# Setting up a 125 Gal Frontosa Tank



## mtber (Apr 8, 2005)

Iâ€™ve decided to go with Frontosa in my 6ft 125 gal tank and have some stocking questions. A local breeder has Frontosa (Kimoga & Mpimbwe â€" Iâ€™ll pick one or the other), Altolamprologus calvus, Altolamprologus compressiceps, and Neolamprologus leleupi available.

I can only afford juvenile frontosa, how many should I get for starting the tank? (I wouldnâ€™t mind getting some fry â€" I know, in the distant future, but thatâ€™s not my main focus).

Can I mix the calvus and comps, or do I need to go with a single species to prevent hybridization. How many should I get? I could afford a couple of â€œAdultsâ€


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

I probably have a similar setup to what you are looking for. I also have a 6' 125G. I have stocked all of my fish over the last 6 months, and all of them are juvie's.

I have:

11 Moba 2"
6 Julidochromis 2-3"
4 White Calvus 2"
4 Black Calvus 2"
3 Yellow Calvus 2" (used to be 4 of them)
6 Syno Multi - 2"

However my intention is to keep only 7 Frontosa with 1 male of each "color" of calvus and only 1 pair of the Julie's. And of course all of the Syno's.

One reason I did not get leleupis is because I heard they are pretty fiesty and are usually fin nippers. If you are getting juvie Fronts you would be OK for a while in terms of not having them eaten, but I dont think there can ever be guarantees later on down the road. The julidochromis probably end up the same size as the neolamps, so I realize I might run in to that problem at some point.

I dont worry about the hybridization of the calvus because I plan on keeping only 1 male, and most of them are probably too small to mate but if you had both sexes that could end up happening. They are very very slow growing fish from what I have heard and seen. My Moba have probably doubled in size in the past 4-5 months while the calvus don't look any different. Another thing about Calvus/Comps is that they are very shy fish (except for the two relatively bigs ones who boss the others around). At feeding time the Moba can eat 5 pellets in 0 seconds while the calvus just sit there looking confused about what to do. By the time they make up their mind the food is gone. I am pretty sure this is why I lost one of the calvus - it was one of the smaller ones.


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## mtber (Apr 8, 2005)

Thanks boredatwork,

I really appreciate your feedback.

So multiple (all) male calvs will be ok, not excessive aggression between them?

How high of traffic area is your tank in? I made a separate post on the question, but I've read about potential problems with that.

Thanks,

John


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

If breeding calvs/comp is not your concern, you can keep a few of those. Just make sure you have separate rock structures for them. I really don't like leleupi myself as I found they are almost always problematic... They like to nip fins too so if you want your frontosa to grow the long traitor, I will skip those.

Start with 12 juv., then aim for keeping 6-8 frontosa...


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

mtber said:


> So multiple (all) male calvs will be ok, not excessive aggression between them?


There is really only one way to find out. Right now two of my 11 calvus are a lot larger than the rest. Those two larger ones have definitely setup their areas and like to make sure all of the other calvus stay out, but I think because they are so small the tank is large enough at this point to accommodate them. If in the process of growing them out I find that the all male thing won't work I might switch over to a group of which ever variant I like the most. Personally I don't care if they breed, but I don't want to intentionally raise any fry. With the other calvus and syno's in there I should never have to worry about that. From what I have read calvus are pretty mellow fish so I am predicting that 3 males in one tank will OK. If it is not then I will admit defeat and come up with a new plan.

For the non frontosa questions the Tang forum would be more helpful. Although most of the contributors to this forum will also be found there as well!



mtber said:


> How high of traffic area is your tank in? I made a separate post on the question, but I've read about potential problems with that.


I just replied to that post. My tank is in my kitchen right as you enter from the living room. It is set back a little but its probably the second highest traffic area in my apt. But I also don't have kids, so that makes its a little different.


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