Ikola Frontosa setup

[curlymars123]

Does any one know what kind of frontosa this guy is?? I got him a while back and now he is developing a forehead.

[thegoodlife]

Wow those are nice man! Nice solid stripes...Mpimbwe fry are known for mooning but I don't notice any whatsoever...Thanks for sharing...

[aquabee]

The alpha male in any colony will grow much, much faster than any others. In my Moba group, the alpha male is 7" and the smallest one is 4", and they're all the same age! :) The alpha male and largest female will typically develop that nuchal hump (big forehead).

That big one has 6 stripes and very blue fins... almost looks like a Moba Blue Zaire but not quite. Maybe though!

[thegoodlife]

Someone on cyphos.com or frontosa.com could probably identify it very easily...It looks like a Moba but the mask is throwing me off...Nice looking fish regardless...

[curlymars123]

Thank you every one!! :)

I know the big one is so beautiful, he is definitely the boss for now. That would be cool if he was a moba blue Zaire.

[curlymars123]

image.jpgSame guy

[thecichlidsplace]

Frontosa Ikola lighting as most call it is actually collected frequently than the mpimbwe. Its always on my list from the current exporter. Yes, they are really nice. One of the lsf in austin has a group. very beautiful and much cheaper than moba (lol). Anyways, totally not part of this thread but wanted to just inform y'all. Here's a vid of my blue zaire tembwe decor...

[thecichlidsplace]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20838[/ATTACH]Same guy

This is definitely not a moba. Almost all of the blue zaire fronts have zorro kinda mask...it ends at the eye and doesnt extend all the way down. here's a map of the collection points...

http://cichlidnet.com/cyphotilapia-frontosa-variants.php

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=205

The second link is an article. The pic looks like what you got. You can contact Pam to help ID...

[specialone0812]

4.5 yrs ago, I bought a small colony of WC ikola Frontosa from Dave rare fish, 2m4f. I got very similar setup like you have: 135g tank, black sand and base limestone. The alpha male killed the other male about two months later after I had them in my tank. They bred two times for me, and I got about 19 frys. Unfortunately, I lost the whole tank when I was on a working trip and my apartment lost power for like two days. For me, those ikola were more gentle and had very bright white top fin.

[curlymars123]

Omg! I'm so sorry to here that. I am leaving for the Virgin islands on Saturday and won't be back until 8 days later. I sure hope that doesn't happen to me...

[curlymars123]

Hear*

[morpheus]

i dont know this specific species of fronts, but i have seen them kept in all kidns of substrates and configurations (rocks, wood, caves, etc). i agree with nothing sharp they can be skittish. also agree with them digging in gravel. many types of cichlids do like to move gravel around. i am usually filling in pits as a i clean in my cichlid tank. but pots, pvc, smooth rock caves...they are pretty laid back and seem to accept any environment.

[curlymars123]

Sounds like what I have set up, I'll just have to do setjhing similar. They are such happy fish. Thank you everyone for your opinions have me options lol.

[curlymars123]

My phones key board is not cooperating with me, something**