Frontosa

Quick facts

Adult size

30 cm

Lifespan

can live up to 25 years; one of the longest-lived aquarium cichlids

Tank zone

mid-bottom

Temperament

semi-aggressive

Difficulty

intermediate

Typically wild-caught

yes - acclimate slowly

Water parameters

Temperature

24–27°C

pH

7.8 to 9.0

Hardness

12 to 25 dGH

Tank requirements

Minimum volume

500 L

Minimum length

150 cm

Flow

low

Lighting

dim preferred

Substrate

sand

Hiding spots

needed

Open swimming room

needed

Feeding

Diet: carnivore, feeds primarily at the mid-bottom.

Carnivore. Cichlid pellets, frozen krill, silversides, prawn. Feeds naturally at dawn and dusk in deep water; in captivity will eat during the day but feeding at dim-light times reduces stress.

Nocturnal feeder; drop food after lights out so it can eat without competition.

Compatibility

• Deep-water predator in the wild; eats sleeping sardines (Cyprichromis) by ambushing them at night. Will eat any fish small enough to swallow
• Slow-growing and slow-moving for a large cichlid. Not a basher like oscar or jack dempsey; dominance is established through posturing and the occasional lip-lock
• Keep in groups of 1 male to 4-5 females. Harems work; single pairs often fail because the male focuses aggression on one fish
• The cranial hump develops with age and is larger in males; immature frontosa look nothing like the adults on magazine covers. Patience required; full size takes 4-5 years
• Not compatible with mbuna; the smaller mbuna harass the slower frontosa and steal food

Habitat

Endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Found in deep water (30–70 m), much deeper than most aquarium cichlids. The Burundi, Zaire (DRC), Zambian, and Tanzanian populations have different stripe counts and are sometimes split into C. frontosa and C. gibberosa. Wild-caught specimens are still common in the trade because captive breeding is slow and the fish command high prices.

Breeding

Maternal mouthbrooder. The female holds 20-50 large eggs (and later fry) in her mouth for 4-5 weeks without eating. Fry are large when released. Breeding occurs naturally in groups where a dominant male courts multiple females. The extremely slow growth rate (10+ years to full adult size) and large tank requirements (600 L for a breeding group) make this a long-term project.

Common problems

Growth and tank size. Frontosa reach 30–35 cm and need very large tanks. They're slow growers, taking 5-7 years to approach full size, which lulls owners into thinking a 300 L tank is sufficient. It isn't, long-term. They're also deep-water fish from Lake Tanganyika (25–70 m deep) and prefer dim lighting. Bright overhead lights stress them. Bloat from high-protein diets is the primary health concern.

Bioload

Bioload coefficient: 9.0 (large-bodied cichlid; lower waste per-cm than oscar due to slower metabolism but still substantial).

Bioload coefficients are calibrated against the neon tetra as the anchor (1.0). See the methodology page for the formula and how each value was derived.

Further reading

• How to cycle a fish tank
• Stocking ideas by tank size