# Burundi tankmates???



## roachonius420 (Nov 3, 2007)

*heres the choices*​
Cyprichromis leptosoma (Mpulungu)00.00%Cyprichromis leptosoma (Utinta)15.88%Cyprichromis sp. "Leptosoma Jumbo" (Black Bee)15.88%Paracyprichromis nigripinnis15.88%Eretmodus cyanostictus (Kasanga)00.00%Julidochromis ornatus15.88%Altolamprologus calvus1270.59%Neolamprologus brichardi15.88%Greenwoodochromis christyi (Chituta)00.00%Xenotilapia flavipinnis00.00%


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## roachonius420 (Nov 3, 2007)

this is not a tank i have setup, this is just a hypothetical question......

just wondering what you people think about tank mates for some burundi frontosa.

if theres some you think work well that arent listed please comment


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Im not sure of all the species listed there but i do know you should stay away from brichardi . If you feel you must have brichardi, get a single fish only (no pairs or groups). My 3 tiny brichardi split into a mated pair of brichardi and took over the entire length of my six foot tank. they beat up fish 5 and 6 inches bigger than them. Highly aggressive buggers. The lone fish was not so bad and did ok. Hope this helps.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

This looks more like a menu for frontosa, than a stocking list. :wink:

How big is this tank, dimensions and volume? Some people have success with Alto's... though some have had the Alto's eaten too...


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Have you thought about calvus ? I have seen people keep them with the fronts.

I have a few unusual fish in with my fronts right now. I traded someone for their 265 gallon tank, it had 4 big pink kissing gourami (all about 8-10 inches). They were too big for the guys tanks he had left so they came with the tank. They get along great so far, and the fronts dont bother them and they dont bother the fronts, they are like big pink gentle giants. They do not feed at the bottom of the tank so do not compete with the fronts for food. They eat flake food only at surface (they also eat slowly when they eat) and also eat all the algea in the tank, (I had tons of brown algea on glass and covering all rocks since the tank faces a bay window., its gone now !!) They also look good with the fronts blue colors. I never would have purchased these fish myself, not a cichlid, water parems and diet differences etc... but they are doing great here and have no trouble with my fronts. I also have a goldfish (my daughters) that i knew was disease and parasite free), i use them for substrate cleanup, they are eating machines. Any left over food and even the poo is quckly eaten by them. Most people think they are cold water only, that is simply not the case, they have been thriving for quite a long time in 79 degree water and i have a friend that is a goldfish freak and she has kept hers in 79 degree water for several years. The only thing about goldfish is you must quarenteen them and treat for ick and internal and external parasites even if there is no signs of it, they are known carriers. They are better cleaners than the catfish i used to keep with my new world cichlids. Here are a couple pics of the tank.:


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## hakim_hakim (May 30, 2008)

is that the white r kissing gouramys?


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

yes, they are the pinkish/white fish, the large ones. In the LFS they would be labeled "pink kissing fish or pink kissing gourami ". There are two types of "pink kissing gourami" the dwarf and regular. These are the regular. Avoid any gourami called "giant gourami" they reach sizes of 3 feet or more like a arrowanna. Truly massive. The regular pink kissers that i have are full grown, they will not get longer just taller maybe. They look very white in these pics cause i have a marine glo bulb in that tank. Here is a pic where its normal white lighting and you can see they are actually palest pink. They are really cool and are a "laberynth" fish (sorry for the spelling) they have a organ that allows them to breath air directly from the surface. They have developed this cause they are normally found in water with very low oxygen content and needed it to survive. they are often up at the top gulping air, it looks funny. They also love people and interact with me all the time, even when they have all ready ate themselves full. They play with my hand and like me to touch them. some people have said the water parems are too different for them etc. When i looked them up at a website for gourami it says they are highly adaptable and can be kept in a wide range of PH as high as the upper 8's. My PH is just under 9 and I have no trouble with them, so most people who have lower ph would likely do even better with them. It also said that they are best kept in groups of 3 or 4 and housed with other larger peaceful fish.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

If I have to choose, calvus is the best in that list.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

You would be suprised at how well the gourami are suited to the fronts. I never would have thought so and to be honest NEVER would have even bought them myself , EVER. I would have stayed away since they are not a cichlid and to be honest are not that attractive as small juvies like most people see in LFS. They are much better looking as large fish (large pinkish metallic scales) and so gentle. Highly adaptable as well. They can live in a wide range of water parems including higher ph's in mid 8's. I have tried a whole lot of haps and peacocks in with my fronts (I really like the look of community tanks) and i have to be honest , these gourami are 100 percent better than any cichlid , african or new world, of any temperment or species that i have tried. Including haps such as blue dolphin etc... They are big, slow moving, slow feeding surface feeders that do not compete with the fronts for food and are truly non aggressive in everyway. They also like to interact with people and seem to enjoy it when you touch them and hand feed them. A truly delightful addition to my tank. I should say as you can tell by the pics the gourami were much larger than my fronts when i introduced them to the front tank, but i seriously doubt that would have made a big difference by how the fronts act around them as long as the gourami are similar in size or large enough not to be a snack.


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