# frontosa pricing



## downeast

Just wondering what everyone is paying for an average price for Fronts? I picked one up for $36 in the 3"-4" range. I would like to do a group of about 6 but at that price with a limited budget it will take a while.


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## des

I paid about $120 for a group of 16 Kigoma Frontosas at 2"


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## mel_cp6

thats a good price if it was Zaire type.
frontosas has different price range for different collection point.
Zaires or congo are the highest, next are the tanzanians then the cheapest are burundi types.


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## Super Turtleman

Yes, different types, different prices. I paid $130 for 13 F1 Kapampa "Zaire Blue" Frontosa at about an inch in size. That was a steal of a price IMO.


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## downeast

Here is the guy i picked up. Not sure which location he came from though.


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## mel_cp6

looks to be a burundi type.


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## ddink7

23 F1 Kapampa, 1.5" for 18.00 ea


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## pork_chop

I paid about 36$ for 9 1 inch Burundi's and $12.00 for a 3 inch.


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## Crude

LFS has ~1.5" fronts for 9.99! Looked to be in good shape, but I'm not experienced enough to tell you what variety.

Seriously had me thinking about going with a Front tank - but mine is still cycling. Now was not the time


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## theoryguru

what about for a colony of 9 adults?


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## Bevo5

Honestly, front prices vary so much it's really hard to say what a fair price is. Burundis shouldn't be too expensive, but zaires like mobas will cost a ton. There are so many variables that it's pretty much impossible to tell you whether or not you're paying a fair price.

Post some pics maybe? Some more info?


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## Fishy_Cichlid

> Here is the guy i picked up. Not sure which location he came from though.


*Thats definitely id'd as a Cyphotilapia Sp. North, Collection point - Burundi (perhaps).*

Burundis are easily available, and should not cost more than $10-12/piece for 3". The Gibberosas are the ones which are costly, Fronts are way cheaper . People usually go in for Wild Caughts Gibbs, for Burundis - WC doesent matter. One reason being that WCs have better quality in general and their offsprings (F1s) will probably have better quality too. Even F1 Gibbs cost atleast 30-50% less than the WC Gibbs. Again, Gibbs prices vary by Collection Points, Zaires (CP- Moba/M'toto, Kapampas, Kitumbas) are the costliest followed by the Tanzanian varieties (CP-Mpimbwes, Mikula, Kipilis etc) and the Zambians.

I am sorry, but if you were going for stocking Fronts, then the price is a rip-off. If you were looking for Gibbs, then that one in the picture is definitely not a Gibb.

If you are located in the US, there are many reputed private breeders and even companies dealing with genuine Gibbs. You could also join a forum for the Cyphotilapia variety of fish and look up for sponsors or in the Buy-Sell section. More importantly, research properly on the fish you intend to stock and how to identify them - more easily said than done, tho IMO. Look out for the Front-Gibbs hybrids - too many flocking the market and personally not my cup of tea.

Best of Luck.


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## nolefan

Fishy_Cichlid said:


> Here is the guy i picked up. Not sure which location he came from though.
> 
> 
> 
> *Thats definitely id'd as a Cyphotilapia Sp. North, Collection point - Burundi (perhaps).*
> 
> Burundis are easily available, and should not cost more than $10-12/piece for 3". The Gibberosas are the ones which are costly, Fronts are way cheaper . People usually go in for Wild Caughts Gibbs, for Burundis - WC doesent matter. One reason being that WCs have better quality in general and their offsprings (F1s) will probably have better quality too. Even F1 Gibbs cost atleast 30-50% less than the WC Gibbs. Again, Gibbs prices vary by Collection Points, Zaires (CP- Moba/M'toto, Kapampas, Kitumbas) are the costliest followed by the Tanzanian varieties (CP-Mpimbwes, Mikula, Kipilis etc) and the Zambians.
> 
> I am sorry, but if you were going for stocking Fronts, then the price is a rip-off. If you were looking for Gibbs, then that one in the picture is definitely not a Gibb.
> 
> If you are located in the US, there are many reputed private breeders and even companies dealing with genuine Gibbs. You could also join a forum for the Cyphotilapia variety of fish and look up for sponsors or in the Buy-Sell section. More importantly, research properly on the fish you intend to stock and how to identify them - more easily said than done, tho IMO. Look out for the Front-Gibbs hybrids - too many crazy the market and personally not my cup of tea.
> 
> Best of Luck.
Click to expand...

Agree but mikulas are zaires and they also have longorias now


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## Fishy_Cichlid

Missed out on some of the other collection points of Zaire Gibbs :
Kalumba
Moliro
Tembwe

Maybe not as easy to find, perhaps. Anyways, so much controversies regarding these CPs.


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## fmueller

Fishy_Cichlid said:


> One reason being that WCs have better quality in general and their offsprings (F1s) will probably have better quality too.


I agree that WC and F1 are more sought after, and hence command a higher price. If they 'have better quality' - whatever that might mean - reasonable people can disagree on.

Personally, I don't think so. I know that my colony of Burundi are F2, so the fry I get are F3. If somebody really wants to know I tell them, but by and large I just sell the fish as 'tank raised', because anything beyond WC and F1 are mickey-mouse designations anyhow.

If I was dishonest and told people the parents were WC and the fry F1, there is no way anybody could prove me wrong based on 'quality'. And if I keep line breeding them responsibly, eliminating any defective individuals from the gene pool, there is no rational reason to believe that will change even if we get to F15 or F20.

If there is a problem, it's because people get irrationally attached to designations like WC and F1, and are willing to pay crazy money for the latest color variant, even if nobody can even tell the difference from fish that cost a fraction of the price. That invites dishonest folk to make stuff up, and to sell everything that hatches, instead of applying sensible selection of breeding stock.

If folks can't tell the difference between a Frontosa and a Gibberosa, let alone a Kitumba and a Kipili, why pay thousands of dollars for one variety while you could get the other for pocket chance? I don't think I'll ever understand that.


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## Fishy_Cichlid

Yes, pretty irrational I must agree. I dont think theres any person on earth who can identify between a WC and a good quality F1 Gibb.

Again, I could be wrong but most people dont really care whether its a WC or a F1/2 and pay a higher premium ..... except in the case of Gibberosas. Which leads me to another question - *Does a WC or a F1 really matter, if the F1 is of a good quality *which is again relative in terms of color/pixels, the mask etc etc when one can just about speculate regarding the Collection Point. Not necessarily, though, that the offspring of a WC should be of superior quality than from a F1.

Infact, the WC goes through more stress in its lifetime (decompression/journey/change of hands ....) than a F1 - again that being speculative.


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## fiupntballr

In my experience the difference is in the behavior. WC can be way more aggressive than f1 in some species. I'm sure in fronts it's the same but i would put money on it.. High quality bred fish can look better than wc and be healthier than wc. Wild caught is a good way to make sure we not stray too far away from representin the population found in the wild.


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