Lake Tanganyika Species • Adding 2-3" Frontosa Mpimbwe with adults

[burunduk]

Hi,

I used to have a colony of Frontosa Mpimbwe for many years, but now only 2 adults are left, almost certain both are female, about 7-8". I want to add 5 or so juvies that are 2-3" in length to the tank. How has people's experience been in doing so, would the youngsters just become expensive snacks for the larger fish?

Thank you.

[ken31cay]

I did this back in March, so about four months ago. I added nine 2"-2.5"" baby fronts in my 450gal which already had four fronts: 7",5", 5", 4". I had to import them so when I unpacked them I couldn't believe my eyes how small they were and thought they'd get eaten. But they've been fine and doubled in size since then with no issues. They gravitated right to the other four larger fronts and integrated right in.

[burunduk]

Thank you very much for the reply, I think I'll try it out and hope for the best.

[ken31cay]

Might be useful to add that I feed them well, probably overfeed actually. I've worked out how much the tank needs and all the food is gone after about 5-6 minutes. But on the other hand I'd say I also maintain the tank pretty well with 75% water changes, change all filter pads, every 5-7 days. Deep cleaned the sump last night and it turns out it didn't really need it just yet. I'm a believer that keeping their environment 'clean' makes a positive difference.