Lake Tanganyika Species • Frontosa - Is my tank big enough?

[Jack Stone]

Hi people,

Just wanting to get some opinions on whether or not this tank is big enough for a breeding group of 5 Frontosa.

1 male - 4 females

The tank measures 1 meter x 1 meter x 80 centimetre high.
That's 800 litres or 210 gallons.

In inches that's 39" x 39" x 31" high.

What do you reckon?
Thanks for your speedy responses....

[lucid_eye]

It is not ideal bigger is always better but they should be alright.

[DJRansome]

I'd put them in a 72" tank.

[brucem]

They'd do better in a longer tank - 60" or longer.

[fmueller]

That is an unusually shaped tank. It has more than the required volume, but the near cube shape is less than ideal. Territorial fish like Frontosa sometimes need to put space between a subdominant fish and the alpha male in order to curb aggression. If you have a 6' tank, they can put about 5' between themselves. In your tank they will always be very close. Again, that's not ideal, but since I have not tried anything of the kind myself, I can't say for sure it won't work.

[tirzo13]

i would not keep a frontosa in a 3 foot 3 inches tank.
at least not adults that can get well over 12 inches.

Even a relatively passive frontosa needs some space to get away from conspecific aggression.
You can keep a bunch of 3-4 inchers in there, but i'd not keep adults in it.
minimum is 5 feet, and i suggest 6-8 foot.

[Jack Stone]

Thanks for the advice,
Have decided against it as most people say it's going to be tight at best.

Yeah, the "cube" is an odd tank, I've got a smaller one too.
They're actually pretty good display tanks because of the actual and perceived depth.

Will rather spend the money on some Lamprologines and wait until I have a long and large tank for the mighty Frontosa.

[24Tropheus]

Thanks for the advice,
Have decided against it as most people say it's going to be tight at best.

Yeah, the "cube" is an odd tank, I've got a smaller one too.
They're actually pretty good display tanks because of the actual and perceived depth.

Will rather spend the money on some Lamprologines and wait until I have a long and large tank for the mighty Frontosa.

Good call.