# mobas or mpimbwe



## marco13 (Mar 30, 2008)

i'm still in a toss up between mobas and mpimbwes. can anyone tell me which frontosa is the most social one between the two. don't want to have a beautiful fish that always hide and no one gets to see. I heard that the mpimbwe will actually come up to you and eat out of your hands, and the mobas like to hide a lot.


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## VinCe (Aug 15, 2004)

marco13 said:


> i'm still in a toss up between mobas and mpimbwes. can anyone tell me which frontosa is the most social one between the two. don't want to have a beautiful fish that always hide and no one gets to see. I heard that the mpimbwe will actually come up to you and eat out of your hands, and the mobas like to hide a lot.


Everyones group is different. Its all preference. go with what you like. My moba group eats from my hand and so did my previous group. There is a lot of factors why they hide like putting the tank at a high traffic area or how the set up is done, etc.


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## KATALE (Jul 25, 2008)

i have 16 mpimbwe sizing from 6-10" and they love to come out and swim..they live in a 210g
with 2 trios of large pheneculis and 5 gold neolamp sexfas....there awesome ..that was my preferance


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

In general, Mpimbwe will be the most social frontosa.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Forget Moba, you really want Kapampa (the origianal Zaire) :wink:

In general, many will say that the Tanzanian (esp. Mpimbwe) are the most social to us bipeds and many think the Zaires (Moba, Kitumba & Kapampa) are much more shy. I suppose their might be some truth to that but I think you can get Zaires just as social as Mpimbwe. My first colony was Mpimbwe and now I have a Zaire colony (Kapmapa). My Kapmapa are every bit as social as my Mpimbwe were. The greet me, they eat out of my hand and I have a couple that will even let me pet them. From my personal experience, I have not seen a huge difference.

Take your time and determine which Cypho appeals to you most. They will be social once they have got used to you and you to them. Get what you like and what you can afford.

Enjoy your quest :wink:

Russ


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## marco13 (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks everyone for all the feedback; I believe Iâ€™m going to be happy with any one I pick. I know I like the mobas but their so expensive...now is it better to get WC or F1, and truly what is the differents. I feel like I need to pay all you guys for all the info you are providing me with. Iâ€™m actually going to make the purchase this Thursday coming, thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m overloading everyone with questions.
Once again Thanks


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

marco13 said:


> Thanks everyone for all the feedback; I believe Iâ€™m going to be happy with any one I pick. I know I like the mobas but their so expensive...now is it better to get WC or F1, and truly what is the differents. I feel like I need to pay all you guys for all the info you are providing me with. Iâ€™m actually going to make the purchase this Thursday coming, thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m overloading everyone with questions.
> Once again Thanks


WC vs F1? Depends on your budget. If you get WC fish your F1 fry will be more marketable than F2 fry (that only matters if you want to breed them). WC Mpimbwe will be cheaper than a WC Zaire. Almost all F1 cyphos (whichever varient you chose) will be beautiful (if you buy from a reputable breeder... there are shysters out there). Some F1, especially the Kapmapa, are known to be just as good looking as their WC parents.

Keep asking questions, that is how we all learn from each other :idea:

Just promise to post pics :wink:

Russ


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## marco13 (Mar 30, 2008)

Thatâ€™s good info Russ thanks. I definitely want to breed just because I like them so much want to start a couple of more tanks, and raising your own fronts is probably the cheapest way to go. Just curious if you know any good breeders in the San Diego area? Not sure if we can talk about who we buy from on this forum.
Right now Iâ€™m looking at two breeders one has the WC fronts available now the other is working out the details. Will definitely post pics as soon as get them. Need to make sure that they are of good quality and you guys are the experts. ( lol)

Marco


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

I don't buy into getting WC fish. My F1 frontosa are much nicer than my wc. Unless you are trying to breed them seriously, I would just go with f1. It is cheaper, and IMO, they are less shy than WC fish.

I had my WC Kitumba Zaire group for 3 years or so and they never never become social. Their offsprings are totally different. Always welcome and ask to be feed.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Charles said:


> ...Unless you are trying to breed them *seriously*, I would just go with f1...


That's good advise especially if you are just starting out in frontosa. F1 are not a bad way to go and they will look beautiful and like Charles said, they will most likely be more social than their wild caught parents.

Russ


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## marco13 (Mar 30, 2008)

Frontosas grow very slow right now how long would it take some F1 1-1.5" to grow, and how resilient are they at this size. The same question goes for WC fronts, I know that it kind of depends on water conditions my water is always 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, PH 8.4 I do water changes weekly I keep the optimal conditions for them.

Marco


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## marco13 (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the advice and I went with the F1 Mobas. I figure it would be cool to watch them grow and since Iâ€™m not into the breeding and selling business the F1 is the way to go for me. The budget thing was great advice also those WC are a lot of money. I would like them to breed and build a colony but it is not my major concern right now. Once again thanks and I will post pics as soon as they get home.

Marco


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Sounds like you made a great choice - your F1 Moba will look awesome :thumb:

Now, the fee for all the advise everyone gave you is.... you posting lots of pictures of your Moba. Don't get cheap on us :wink:

Congrats!

Russ


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## bobo (May 8, 2008)

hi everybody,I need an advice about colour of the sand,Im gonna get group of young mobas soon and I hesitate whether to put white or dark sand to their new tank,cause some say they get more blue if dark sand is used.So?


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

bobo said:


> hi everybody,I need an advice about colour of the sand,Im gonna get group of young mobas soon and I hesitate whether to put white or dark sand to their new tank,cause some say they get more blue if dark sand is used.So?


Hey Bobo,

I think the mods may make your reply a new thread on it's own. Anywho, I like black sand. Here are some pics my adults and some of their fry (they are Zaire Kapampa, very similar to your Moba). FYI: all of these pics were taken using the flash.


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## bobo (May 8, 2008)

thanks for nice pics but would be better to compare to pics of adults raised with white sand.I ment my question becuase of colorization of adults, not "how they look on picture".thanx


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

bobo said:


> thanks for nice pics but would be better to compare to pics of adults raised with white sand.I ment my question becuase of colorization of adults, not "how they look on picture".thanx


Dude, you lost me???

I just got done paying my bills so the battery for my brain may be running a little low :zz:

*****************************************

I am not sure what you are asking, but, I'll bable out an answer anyway... color of adults will depend on diet, genetics & mood. After that, you can play around with substrate color.

Russ


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## VinCe (Aug 15, 2004)

Substrate color is all based on preferance. Although you want to keep in mind that the color or blue intensity of the moba will base on many different factors/conditions which Russ stated some above.

So back to the [email protected] with my experience with my moba colony I perfer them to be in white sand because in black sand they get too dark to the point they kinda blend in with the substrate or are just too dark for my liking. Another thing I dont like about black sand is because my alpha shows the typical alpha color which means hes usually really dark to show others hes the alpha I guess... and with black sand he gets so dark hes almost black and the stripes on him kinda blend into another(no longer purple/violet color). I also have a female moba that is a bit different from other mobas you see in picture(if it matters) and that is she is pretty much completely black in white sand so I dont want to imagine how dark(black) she will get if I introduce her to black sand. So IMO white sand brings out more blue for me than black sand.

Hope that helps.
-Albert


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## bobo (May 8, 2008)

hey vince, thanks for the advice, hey razzo, thats what i was asking about :wink: ,excuse my english.


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