F1 Mpimbwe Frontosa

This is my running log of the progress of my F1 Mpimbwe Frontosa...

Week 1 Report.

Well, it has been a week since I picked up the Mpimbwe from me in Oregon. The fish are doing great. Their behavior is amazing and they are a joy to watch. Fearless is a word that comes to mind when describing them. As mentioned above, these guys do not spook or shy away from the glass, even when I am standing in front of the tank observing them.

I have added a sump filter to the 180 and removed one of the two canisters and one of the two HOB filters on the tank. Right now, filtration is an eshopps 200 sump filter with a dual outlet overflow, a Rena xP2 canister and an Aqua Clear 110 HOB filter. I will be removing the canister filter in a week or so. The sump outlets to a spray bar that expels lengthwise from the right side of the tank.

So far, all 20 fish are alive and well. they spend a lot of time in open water and very little time settled into the rock work. Mostly, they swim in large groups and seem to have little to no aggression towards each other.

The fish have grown, noticeably, in the past week. their coloration is beginning to become evident. their fins are gaining the pearlescent blue that these fish are known for. The young fish all have perfect striping, no signs of mooning in any of them.

Stripe coloration has been interesting. During feeding, their stripes seem to mute some compared to how they look when they are just cruising the tank. I am not sure if this is due to the flurry of activity when they feed.

The fish seem to really enjoy "playing" in the current and bubbles created by the cascading water from the Aqua Clear 110. It is pretty funny to watch them swim directly into the current and through the bubbles. Once they get to the top, they swim right back to the bottom and do it again. This play time can sometimes go on for hours. Suddenly, they will lose interest and go back to swimming amongst the rock work or hanging out in large groups at the calm side of the tank.

That's it for the first week. I will be making another video mid-week and posting it to this thread. I will also be doing a weekly report to keep a flowing "diary" of their progress. I hope to get input from the members of the site, I am relatively new to Frontosa, especially a species specific tank, so any and all comments and help are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Week 2 Report.

Today marks the end of week 2 with my Mpimbwe. The little guys are all accounted for, no losses, all 20 are happy and healthy. Water parameters have stayed in line with very little maintenance on the tank. I am actually kind of amazed at how little maintenance a tank this sizer requires.

The fish are growing fast. Coloration is coming to quite a few and the blue tinge on their fins is more evident than ever.

They are still rambunctious feeders and will eat as much as I feed them, whenever I feed them. i have changed up their diet some, adding NLS small fish pellets and HBH Soft to the regimen of Hikari Spirulina and Brine cubes (broken up to practically powder). So far I have not found a food they do not like.

I had some visitors to my place this morning and the fish still do not shy away from the glass and were more than happy to come to the glass and swim in the open for my guests to observe them. I am hoping this behavior stays with them, it is nice to have a front tank that is not skittish.

I underwent some filtration changes and now have the tank where I want it. One AC110 HOB and a Eshopps 200 sump. I removed the last canister today and gave it to a friend so she could filter a new tank. No need for it now, might as well give it to someone who can use it! The sump is doing great, I have found the happy medium between in-flow and out-flow to keep a constant water level and good movement through the sump. I do want to change out the crappy corrugate hoses for the black nylon hoses as one of the corrugated hoses split right at the rain plate. I repaired it easily, but the corrugated hoses are nowhere near as durable as the nylon hoses.

That's about it for the end of week 2. I will post another video mid next week.

Thanks for reading, and as always comments and suggestions are always appreciated!

JUKIASS!! (:

Yep, those are my Jukia.

fortunate son! havent heard that forever! But they look like they been growin!!! They were really pale when I saw em, lots got dark bars now!

I'm doing a video tomorrow.. Music choice is crucial.

They has grown much!

Guys are still doing awesome..Got to do another "week" report. I missed week 3.

Hi I was wondering if you had any successes in breeding your Frontosa? I recently a few weeks ago purchased a beautiful 12 inch {Male} Mpimbwe Frontosa . I have a Moba which is too small .. but going to separate her soon as Im able to locate some more Mpimbwe. If you have any of "Me" Frontosas and have bred them and interested in selling please let me know.. Would be interested in Larger Females.. I am enjoying the Frontosa World! :-) Also I wanted to know , about the Bloat that Frontosa get when feeding from the top what about Airstones in a tank? I have a good size Airstone going in one corner of my tank.. and planning on putting a Bacto-Surge sponge filter kit in there also... In Your opinion am I okay with this? I just don't want to over do it.. I have a Dry filter going along with a Bio-wheel filter.. and figured adding this Sponge filter would help more and give more air in the tank??? Look Forward to hearing back from You... Thank You.......................................................................Laura

Original post was from July 2010 and person shows up as 'guest' so likelihood they are no longer a member here. I would probably say you would get a better response if you were just to start your own post with question.

Ok Thank You will do that .. :-)