Frontosa Splashy Fish

Frontosa Cichlids 

Frontosa Cichlids, or often called Humphead Cichlids or Tanganyika Humphead Cichlid, are endemic to the waters of Lake Tanganyika in the region of East Africa. (Adult) Frontosa Cichlids impress the viewers with the distinctive large hump developed on the forehead. Thanks to that, Humphead Cichlid is given as the common name to this fascinating fish.

Such a ‘unique’ look undoubtedly draws the attention of the fishkeeping community, but what scores the point for Frontosa Cichlid is its bizarre color patterns of white and black vertical stripes overlaid alternating the body. Fins of faint blue hues sometimes reflect the similar tint to their body making the Frontosa Cichlids more appealing in a dark theme with dimmed lighting. 

Considering the average matured size of 15 inches, Frontosa Cichlids should be kept in a relatively large tank and in a group of six to eight specimens with the ratio of one male to other females. This not only resembles their wild living conditions but also helps reduce their aggressive tendency while housing together in captivity. Frontosa Cichlid fish require clean and stable water quality to survive. Thus, do not acclimate them in an uncycled tank. Since their dwelling is deep water areas where the surroundings are relatively bare. Their aquarium should also be similar. Even if you wish to have a nice Frontosa Cichlid tank, we recommend you give up. As the fish is notorious for re-aquascape talent, which means they are the one who decide the tank view, not you.

Apart from the quite picky requirements above, Frontosa Cichlids are fairly easy on diet. For a healthy and balanced diet, you should feed them with various food sources rich in proteins such as high-quality cichlid pellets (best recommendation for regular diet), flake fish food, mysis shrimp, krill, prawns, earthworms, artemia, etc. Sometimes, Frontosa Cichlids will not be picky to accept a little bit of algae and plant matter as well.

What You Can Expect From This Fish:

• Unique yet striking appearance featured with hump head and vivid stripes 
• Semi-aggressive
• Re-aquascape ability

RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:

• Temperature: 72 – 78℉ (22 – 28℃)
• pH: 7.8 – 9.0
• KH: 10 – 20 dKH
• Minimum tank size: 75 gallons (but the larger is preferred)

CARE GUIDELINES:

• Diet: high-quality cichlid pellets (best recommendation for regular diet), flake fish food, mysis shrimp, krill, prawns, earthworms, artemia, etc.
• Social behavior: Semi-aggressive yet calmer compared to other cichlid species, quite territorial, shoaling
• Origin: Lake Tanganyika in the region of East Africa, tank-bred
• Average adult size: 12 – 15 inches (30,5 – 38,0 cm)

See more details about care guide for Frontosa Cichlids here.