# Frontosa - Tank Mates



## Husnain

I am preparing a 180G tank. I already have bought some pairs of **** for it and keeping them in a small 25G. Main fish that i will be keeping in my tank will be frontosa and i need to chose tank mates. I recently have

4 Frontosa 1''-1.5''
2 Peacocks 2''+
2 Giraffe Cichlids 1.5''-2''
2 Orange Malawi Cichlids 2''+
2 Yellow Labs 3''+

and

*2 Green Terrors 4''*

whats you opinion? are these compatible?


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## Matt1986

Personally I wouldn't keep any of these fish with Frontosa, but especially not the Green Terrors, they have no place in a Frontosa tank. They need a very different water chemistry and can be very aggressive, not a good match.

I'd also be cautious of your 'orange malawi cichlids' - if they are Mbuna they are likely to be too aggressive and nip the Fronts fins etc.

Also, I think the giraffe cichlid / venustus is possibly going to be too active and boisterous for your Fronts - I've seen many people keep C. Moori with Fronts, and if you want to keep a Malawi Hap this might be a better choice?


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## wheatbackdigger

Add more fronts and pass on the rest. To active for fronts in my opinion. The peacocks may do ok, but I would go with a species only tank and maybe add some syno cats.


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## sawboy

The Green Terrors will decimate everything in that tank.


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## lloyd

with the exception of the gt's, all your fish should play well with each other for many inches. at 4 inch, the terrors simply have too much head start towards dominance. 
when mixing fry, you can break many compatibility rules. when mixing sub adults, the trick is to decorate with multiple small areas, probably some caves and/or tunnels, along with tall fixtures capable of breaking site lines. once a fish reaches breeding maturity, it is our responsibility to address their specific (and conspecific) instincts, and stock that tank accordingly.
so long as you are learning about each particular fish previous to ownership, and have a life plan for them as they reach their various stages of maturity, mixing species is much easier than most would think. HTH.


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## Razzo

Here is what I would do (I put a similar response on the tang board)

*1st Species:*
C. Gibberosa (Mikula) - QTY 6 to 8

*2nd Species:*
Two large altolamp males from several species:
A. Compressicpes Orange Fin - QTY 2
A. Compressiceps Muzi Gold Head - QTY 2
A. Calvus Inkfin - QTY 2

This would be a show tank and not a breeding tank.

I would put large male altolmaps in with frontosa fry that are at least 2"

Mikula pic bleow


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## ssondubs

What do you guys think about adding the yellow lab's? Any of you guys have them along with fronts?

The profile reads they are peaceful compared to other Malawi cichlids and I am thinking of adding some to get more color in my tank.


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## Matt1986

Why not add Leleupi instead? They're from lake tang, less likely to fin nip than yellow labs, and are much more colourful IMO.

They may be preyed upon by adult Frontosa, but I've seen it work sucessfully, and it's no more likely than with the yellow labs really.


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## ssondubs

Aight then!

How many leleupi?


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## Matt1986

Depends on your tank size and rock structures (as they are rock dwellers).

I currently have 4 in my 180, but I have quite a lot of rockwork for them. They definitely add a good dose of colour even with just the 4 of them, and contrast very nicely with the blue of the Frontosa.


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## Husnain

Thanks guyz! as per your suggestions GTs have been removed from the tank and pair of 3"Convicts (Black & White - Zebra) has replaced them. Al fish have been shifted to a 175-180G tank I have placed two big rocks that have a lot of caves and fish are also enjoying them. will post pics of it in future.


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## ssondubs

The Tang breeder I go to didn't have big enough N.Leleupi so I went with his recommendation and picked up good sized J.Regani. They are pretty cool looking, sort of reminds me of a cross between a taxi cab, submarine and cichlid :lol:

They are doing well going in and out of the lace rock crevices and trying to stay away from the N.Leleupi I have in there.


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## Matt1986

Sounds like a good mix, the J. regani will do nicely! Now it's simply a matter of crossing your fingers and hoping the Fronts don't snack on them when they're fully grown :wink:


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## gus211

Sorry but you shouldn't mix CA cichlids with frontosas I mean the convicts will tear up your tank as soon as they start breeding they will defend eggs and fry till death and they will terrorize anything in the tank. IMO just stick to fronts and maybe some yellow labs for contrast


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