Cyphotilapia differences

[SLS_23]

Hi, I would like to keep Cyphotilapia(fronotsa, gibberosa) in several aquariums. I would like to ask what are the differences between them? I have 3 free aquariums, so i would like to ask?
1. Which variant is the bluest?
2. Which variant has the longest fins?
3. Which variant has the biggest hump on the head?
Thank you all for your answers.

 

[Milingu]

1. Depends on how you define "bluest". C. gibberosa from the southern part of the west coast (DR Congo from Kitumba till Moliro) have a nice dark blue and strong black an white contrast.
The gibberosa from the southern shore and the southern part of the eastern coast (Zambia and Tanzania) can have more blue but it's less dark.
But definitely gibberosa is more blue than frontosa.

2. C. gibberosa from Congo.

3. Some of the 6-bar variety of C. frontosa from the northern part of the lake have the biggest hump, followed by 7-bar frontosa, Tanzania and Zambia gibberosa. Congo gibberosa have the smallest humps.

 

[danotaylor]

I agree w @Milingu info. My 2c worth
1. Moba, Mikula, Kitumba, Moliro, Kapampa are my favorites in the Blue Zaire group of gibberosa.
2. All will grow long trailing fins, especially males, if there’s no pesky fin nippers kept in the tank with them.
3. Burundi get gigantic nuccal humps, but the blue Zaire variant hump on the males is more asthetically pleasing to me.
If you goal is breeding I would recommend not getting Kapampa as they are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity
As far as saleability goes the blue Zaire variants fetch a better price and are typically more desirable, and are more expensive to buy in the front end. Excuse the pun.
It typically takes 3+ years to raise a cypho variants from fry to breeding age. Longer for some.
What size tanks do you have for them?
This is my Mikula male. He’s 5 yrs old and his mood & lighting definitely influences his coloring

 

[SLS_23]

I agree w @Milingu info. My 2c worth
1. Moba, Mikula, Kitumba, Moliro, Kapampa are my favorites in the Blue Zaire group of gibberosa.
2. All will grow long trailing fins, especially males, if there’s no pesky fin nippers kept in the tank with them.
3. Burundi get gigantic nuccal humps, but the blue Zaire variant hump on the males is more asthetically pleasing to me.
If you goal is breeding I would recommend not getting Kapampa as they are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity
As far as saleability goes the blue Zaire variants fetch a better price and are typically more desirable, and are more expensive to buy in the front end. Excuse the pun.
It typically takes 3+ years to raise a cypho variants from fry to breeding age. Longer for some.
What size tanks do you have for them?
This is my Mikula male. He’s 5 yrs old and his mood & lighting definitely influences his coloring

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Thank you for your reply. I plan on breeding cichlids next year. I plan to have a 200x60x60mm-720l aquarium. From what I looked, young F1 cyphotylapia cost about 4 to 10$.
I also wanted to ask, is it true that the Blue Zaire moba has the shortest fins?

 

[Milingu]

Thank you for your reply. I plan on breeding cichlids next year. I plan to have a 200x60x60mm-720l aquarium. From what I looked, young F1 cyphotylapia cost about 4 to 10$.

That's the absolute minimum tank size. I would try to provide at least 200x70 for a bigger footprint.

I also wanted to ask, is it true that the Blue Zaire moba has the shortest fins?

As mentioned above the DR Congo (=former Zaire) variants can develop the longest fins.

 

[tiger15]

The blueness varies not just with variants, but also with age. Juvenile Front are the bluest, but as the fish age, they turn darker and lose some blueness. The color transformation is deepest with Burundi and Mpimpbwe, less so with Zaire variants in my personal experience. My observation of Front colonies in pubic aquariums, typically of Burundi variant, the blueness contrast between young and old fish is obvious when compared side by side. Old fish are darker and less blue than their juvenile offsprings with some grand old males turn pitch black with overhanging hump. Closer inspection reveals that the black bands expand with age over the white effectively increasing the darkness. I observed the same color transformation in my previously owed Burundi and Mpimbwe too, but my current Zaire Twembwe retains the blueness and barring at 10 year old age. His hump is modest in size but retains the blue dots typical of the Zaire variant.

 

[SLS_23]

Thank you all for your advice. In the end I decided for Blue Zaire Moba ans Burundi. I'm still thinking about a third? Does anyone have experience with the Blue Mpimbwe form?
And can anyone recognize the form from this video? This is the fish I like the most and because of this video I decided to keep a frontosa. I know the fish is kept in poor conditions, but I would like to have one as similar as possible in my aquarium one day.

 

[Caperguy99]

Thank you for your reply. I plan on breeding cichlids next year. I plan to have a 200x60x60mm-720l aquarium. From what I looked, young F1 cyphotylapia cost about 4 to 10$.
I also wanted to ask, is it true that the Blue Zaire moba has the shortest fins?

The only thing to remember is that these fish take a long time to get to breeding maturity - longer than a year, if I’m remembering correctly. To have an “out-of-the-box” breeding setup, you’ll likely need to buy bigger, older fish - which will cost much more than the juvies you’ve seen. Otherwise, you could wind up waiting 2-3 years.

 

[Bwirtz]

I wouldn't recommend having multiple collection points in an aquarium if breeding a pure strain is your goal. If you want a nice show tank with various variants from the Lake, have at it, they will be fine so long as you have the proper space, they are of the same size, and you have a good mix of males to females.

Also as mentioned, Frontosa (Northern Species) and Gibberosa (Southern Species) have been divided into two sub-catagories based on having different physical characteristics. If you like the lighter colors and large nuchal hump get the Burundi. If you like the deep dark blues and striking white contrast, with a less pronounced nuchal hump, go with Zaires like Moba, Kitumba, or Mikula.

Be ready to keep these fish for a long time and for them to grow slow. I have a group of Gibberosa Kitumba that I have had for over ten years. They are not easy to breed and require a lot of patience and some luck. I had two groups at one point of wild caught stock to finally find a mix of males and females that would produce fry steadily. WC sexual mature Gibberosa's are typically $100-150 USD per fish from reputable importers. That lasted for a 3 year period were I was able to produce 200-250 F1s per year. They stopped breeding for me over the last year and a half, but are still very beautiful.

 

[tiger15]

I have never kept colonies of Front with the intent to breed, but always have a Front as a center piece in my cichlid community tank. My current Zaire Tembwe is 10 year old, and my former Burundi, Mpembwe and Samazi Front all live a long time. Zaire has the best blue and barring contrast. Burundi is the most common variant sold in every LFS and housed in many public aquariums, which has the most massive hump but old fish tend to turn dark and lose blueness and barring contrast. Mpembwe and Samazi are in between, having good size hump, more blue than Burundi but less blue than Zaire. There are many variants of Zaire, but when I picked up my Tembwe from a Front breeder where several Zaire variants were displaced side by side, I couldn’t tell the difference. The Front in the YouTube in post #7 looks like a Zaire with the signature face mask and blue dotted hump, but what a waste keeping a beautiful Zaire with dirty Oscar and arrow, and gar. Keeping Front is a long term investment as they are long live fish, and males take 3 year to reach sexual maturity. Having my tembwe for 10 years, I still have no clue whether it is a male or female. May be someone can help.