# Feeders for Frontosa?



## Matt1986 (May 15, 2009)

Howdy,

I'm currently trying to plan the diet of my shortly arriving Mobas and I'm just wondering if it would be a good or bad idea to supplement their diet with feeders - Convict fry is what I had in mind. I thought this might be a decent idea in terms of appealing to Fronts (and their A. Comprecisseps tankmates) piscivorous nature?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Matt


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

acclimating your fish to meal on fry is a bad idea if you ever want their own progeny to ever survive. IMHO.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

I'd be very careful about adding other fish to your expensive frontosa tank due to parasitic infections. I wouldn't even use the same python that you clean your convict tank let alone dump their fry in there.

Give em NLS.


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## davespeed3 (Mar 29, 2009)

Frontosa are predators, not feeding them live fish is not going to switch off millions of years of evolution. Put anything small and alive in with them and Frontosa will become inquisitive...then they'll eat them. Even herbivores will display this behavior, fry being part of their natural diet at times. I'm aware its possible to put small fish in with Frontosa and they could survive, thats also quite natural.
I wouldn't feed them anything from an outside source, I have a guppy tank right next to my front tank, if you're meticulous with cleanliness its fine to transfer fry for feeding. I've also used a floating breeder in the Frontosa tank to achieve the same end.
Obviously there is an increased risk of disease but no more than if you move any fish from tank to tank, its the frequency that increases the risk.
While its feasible to feed nothing but high quality pellet to achieve excellent growth, colour and breeding results, I like to vary the diet of my wild caughts to include lives. I infrequently drop some in when the lighting is subdued, its good to see them display natural feeding behavior.


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

davespeed3 said:


> Frontosa are predators, not feeding them live fish is not going to switch off millions of years of evolution...


 my experiences with keeping predator types is quite different. i can acclimate wild caught pike to strike readily at pellets, which is something it would not ever likely entertain in it's natural habitat. and i can also acclimate harem type predators to tolerate the presence of their own fry without exhibiting any inherent desire to consume them. my caution is based on the simple theory, that fish recognize food based on previous eating experiences, and one can persuade those tendencies with consistency and attention. 


davespeed3 said:


> ...Put anything small and alive in with them and Frontosa will become inquisitive...then they'll eat them. Even herbivores will display this behavior...


 if frontosa, or any other colonizing fish (eg. tropheus) are accustomed to strike at anything in the 1-3mm. range, no fry are safe. but that same group of fish, once having become accustomed to the presence of fry amongst them, can easily distinguish one of their own from foreign feast potential. feed deprivation is the only likely cause of failure, once this harmony has been established. IMHE.


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## becadavies (Apr 2, 2007)

I'd just like to say that my tank bred Burundi all above 7" are fed on NLS.

When my Alunocara produced excessive numbers fry i put the tiny fry in with the frontosa to be eaten.... Those very same fry grew on to 1"-2" and only lost 1 out of 33!!!

I would have been better off leaving them in the mbuna tank as the fry in there didnt fair as well :wink:


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## joesfish (Mar 29, 2004)

Fronts are lazy eaters and don't eat thier meals like other predator fish. They eat fish that are sleeping during the night. Very rarely have I seen one of my fronts eat a fish during the day. IMHO I wouldn't feed any of my fish live food do to the risk. My fish are way to expensive for me to take that chance and I care about loosing any. I guess the big thing is what you decide is a risk factor and what isn't.


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## davespeed3 (Mar 29, 2009)

Before I started feeding lives my wild caughts had been kept in with a variety of species, none of which were touched, during this time they were fed on pellet only. After about a year they were moved into their own tank and after they had settled I decided to experiment, I fed a few feeder shrimp in and the tank absolutely exploded! the Frontosa would actively pursue the shrimp across the surface with water going everywhere. The same thing would occur everytime I fed shrimp into the tank.
I decided to set-up a Guppy tank next to my Frontosa tank as I wasn't happy using feeders from a LFS. I don't feed them often or regularly as I don't want my Frontosa to reject pellet, this being the mainstay of their diet. The fact is they actively hunt the feeders while ignoring the juvenile Alto's that also now live in the tank.
It seems, like with so much in this hobby, not everything is set in stone.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

joesfish said:


> Fronts are lazy eaters and don't eat thier meals like other predator fish. They eat fish that are sleeping during the night. Very rarely have I seen one of my fronts eat a fish during the day. *IMHO I wouldn't feed any of my fish live food do to the risk. My fish are way to expensive for me to take that chance and I care about loosing any. *I guess the big thing is what you decide is a risk factor and what isn't.


Well put Joe.



> I'd just like to say that my tank bred Burundi all above 7" are fed on NLS.


Same here, my wc kaps are mature and I pretty much only feed them NLS.


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## Matt1986 (May 15, 2009)

Thanks for all the opinions, it seems there is quite a variety in feeding practice. For now I think I'll err on the side of caution, but it's good to know that some people have had success with home-bred feeders.

Cheers,
Matt


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