# Help with my Frontosa



## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Hey guys,

I am going to an aquarium auction tomorrow and I am going with the idea of picking up another Frontosa so as to hopefully breed some.

The one I have is an F1 frontosa but what I need help with is determining the sex of it and also the type of it. Here is a picture. If you need me to take specific shots of the fish to help me out let me know and I can take more and post em up sometime tonight. The quicker the better as I have less that 24 hours til Im going to be at the auction.










Also, if I do buy another nice frontosa what should I look for? Ie how to determine the sex of the other fish to make sure it matches. Also the type of Frontosa?


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## sawboy (Sep 18, 2006)

Didn't see this in time. First, there is no way to tell the sex without venting the fish. Second, Fronts very rarely do well as a breeding pair. They are harem breeders where one dominant male breeds with several females.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Sorry i missed it too, my hubby arrived back from Iraq...

So what did you end up getting ?

That is a nice looking front that you all ready have, not a burundi either. What did you buy it as ? Most of the time you have to go by what the seller tells you it is, some types its very hard to tell apart etc... Someone should be able to tell you either tanz or zaire for when you go shopping etc... I have mpimbwe juvies and their mask looks different than yours (not as wide of a mask) so i would guess maybe a type of zaire ?? Dont quote me on that though since i dont keep zaire LOL.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

There wasn't any Front's at the auction. There was a lot of different fish and equipment. Lots of aquariums. An unreal 66 gallon tank with a real nice cherry stained hood and stand looked brand new and went for 280 bucks. It was probably worth like 1000. I might plan to at least allow a purchase like that next year.

There was also a massive lung fish there too, it was like 3 feet long. Not sure if it actually sold. One of the aquarium society head guys brought it but I doubt anyone there could handle it other than him.

I ended up just getting 1 fish. I bought a bumble bee cat fish and hes just a little shrimp right now. Probably about an inch and I got him in his own tank since hes not ready for either of my other two tanks. Hes pretty cool though but he lives to hide. I hardly see him. Looks like I got an empty tank.

As for my front, I hope its Zaire, I think it is one of the rarer ones. I got it at a small aquarium shop and he was literally the nicest one there. The store had like 8 and he was about 2-3 times as pretty as all the other so I had to pay 40 bucks for him. Well worth it though, hes my most beautiful fish and Id love to find him/her some others to mate with. He is an F1 thats all I know, the tank said Frontosa and thats it and I was too dumb at the time to know the difference or even wonder. I got him/her about a year ago.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

It looks to be a zaire type. Very good buy for $40...


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Anyone else able to comfirm Zaire?! I gotta find me some more Zaire if thats the case and breed these suckers. Isn't that the rarest type?


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## rahim101 (Mar 30, 2003)

what shop did you buy it from? I'm from Calgary and may be able to help.
when did you buy it?


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## rahim101 (Mar 30, 2003)

PS: i was at the CAS Auction as well and the lung fish sold for $25.00


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

only 25 bucks?! Wow.... thats shockingly low. But I guess a massive fish like that has low demand.

I bought it from Paws Pet Store on Heritage and Elbow Drive. Its just a small pet store with a fish store in the basement. They got about 30 tanks only. They've moved away from cichlids though last time I was there. But I think they did have more frontosa. I am planning on going to take a look again to see if maybe they have the same dealer if this is in fact Zaire.


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## rahim101 (Mar 30, 2003)

go there and see if they have more and ask what variant you bought.

There are a couple of breeders in the cas that have Zaires as well.

Also, try checking out Gold Aquariums in Calgary

I too am looking for a group of about 15 fry/juvies of some moba, kapampa or Kitumba and will soon have my tank ready for them.

Let me kow how you make out

Cheers,

Ray


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Sounds good dude. *** been to Golds but wasnt looking for fronts at the time. They have lots though. I'll let you know how I make out.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

So I made a trip to the Paws Petstore I mentioned. Turns out the aquarium part of it, in the basement, is called Tanks A lot

Right now they are tearing out their fish room so there was no fish there other than one isolated tank or two.

She said they'd have it back up in about 5 weeks. So I'll check back later. I asked her some questions about her Frontosa dealer and she was kinda dumb. I've dealt with her before. She used to work for a petsmart and told me that Green Spotted Puffers are a good community fish... So I'll have to figure it out on my own Im thinking.


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## Mr Mbuna (Nov 16, 2007)

Looks zaire to me with that mask. Blue colour looks more tanzanian though but I'd say Zaire (or Congo).


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## rahim101 (Mar 30, 2003)

have you checked out Golds yet?
I have not been there in 2 months as I still have no tanks up and running again from my move....but soon...I hope.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Havent checked out Gold's yet. Not sure when Im going to get some free time to. I gotta get rid of all these juvenile livingstonii first so I'll be going around trying to give em or sell em to a pet store.

On a side note. I did go check out the Big Al's on 32nd ave and man is that store fricken sweet. They got so much cool stuff. Also an unreal salt water section. They had an angler fish in there. It was nuts. Also these scallops that were flashing electricity or whatever. It was ridiculous. Such a cool store. Arrowhead crabs were pretty cool too.

I'll check out Gold's in the next week or two Im sure though.


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## rahim101 (Mar 30, 2003)

I was at golds yesterday and they have 3-4 kitumba fronts at about 3" each.

They do look pretty similar to the pic of your you have posted.

How much do you want for you livingstonii and how big are they?

Golds may take them in and give you credit for them towards the frontosa. Also, I have a friend just starting off in the hobby and only has a pair of red empress in a 90 gallon tank that could use some company as well.

Cheers.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

Eb0la11:

As I explained to you, trading post is for people who wants to buy/sell items. Not here.


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