Frontosa Blue zaire babies how many should I get?
Darrin
I dont have a big enough budget to buy what I want: 2 males and 6-8
females. Since the only way i could choose male or female, they would
already be at the 4" mark and are quite expensive at that
size.....soooo I ll get to the point... how many 1 1/2" babies should
I get so I can pick out the males I dont want (the less dominant
ones)until I only have 2 and still have as many females as I want wich
is 6-8 females. I dont know If anyone can really answer this precisly,
but round about would be nice....since i dont know if females are more
likely produced or males or 50/50 chance. Thank you Darrin Cook
Net Max
are different, I thought they grew to about 12". I'm thinking of getting
7-8 juveniles, so I have 5-6 adults for my 120g, and when they pair up, I'll
need more aquariums. I'm also interested in their sex ratio if it's
anything but 50/50, but I don't think I could get more than 6 adults in my
tank. That's just me and I'd be interested in more opinions.
Net Max
"Darrin" <Darrinc...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Bob F.
"Net Max" <comput...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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> hmmm..... you want 8 to 10 Frontosas in a 125g tank. Unless the Zaire
blues
> are different, I thought they grew to about 12". I'm thinking of getting
> 7-8 juveniles, so I have 5-6 adults for my 120g, and when they pair up,
I'll
> need more aquariums. I'm also interested in their sex ratio if it's
> anything but 50/50, but I don't think I could get more than 6 adults in my
> tank. That's just me and I'd be interested in more opinions.
>
> Net Max
>
Remember, you are going to have quite a while before the juvenilles get to
full size. My inclination would be to get a larger group and pick and
choose the ones you want to keep. If you live in a populated area you
shouldn't have much trouble finding homes for the fish you don't want to
keep. As for spawning we have always left the group in the big tank, and
removed and stripped the female after she has been holding for a suitable
period of time. I don't think you would have much success keeping two large
frontosa in a separate tank for breeding, but then I haven't tried it. It
has been my experience that you are more likely to have aggression problems
in smaller groups.
Bob
Net Max
"Bob F." <littlem...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a5ll1d$8dj11$1...@ID-133343.news.dfncis.de...
next batch of fronts, so I tried to answer the original poster using my
breeding experience from large SA & CA cichlids *and that didn't work so
well*. For a 120g tank, what would be an optimal number of fronts to settle
on?
thx!
Net Max
Bob F.
>
> "Bob F." <littlem...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:a5ll1d$8dj11$1...@ID-133343.news.dfncis.de...
> >
> next batch of fronts, so I tried to answer the original poster using my
> breeding experience from large SA & CA cichlids *and that didn't work so
> well*. For a 120g tank, what would be an optimal number of fronts to
settle
> on?
> thx!
> Net Max
>
>
Not sure I would give any pat answer on this. We have about a group of 12
in 180g. This includes a large variation in size with fish ranging from 10+
inches down to a couple of inches. The tank is pretty muched maxed out
though. It will also depend on the quality of filtration, etc. With a 120g
tank you could have a sizeable group of juvenilles and be set for a several
years. Any substantial group of large fish is going to need more space
eventually. As I said the 180 is kind of cramped. I wouldn't worry too
much about sex ratios, with more fish any dominant male is going to be less
able to focus agression a single fish so that helps.
Given the slowish growth rate and longetivity of the fish, you have plenty
of time to learn.
Bob
Net Max
> "Net Max" wrote ...
> > "Bob F." wrote ...
<snip>
> Not sure I would give any pat answer on this. We have about a group of 12
> in 180g. This includes a large variation in size with fish ranging from
10+
> inches down to a couple of inches. The tank is pretty muched maxed out
> though. It will also depend on the quality of filtration, etc. With a
120g
> tank you could have a sizeable group of juvenilles and be set for a
several
> years. Any substantial group of large fish is going to need more space
> eventually. As I said the 180 is kind of cramped. I wouldn't worry too
> much about sex ratios, with more fish any dominant male is going to be
less
> able to focus agression a single fish so that helps.
>
> Given the slowish growth rate and longetivity of the fish, you have plenty
> of time to learn.
>
> Bob
>
do, though it is a long list already. The reason I'd posted to Darrin was
that I thought 8-10 fronts in a 120g would be a tight fit. From your
numbers, it appears that would be still be a valid concern, but as you said,
with their slow growth and being easy to trade away, there is a lot more
flexibility.
Net Max
prometheus
gallons. The 20 extra gallons won't really give you much more space in the
tank but for decorations. These fish are big and require lots of swimming
room to truly thirve. I don't think overcrowding this species like a malawi
tank would be appropriate in this case. I would suggest one of two routes.
1) Get 1 male and 2 females of the 4" fish or larger. This size you should
be able to pick better stock and you won't have to worry about getting rid
of any fish (try to get them from different sources or go wild caught) or 2)
Get 10-12 juveniles and as they grow out get rid of the ones that you don't
want leaving yourself with the 1 male to 2 females ratio. This does require
more time and energy to grow out the fishes, and you'll loose some money on
the ones you get rid of, but should be more than made up for by selling good
offspring.
To be clear I have not kept this species because room and weight limits
don't allow me to have a large enough tank. I do know a local breeder of
these fish and his tanks are big. 225 gallon for the breeding stock, 2 75
gallon growout tanks and a couple of smaller tanks for fry, 40s I think.
good luck
"Net Max" <comput...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cWjf8.18702$q47.2...@news20.bellglobal.com...
Orly
the following helpful:
- assume you will need an alpha male and 2 smaller, or beta males in
that 6 foot tank. A solid male can cover 3 feet easily.
- around that, you can run as many females as you want - these fish do
not pair bond and males do not have any problem carrying the load of 6
to 10 females.
- If you have 120 gallons of water, it will be a while before you have a
problem, so get as many fry as you can afford - if it were me, I'd
start with at least 2 dozen fish, 3 dozen preferred.
- grow them and cull as you go - cull damaged, deformed, or split banded
fish early. Do not cull based on coloration or size!!
- at 3.5" you should vent them and cull down to 3 males. If you are not
sure about venting, wait to 4.5"
- what you do at this point is up to you... I usually get a bigger tank
to hold all the remaining females ;)
How many fish you choose to maintain at this point is really all about
maintenance - you can change water at 50% weekly in a 125 with 20 fronts
in there no problem - run some serious mechanical filtration too!!
Good luck,
Orly
Peter Burtch
best,
Pedro
Orly
the lack of time during the day (at work) and the lack of patience (for dial
in) at home. Thank god for broadband!
Great hearing from you, amigo.
Orly
"There really is no heaven, just some
big lakes in East Africa!"
"Peter Burtch" <dam...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Darrin
do my fish setup!
Looks like I am going to buy 24 mipbwe fronts and slowly as time goes
by and wean out the ones that are the weakiest in color and
deformaties and so on.
Dont worry I have alot filtration for these fronts two aqua clear
500's and one fluidized bed filter (rated at 300 gallon tank) and a uv
steralizer.
I think that should do the trick and 30% water change a week. any one
see any problems with this then please comment.Or think i need to add
or change anything.
Thank you for all the help! Darrin