# New fronts not eating



## lucrent (Dec 2, 2007)

Hi everyone,

After several weeks of contemplation, months actually, I'm finally setting up my Frontosa colony.

Just to give you some background on some issues I've had that I've posted on:

I have three tanks, 210G, 110G and 55G. In my 210G I had a mix of Yellow labs, a peacock, hap, and a Burundi Frontosa. I had issues with the Frontosa not eating well, and after back and forth on the health forum, and concluding there was nothing physically wrong with the fish, it was suspected that tank mates were an issue.

My 110G was fairly empty, had a few munba in it, so I transfered all but the hap and the peacock to the 110G.

I also purchased 5 2 inch Burundi and 2 3 inch burundi to go along with the 4 inch Burundi.

So now in the 210 I have 8 Burundi, the 2 malawi and a syn catfish.

After my larger Burundi went for all out warfare against the new additions, and I change the decoration, kept the tank dark etc... things have settled down.

Here's my problem, all the Burundi look like they are barely eating. I 've tried several different kinds of foods (flakes, crisps, granules, pellets) and for the moment sticking with frozen brine shrimp which was one of the larger Burundi's favorites. Basically, they might take a couple of bites and let the rest sink to the bottom and lay there.

Is this becasue of the new environemnt and they just need to get used to it? My water temp is 81-82, could that be it? I understand fronts like slightly cooler water?

Water chemistry is fineH 7.8, Amm: 0, Nitrite:0. I do 50% water changes every week with double dose on prime. The 210G is running with two 950 magnums, 2 25gallon sumps, and a 350gph power head.

Thanks!


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## nagukush (Oct 16, 2008)

I have a similar situation and would love hear what the experts have to say...
BTW I'm new here - Hi everybody !


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

drop your temp slowly to 74-76 if your local weather allows, reduce your water change volume by 1/2 and let them settle into the tank for a while without any further disruptions, lower your lighting intensity or leave lights off for 16 hrs min. daily, fast them for 3-5 days then introduce one evening meal/day with your choice of staple feed, hold back all 'snacks' for a month (or two) until they accept your choice of staple readily, and dose prime as per instructions. 
all these suggestions should help your fronts acclimate. remember, you are attempting to achieve two things simultaneously: acclimate fish to new tank, and acclimate new fish to each other. once you realize these two objectives as well achieved, you can return to some of your regular habits, but while acclimating, we need to be less aggressive, and more subtle. HTH.


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## nagukush (Oct 16, 2008)

Sorry if I shouldnt be posting here - Kindly excuse me. But my 3" Fronts are eating Live Bloodworms and Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp, but they are not even touching the prepared foods - any ideas ?

Can they still grow well with a diet of Bloodworms and Brine Shrimp only? Please advice...


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

another point i would add, is to not judge their acclimation needs, with comparison to your malawi. they are each examples of two very different types of fish behavior.



nagukush said:


> Sorry if I shouldnt be posting here - Kindly excuse me. But my 3" Fronts are eating Live Bloodworms and Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp, but they are not even touching the prepared foods - any ideas ?
> 
> Can they still grow well with a diet of Bloodworms and Brine Shrimp only? Please advice...


 the best way to change poor eating habits, IME, is to fast the fish for a number of days (different for each type of fish. eg. predators can be extremely stubborn), and then reintroduce your choice of staple once per day only in limited portions. clean up within 5-10 minutes if uneaten. stay this course for as long as it takes, but respect the fishes needs for space, nocturnal preferences, etc...).
FYI: both of your feed selections are foods i have personally restricted from my frontosa diet. both lack substance. pick a name brand carnivore pellet with a 'slow sinking' property as their daily staple. don't be shy on size of pellet. fronts love to fill their mouth. then offer them treats like whole krill, chopped shrimp, and earth worms. HTH.


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## nagukush (Oct 16, 2008)

> pick a name brand carnivore pellet with a 'slow sinking' property as their daily staple. don't be shy on size of pellet. fronts love to fill their mouth. then offer them treats like whole krill, chopped shrimp, and earth worms. HTH.


Hi there !

Thanks again for the kind reply and advice - It will be a great help if you can kindly advice me a brand and the particular food which is good for the fronts. I will try to get that particular slow sinking food and try it out on my fronts. All my other fish and cichlids used to just love Tetrabits (which is also slow sinking) but these fronts dont show any interestatall ! They just take it in their mouth and spit it right back...

Is there any other good slow sinking carnivore food which is good for the fronts ?


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## nagukush (Oct 16, 2008)

I tried the Hikari Cichlid Excel - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4297 but my fronts dont even go near it... I cant get any other cichlid food here except TetraBits which is the only sinking food I've ever seen...


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## lucrent (Dec 2, 2007)

Thanks for your replies lloyd.

The temperature is going to be tricky, in South Florida, its pretty much AC all year long, which I have set to 75, where the tank is ambient is 77, and with all the pumps it ends up being 81-82.

If temperature is an issue, or can cause problems in the long run I can d a couple of things; I can connect the pumps to the outside of the sumps, add fans pointing to the water, lower AC temp etc....I'm in this for the long term, so if it will improve the health and happiness for the fish I'll do it.

It's hard not to play around with your new fish! but I'll forgo feeding for 3-4 days, hopefully by then they'll be looking for food. After I'll start with small portions, might even use my automatic feeder to avoid the temptation of over doing it.

For water changes, realistically I could probably easily go two weeks at 25% between each. We are talking 10 fish in 210G of water.

Light wise, I'll keep the lights off permanently, the tank is close to a shaded and curtained window so there is good ambient light during the day, but nothing direct.

Once I start feeding, I'll go with what most people recommend which seems to be NLS Cichlid 1mm (3mm is probably too much for the juvies)

Let me know if that sounds good!


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

nagukush said:


> I tried the Hikari Cichlid Excel


 that's a pellet for herbivores... :roll: ...click over (same site) to carnivore pellets and order some hickari 'sinking carnivore', tetra 'jumbo krill', and some hickari 'massivore delight'. :thumb:


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

lucrent said:


> Thanks for your replies lloyd....Let me know if that sounds good!


 warmer water stalls the breeding of my cypho groups every summer, but i'm sure Florida puts out it's fair share of frontosa fry.  just keep doing the same thing every day and they'll eventually get the drift of the place.


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## nagukush (Oct 16, 2008)

lloyd said:


> nagukush said:
> 
> 
> > I tried the Hikari Cichlid Excel
> ...


Hi there !

Thanks again for the kind reply - I do have Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets and other dried shrimps (I dont have krill though) but my Fronts dont touch the sinking carnvivore and the dreid shrimps...

Any other ideas for the food for them ? Or should I just starve them and then try tetrabits ?


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