So AQ advisor says 5 Frontosa (4 females to 1 male) is fine for a 120g (48”x24”x24”) for life. They would be the sole inhabitants of the tank other than some ghost shrimp. I always throw a pile of ghost shrimp in tanks with rock work to clean trapped food out of the tiny crevices. Just want to know if that would actually be an adequate housing for them, or if that would be too small. Would a 125g long tank be better?
It might work but I always recommend a minimum of a 6 foot tank for Frontosa, with bigger being ideal. It's much better if the females can put some distance between themselves and the male when he gets aggressive.
I had a maintenance client that kept a pair in a 75 gallon for 6 years but the female was always hiding in her cave and definitely stunted because of it. He's pushing 11" and she was barely 6".
I had a maintenance client that kept a pair in a 75 gallon for 6 years but the female was always hiding in her cave and definitely stunted because of it. He's pushing 11" and she was barely 6".
So would the 125g would work? It’s 72”x18”x22”, so 6’ long. I’ve got both tanks available to use with some shuffling around of current stocking, just gotta finish building the stand for the 125g
If it's between the 4' and 6' tank, go with the 125.
Definitely go with the length, 6 ft vs. 4 ft. Even that may or may not fit 5 adults, depending on your alpha male, individuals of which can range from gentle to hard on females, also how much your females squabble. If you start getting spawns the female typically needs space to be left alone. For this I don't do caves like some do, but I use some large rocks to create escapes and informal regions in the tank. It's not impossible to keep them in a 4 ft. tank, but it's a roll of the dice on getting the right group.
Also, fronts eat ghost shrimp whenever they can catch them.
Also, fronts eat ghost shrimp whenever they can catch them.
Ghost shrimp, you say? I don’t want to de-rail, but i bought a number of juvenile kigoma captive raised and they dont even like brine. Perhaps some ghosts are in order...also, yes, longer tank is better, imho.
