Frontosa Basics

Frontosa come live at depth between 65 and 100 feet in Lake Tanganyika, which makes them a difficult fish to collect. Today many are bred in captivity, but they still command a fairly high price. Frontosa are majestic, have a commanding presence, pronounced coloration and a large size, easily up to 12 inches (30 centimeters)!

The Frontosa's body has six or seven black stripes on a white background. The extremities will stay white or light blue in color. Both the male and the female will develop the cranial hump on the forehead, but the male hump will be larger and more pronounced. This hump is actually fat deposits.

They are a generally tolerant community fish and don't look for trouble, but they will defend a territory once they have established one.

Frontosa in the Aquarium

Frtontosas are best kept in groups of 6-8 with a minimum of a 75 gallon aquarium. Larger colonies will need 150-200 gallon aquariums. Consider a sandy bottom with rock structures creating caves for sheltering the shyer frontosa. Although Fronts don’t need them, you can place plants in for looks as Fronts will not harm them. Alternatively, you can also simply place large PVC elbows on the bottom of the tanks and stack on the sides like condo’s as they’re easy to keep clean and the fronts really like them. Make sure there are no sharp edges in your tanks, as frightened frontosas can bolt.

Water Changes

Water changes are an essential part of maintaining the quality of the captive environment. Nitrates are not as toxic as ammonia or nitrites but they are harmful and will stress your frontosa at high enough levels. The only way to remove the nitrates is through a partial water change. Ideally you want to have test kit readings of less than 20 ppm in your frontosa tank. Nitrate is the leading cause of slow fish growth. To reach the full potential of how quickly your frontosas can grow, keep the nitrates at a minimum. Most municipal water has a much higher nitrate content than 5ppm. It is best to invest in good equipment which helps to remove nitrates. Without water changes, particulate matter would accumulate in the substrate, additional pollutants such as phosphate and dissolved organic acids would increase to unhealthy levels, and the pH and alkalinity of the system will drop. Essential minor and trace elements would be depleted as well. Water changes remove the above mentioned (and other) pollutants while at the same time replenish diminished elements and restore both alkalinity and pH.

How often should water changes be done? Well, that depends on your water quality parameters and the bioload (number of frontosas in the aquarium and amount of food given). How much water can be changed at one time? Under less crowded conditions, you should not have to remove more than 33% at one time. Some folks perform 10% water changes weekly, while others, 25% once a month. How do you know which one is right for you? If after the water change, you do not notice a significant change in your water quality, try increasing the amount, frequency, or both. Water changes in general are a good think for frontosa health, just try to be consistent.

O.K., now you are ready to do your water change. STOP!!! Before you remove ANY water from your system, check your tap water. Water that is being added back to the system should be close in temperature to that in the tank. While minor variations in temperature (± 2 degrees Fahrenheit) will not harm the fish. Larger variations may bring about the onset of certain diseases such as Ich. This water should be free of chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals, and other pollutants. Using a "slimy" water conditioner and/or a chloramine remover will usually ensure that incoming water is satisfactory. These "slimy" conditioners usually neutralize chlorine and chelate small quantities of heavy metals such as copper and lead. In some agricultural or industrial areas, or if you are using untreated well water, you might also check for levels of nitrate and phosphate. One should also check the pH of incoming tap water. Due to the addition of chemicals to make our water safe to drink, the pH may be far more alkaline than the water in the tank. You don't need to match the pH levels exactly, and minor variations (±0.5 pH units) usually will not harm frontosa. Another tip: I do not advise the use of hot water to adjust temperature. Heavy metals such as copper and lead may be present in greater quantity in hot water (especially in areas where the water is naturally acidic). In addition, some older water heaters may leach toxic levels of zinc into the system. If you must use hot water, best to allow it to run for at least five minutes and check the copper level before use.

Feeding your Fronts

Frontosa are not fussy eaters. Young frontosa really enjoy a good quality flake food. Larger frontosa take well to pellets. I like to alternate treats for my frontosa. I like frozen foods and include a saltwater fish (even leave some bone and skin), chopped ocean shrimp, mysis shrimp, krill (freeze dried too), blood worms, black worms, glassworms and silversides. Don’t overfeed. I enjoy feeding my frontosa and like to take my time and watch them eat the food before releasing more because I don’t enjoy siphoning leftover food from my tank after feeding time. Adult frontosas do not need to eat every day. In fact, if you are gone for several days, keep them hungry.

Breeding Frontosa

For consistent breeding success, the water pH needs to be over 7.0. and the temperature should be 74-80 degrees.

Frontosas breeding groups work best with 8-10 fish. You can chose fewer fish, but with large numbers there is less chance the weaker fish would be bullied. The biggest and best looking male will not always be your dominant male (alpha). Provide enough places for your frontosa to take refuge from the alpha male. Unless your beta male is badly treated, do not remove him, as his presence adds to the alpha male's mating abilities and reduces pressure on the females.

What age do Fronts breed? Some say two years and some say four. It really varies with the way the fish are raised, water quality and diet. For wild-caught fish, males start to breed at about 5", females at about 4", the smaller the female the fewer number of eggs she produces.

When conditions are right the male will chose the most willing female, go into a corner of the tank, deposits his milt and then usually leaves. The female then goes over to that area, drops her eggs into the milt, swims backwards, picks up the eggs in her mouth and repeats this again until she has deposited all of her eggs. Sometimes the male goes over to this area after the females swims away and leaves more milt. The female and male frontosa do not touch during spawning! You will be fortunate to ever witness frontosas breeding. It is amazing to watch.

Because of the way the male deposits his milt, it's important that water in your tank is not too turbulent. The male will not do "his job" or if he does, his sperm will be reduced in quantity and quality, or washed away completely.

Female fontosas will brood their eggs in their bucal cavity (mouth). Full gestation is typically six weeks for the very large eggs. You may let the female frontosa hold naturally and she will eventually relaease the baies in the tank. Since female frontosas do not perform extended brood care one the fry are released, there is little change for the frontosa fry to escape predation in the aquarium.

In order to get as many frontosa fry from the spawn, it is best to "strip" the eggs from the frontosa female. After a several weeks or so of the female brooding, you may take her out of the tank. Once out of the tank, hold her in a bucket of her own tank water and then gently open her mouth causing her to release her young. Put the young into a 10-20 gallon brooder tank and put the female back into the breeding tank. Removing fry from the female with less than three weeks of brooding will require an egg tumbler for hatching.

Freshly hatched brine shrimp are relished by frontosa fry. This is a much better food source and certainly easier on the fry, as there will be less pollution of their tank then using a prepared food. You can mix in crushed flake or fine dried fry food like spiralina to give them an added source of vitamins. As they get just a little larger, don’t be afraid to feed frozen adult brine shrimp to help them grow even faster!