# Help with juvenile Frontosa



## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

I added a single small Frontosa last week. He's pretty small. Maybe 1.5 tops. For the first few days the Brichardi chased him, but things settled down and now he has his spot on the right rock pile. I picked up 2 more juvenile Frontosa today. They are even smaller than the initial one. 1" tops. One has been chased up by the heater and filter output. From what I can see its the Brichardi chasing this guy as well. It doesn't seem that the original Frontosa has taken a liking to this one, but allows the other to hang out in his spot. Should I return the outcast or should I wait it out? The tank is a 125 gallon and all of the fish are pretty small. Other than the single Brichardi no one pays attention to anyone else. I know the Frontosa will quickly outgrow the Brichardi, but I'm wondering if perhaps I should add a few more? To disperse the Brichardi's advances... my goal is for a trio that will eventually be moved to an 8 foot tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would remove the brichardi until the frontosa are bigger than the brichardi.


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

DJRansome said:


> I would remove the brichardi until the frontosa are bigger than the brichardi.


That's not a bad idea. I could do 1 of 3 things
1. Put a breeder net in the main tank
2. Move him to the 75 gallon with 2 Inkfin Calvus, 6 Julidochromis transcriptus, and a colony of Multi's (I'm afraid he'd go after the fry)
3. Put him in the breeder net in the 75 gallon??


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Trade them in and buy more in a few years? Put them in a 29G? Really brichardi are famous for killing everything in the tank except the dominant pair. Your want your frontosa well established before you try brichardi with them.

I usually grow fish out in a separate tank until they are 1.5" or bigger. But the fronts will really need to gain some size...IDK how fast they grow.


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## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

How many brichardi do you have? 
I think they would be alright in a 6 footer, they just need some time to get established. They'll be very submissive and probably hate the brichardi.

I'd move them to the 75 until they're around 3" or what DJ said, just remove the brichardi and get more later. you shouldnt have too much trouble finding them, they breed faster than rabbits


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Considering it would not take long to kill the little Frontosa. I would remove him into another tank if you have one. Especially since you said the bigger Frontosa has not taken to this particular one. I probably would not return him. Also consider a divider.


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

This is their relative sizes
And this is where they are currently. I can't bring them in for a refund. I also can't put them in the 75 gallon as they are smaller than the male Multi's which rule that tank and chase fish 3 times their size into the corners... I will try and catch the brichardi, but I don't think he is the problem now as his territory is several feet away... they've chosen this area away from the Brichardi, but it appears that the original Frontosa isn't welcoming them with open arms. I'm not willing to setup another tank right now I don't think. What if I added 3 more Frontosa? I really want a colony of at least 3. The other frontosa is a hog and has grown quickly, but I'm not sure if I should give these guys a few days? I have other tanks and I will set up a small 11 gallon for them in the laundry room if absolutely necessary, but they are so small that I can't imagine why the other is so territorial already. Perhaps I could try to catch the larger one and exchange him for a smaller one from this group at the store?


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

SLombardi said:


> How many brichardi do you have?
> I think they would be alright in a 6 footer, they just need some time to get established. They'll be very submissive and probably hate the brichardi.
> 
> I'd move them to the 75 until they're around 3" or what DJ said, just remove the brichardi and get more later. you shouldnt have too much trouble finding them, they breed faster than rabbits


I'm willing to try to catch the brichardi and rehome him. This tank is a 6 foot 125 and all of the fish in it are small.... Trigs, Gold Head Compressiseps, 2 Caudopunctatus, a single Brichardi, and these 3 Frontosa


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

Would it be feasible to put both young ones into a little breader net to get some size on them and protect them from any bullying that may be going on? Or should I let them go about naturally determining their place. The tank is very spacious considering the largest fish is.a full grown caudopunctatus that is still a little under 3"...
How do I know if I gets to the point where they may be killed as opposed to being the new guys? Even last week when I added the Gold Head Compressiseps there was some bullying. I just didn't pay attention to how small these two actually are..


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You don't want to see them lurking under the surface or by the filter intake that way for more than a few days. I don't think a breeder net will encourage growth.

Rehome the brichardi, move the multipunctatus to the 125G and put the frontosa in the 75G.


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

DJRansome said:


> You don't want to see them lurking under the surface or by the filter intake that way for more than a few days. I don't think a breeder net will encourage growth.
> 
> Rehome the brichardi, move the multipunctatus to the 125G and put the frontosa in the 75G.


My wife will not be pleased with shells all over the display tank so I'm not going to fight that one. 
The Multis in the 75 gallon are multifasciatus. I ordered two breeder boxes that will be here Monday. I'm going to set up the 11 gallon for now, but it hasn't been on a tank for a month so I'll swap some media from one of my other filters. Once in the 11 gallon is there anything I could feed to help them put on size a little faster?
I'll put them in the 125 again when they get a little larger and keep the breeder boxes handy if anything comes up


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

What is your opinion of perhaps adding 2 or 3 more Frontosa? I would have to rehome at least 2 or 3, but would it help with the issues I'm having?


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## Handyjoe (Jan 11, 2015)

Fronts would chase and pick on one another, but with that size of a tank, there shouldn't be any harm to them. IMO, you can add more Frontosa to that tank if you like. I currently have 15 Mobas in the same size tank as yours, plus 30+ calvus and comps. I, too, have a Brichardi that I have to relocate it to a Malawi tank. Brichardis are nasty! I agreed with others, trade that Brichardi for some more fronts.


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## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

In the time it took for me to set up the smaller tank and the breeder nets to arrive the Frontosa have found their niche. The Brichardi is still a bully at times and I've been trying to sneak up on him for several days with no luck. Eventually I will exchange or return him and get 2 more Frontosa. Depending on their size I'll let them plump up a little in the smaller tank before adding them. I got a big package of mysis shrimp specifically for this. I've noticed that the Frontosa are much happier and have less trouble with he other fish when the lights are dim so I'm shutting off the Ray 2 fixture after about 4 hours and only using the Marineland reef fixture


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