentle and masterful this male was, 11 inches and still growing at the time of this video:

Kapampa colony-- first spawn - YouTube

 

[1234fish]

As stated what works for one group doesn't always apply ,that is great advice, especially with Fronts. I found most of my groups did better being a little more overcrowded than the cookie cutter suggestions of a front group. This helped with aggression and with them being less skittish. I am not suggesting you go this route, however I found my most active front group was mixed with some haps and peacocks. It was a situation where someone's tank leaked and they had nothing to do with their fronts so I took them into my 265g. Ultimately the 7 fronts were more active than tanks where I had fronts only. It took 2 years but the fronts even began breeding in that mixed tank. My initial suggestion would be a larger group (3-5 more fronts) in that tank. Yet with all that said adding to a colony could also be the recipe for disaster, sometimes we get lucky other times we do not. Always have a back up plan. Good luck!