frontosa tank mates

[geurty]

Hi, Im getting an adult frontosa soon for a 200 gallon tank, and I was wondering if you guys had any cool suggestions for tank mates??? thanks 

[Eric R]

Hello! Welcome to the forum.

Is this a Tanganyikan biotope? You'll need to choose tankmates that also do well with the same ph and hardness needs for the frontosa. I've never kept fronts, I tend to like smaller fish, but I do have other Tanganyikan cichlids and hangout on some of the cichlid forums, so here's what I've read, though I'd recommend doing your own research on sites dedicated to Tanganyikan cichlids as well as asking here.

Frontosa get quite big and can end up eating tank mates that are as large as half their size, so you'll do best with large fish that aren't too aggressive, as some Tanganyikan cichlids can get quite aggressive when breeding. Frontosa do well in groups and are often kept in species-only tanks, you have a nice sized tank and could do a group of 6-8+, depending on the footprint of your tank. You probably shouldn't have more than one more male, and would need to have several females, otherwise there will be too much territorial aggression. As far as tankmates, the most commonly recommended other than a species-only tank seem to be adult Altolamprologus calvus or compressiceps, you don't want juveniles as they will too likely be considered a snack. Even so, I think tankmates are most often recommended for juvenile frontosa, when the tankmates themselves start larger than the frontosa do.

[geurty]

Hi, thanks a lot.

I was not planning on making it a tanganyikan biotope, but hey if you have any other suggestions besides calvus' and comps I open to ideas. My lfs has had one adult frontosa for some time so I'm getting a tank for him/her. he doesn't have any other frontosa besides a 3 or 4 inch one so Im guessing that won't work. I was thinking of looking for a big common pleco on craigslist or kijiji since I love plecos and if the front is aggressive plecos can take quit the beating. what do you think?? the tank dimensions are: 4 feet by 4 feet by 21 inches tall 

Edited March 16, 2021 by geurty

[Eric R]

A few questions might help me suggest something for you. What's your ph/kh/gh? Also, are you looking to keep a couple large fish, or do you like a tank with a lot of color, or a lot of action, or...?

I've heard that common plecos tend to be most active at night, though it seems like it can vary by fish and by tank, but with just those two fish, you'd have a big, fairly low action tank. Are you specifically interested in keeping frontosa or plecos or why do you want to get this fish? 

Edited March 16, 2021 by ererer

[geurty]

ph out of the tap here is 8 to 8.4, i haven't tested kh or gh yet. I would like to keep a few larger fish that are fun to feed, I don't really care about how active the fish are for the most part, but it would be nice to have one or two fish that are more active so the tank is fun to watch for more than 10 to 30 minutes a day when I feed. I do really want to keep both fronts and larger plecos, but if they wouldn't work in this size tank I'm totally open to keeping what ever fish you or others think would work well. I really want to keep the front mostly because my whole family likes him and not many people in my area have a big enough tank to house such a fish (he has been in a small tank for 5 or more weeks). For an adult front he/she is pretty small around 9 to 10 inches.