# I've got my fronts!



## fmueller

After more than a year of planning and setting up the tank, last night I finally got my fronts! The tank is a 240G from Glasscages with all the gizmos that compulsive readers of these forums like myself need to have - dual sump setup (2x45G) with 2" Durso drainpipes, 2 oversized FBFs, 24 jet UGJ system, continuous automatic waterchanger, black substrate, real rock background, T8 lighting, LED moonlighting, real plants, and so on. 8)

Unfortunately after setting all this up, there wasn't enough money left for a colony of wild-caught Moba, and I realized that I would have to settle for Burundis. I went around a few LFS and local breeders, and finally bought 50 juveniles of about 2" each from a breeder about 1h from my place.

I introduced them to my tank last night with the lights switched off, and immediately noticed how blue their finnage looked in my setup!  I was kinda worried that this would be less noticable once the lights were on, but today it's still there









I haven't actually seen that many fronts in the flesh - just the deformed wretches you find at most LFS - and after reading on this site, I never thought that humble Burundis - and especially juvies of this size - could be quite that blue! In short, I am very happy with these fish, and just needed to let somebody know. Since I don't own a digital camera, it will be a few weeks before I have the first photos, but I'll make sure to post them here as soon as they become available!


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## Scarlet33

That's great! 

How about some tank pics?


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## ben_cichlid

Congrats on the purchase...How about some pics of the tank and the burundi ?


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## Charles

Congrat... Thanks for my fish picture that you clear up for me.

Nice setup... you need to shoot some pictures so that we can enjoy your pond too... and 50 fish... that must be nice to see them swimming around.

Just curious, can you guys click my website to put a blog... I am not sure if it works or shows up when you click on it.


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## senorh

congratulations, I remember the thrill of getting my first fronts. but I didn't get that many. Burundi are great, and now you have an excuse for another tank and more fish.

senorh


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## bizdaddy

Here is a pic of my Burundi male:

http://www.duboisi.com/gallery/0505/pag ... ha_jpg.htm

He always shows this much blue, it is just a darker shade than what shows in the pic, because of the flash. Burundi's can get plenty of blue, it just doesn't show up on the forehead, like the southern varients.

Justin


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## frontosa_guy_dan

how long u gonna be keeping 50! in there for? and i bet that tank is always moving! how much for the 50 of them?


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## fmueller

Thanks for all your comments. As I said, pictures will be forthcoming eventually!

bizdaddy - wow, that's a nice Burundi male you got there. Hope mine will look like that when they grow up! I guess there simply isn't space on the forehead to be blue, because that's where the hump is :lol:

frontosa_guy_dan - yep, it shure is a busy tank. It is fascinating to see though how even the little 2" juvies are showing the slow, graceful moves that fit so well with the adults. There is no hustle and bustle and unruly chasing in that tank that you would see with tropheus or mbunas.

Time will tell how long I can have 50 in there. As soon as it appears crowded I am going to sell some, and in the end I am hoping to end up with a colony of a maximum of 3 males and 12 females. I am going to keep the best females and maybe sell all the males and buy a WC male to bring new blood into the colony.

The 50 I have now are F2s from two different females of the same colony. The guy I got them from bought the WC grandparents of mine, which he sold, then bought some of their fry back from the buyer, because he realized that they were pretty special in color for Burundis.

Greetings

Frank


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## fmueller

As promised, here are the 1st pictures of my Burundis. Not exactly technically flawless shots, but I couldn't wait any longer to upload some pictures of them.

Of course I think they look fantastic, but they are the 1st Fronts of that size I have ever seen, so I am kinda lacking a comparison. If you guys think they look like inbread monsters, please let me know. It would be better to find out now than in a few years time when I am trying to flog off their fry 




























This is a whole-tank shot of the 8'x2'x2' they are in:


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## Gandalfslair

Wow...  If those are Burundi, those are the bluest Burundi fry I have ever seen....nice score!


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## Slider393

awesome!


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## leeac

very nice! that is the most blue i have ever seen in burundi fry!


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## fmueller

Thanks for the compliments


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## fmueller

Just thought I'd post some recent shots to show that they have grown ;-)



















The one in the middle there in the second shot is the current alpha.


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## FrontGirl

fmueller....my burundi fry were that blue when I first got them and almost 2 years later they are still that blue. Even my alpha male who goes dark quite often, has the most deepest blue in his fins. He looks awesome. Good luck with yours.


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## senorh

looking good :thumb: 
senorh


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## ajl10spro

Great looking tank!!!


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## senso

Frank
You have done it again with anoither great tank. One of the nicer looking Tang tanks that I have seen.

As a matter of interest could you detail the rocks, plants and substrate that you have used in the tank.


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## sjsheng

What a great setup you have!
From your date of posting, the only thing i can said is frontosa growth rate are really slow.
Anyway one of the best setup i have ever seen.

Keep it up!

Regards


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## fmueller

Just thought I'd post some new tank shots just to show everybody keeps on growing 

One day I am going to get around to create a web site which details how this tank was set up, but unfortunately it hasn't happened yet. I am the stay-at-home Dad of a recently adopted 7 and 8 year old, and the little munchkins are keeping me pretty busy ;-)


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## jordanroda

Super colony!


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## bigvisk

how big are they, and do you still got all 50, looking very nice, i want to set up a front tank, but dont have the room for a large enough tank atm .


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## cross

Wow ... very nice set-up. Fish look great and the tank is sweet. What kind of background is that?
-Mike


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## eklikewhoa

whats the size on those guys now?

amazing sight to see!


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## Reel North

That tank is crazy. Its unorthodox. And wonderful.

WOW

How are the plants rooted in, and what type are they??


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## fmueller

Many thanks for all the comments! The alpha is now just over 6". The other ones are a little smaller, and a few are still really small. Not sure what those girls did when the other ones were growing :lol:

I lost a few of the 50, but would be guessing there should be around 45 left. You guys are welcome to stop by and have a go at counting them!

Background is real rock that I siliconed to the back wall. Plants on the back wall are Java fern. In the middle are lots of Amazon sword plants and over to the right are various types of Cryptocoryne - wanted to see which one would do best under my conditions, but there doesn't seem to be much difference. None are stellar growers, but all of them are doing alright. I also had two Anubias and there is only a little bit of one of them left, so they weren't a great hit. To the far right is a little bit of Saggitarias grass (sp?), which looked like a smaller type of Valisnerie, but seems to stay really low in this tank - plus the Fronts keep on covering it with sand and I have to dig it back out. It copes amazingly well with the abuse 

I am expecting the Fronts to dig more and more as they grow, so we are going to have to see how the plants will cope. My hunch is that the Java fern will do best in the long run, since it's not affected by digging. Second best will probably the type of Crypt that turns out to be the fastest grower.


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## Burner

This is probably the nicest tank set up I've ever seen!

And those Burundi are beautiful! Nice work bro........ :thumb:


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## fmueller

Ever since I set up this tank, I was planning on creating an associated web site which explains how I put it all together. I thought this would be a good way for people to gather ideas for their own setups, and the site tells you not only what worked for me, but also what didn't, where I got most of my information from, and where you can buy the stuff I used. I also wanted people to be able to leave comments on the individual pages in case you want to add something or point out a mistake.

It has taken me a while - and still is a work in progress - but it's now up and running at www.fmueller.com. There are more than 40 web pages just about this tank with 100s of photos, not only of the fish and plants, but also of technical stuff. Please feel free to stop by and check it out!

Frank


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## Tanganyika Boy

The fishes and the tank are amazing. 

B_E_A_U_T_I_F_U_L


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## darthvader4bwu

Awesome fish, tank and setup :thumb:


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## Addicted_2_Africans

WOW! Amazing tank! Beautiful Burundis and Pics!


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## Duarte101

Please post an updated picture im actually crying this is like my dream tank 45 Fronts 8' x 2' x 2' man ur tank looks AMAZING!!!


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## fmueller

Duarte101 said:


> Please post an updated picture im actually crying this is like my dream tank 45 Fronts 8' x 2' x 2' man ur tank looks AMAZING!!!


Many thanks!

Visit my site (www.fmueller.com). There are plenty of pictures on there, especially in the 'fish' and 'plant' sections. Here are some more teasers:


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## Duarte101

thanks but could u get a full tank shot pf the current month and maybe some pics of most of those fronts together plz plz plz


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## kyk1082

awsome community you got there! :thumb:


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## Z24Dawg89

I love the setup! The tank looks awsome!


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## dutt7

awesome tank and fish! really like the website as well!


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## fmueller

And upon popular request, a current full tank shot and some more photos of the fronts. More at the bottom of this page. Unless scared and huddling into a corner, it never happens that most of the fronts hang out to together in one area. To the contrary, when all is quiet they seem to space out pretty evenly around the tank. I believe everybody has his/her own corner. And they are now getting to the point were pretty much all space is taken up, including the less popular corners where people more often walk by the tank.

The other day one of the fronts decided to 'mow' off the cryps in the front corner. Not that the plants were actually eaten. It simply pulled off every single leaf. I had never seen the fronts show much interest in the plants themselves. They just occasionally dig one out because it happens to be where they want to dig a hole. This time though, I think the front had chosen this particular corner as its territory, and was pruning back the plants to make more space for itself.

Frank


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## Fishboy1230

I may have missed it, but where did you get such great specimens? 
Also where can you get Fonts' I cant find them at local stores....
How many would you recomend for a mixed 125gallon 4' by 2' by 2'?


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## Charles

a 4 foot tank is a bit short for frontosa.


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## Brian Maddrey

Those Burundis are cool. I have Kitumbas and your burundis have a nice blue tint to them. I'd
say they could pass for Mipimbwes


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## Charles

They can't be pass as mpimbwe cause of the face stripe. but they do look great though.


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## fmueller

To get any kind of fish, I would recommend looking for local breeders, and you can usually find those guys through your local aquarium club - be it a cichlid-only club or a general aquarium club. In my experience the fish you get this way are better quality, you can get lots or rare stuff that the stores never have, and the prices are a lot more reasonable. Not that I have lived elsewhere in the US, but I get a feeling the clubs in NE Ohio are second to none. Even if your area doesn't quite have the first rate organizations I enjoy, I'd still say: check them out!


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## fmueller

It's been a long time since I have last posted pictures of my 240G. The tank is now almost four years old, and has matured beautifully with huge Java ferns on the background, Anubias on the caves, and Java moss overgrowing lots of the rocks. The fish have also grown a fair bit!

I have just updated the fish part of the 240G Frontosa section of my web site and added lots of new photos. Feel free to check it out or to use this link if you just want to see the new photos from January 2009

Here are some teasers:





































Enjoy

Frank

PS: There is also a brand new section about my 5G Shelldweller tank on my web site.


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## Razzo

Frank,

I am glad that you bumped this thread as I have not seen it before. I really enjoyed your website and this thread. Your fish, your tanks, your plants, your aquascaping and your photography are simply stunning. They are a real treat for the eyes. Thank you for sharing them!

BTW: in case I missed it somewhere, what is the name of your cyps? Are they Mpimbwe?

Russ


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## fmueller

Hi Russ,

Many thanks for the compliments! The fronts are Burundi, the cyps are a mix of different color varieties of leptosoma.

Frank


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## mel_cp6

very nice set up and interesting site you have going.
very informative and i cant believe i even read your life story.

i really like the ugj set up. one day if i ever have to redo my 
tank like i plan (sunked into a wall), i will do a ugj.

i hope my burundi get that nice when they get bigger.
i am completely new to frontosa and have no idea what the difference 
are form kitumbi, burundi and f1 - f10 and so on.
any sites you can recommend so i can learn about these fish will
be greatly appreciated.

thanks


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## jenandcoffee

WOW :thumb: !!! i've been thinking about buying fronts, and let me tell you, i'm inspired, i'm definatly doing it now!

i have one question: with the selection of smaller fish you have, its not a problem? i'm trying to find tankmates that will work in the long run, any advice on that?
Jenn


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