CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I have two Fronts and have had probs getting them to eat, I got them very cheap as they had been taken into the shop after not being looked after properly, I know it was wrong but I was and am prepared to take the chance with them. I have had them about 5 weeeks and they are coming along well, they are growing and begining to fatten up well, they are not as shy any more which is great. But.....Ah there had to be a but! I have probs feeding them, they eat very little the smaller one more so, I discovered that they loved Brine shrimp (frozen) they went mad for it for around 2 weeks and continue to feed them this daily but they now only take very little, I have fed them chopped cockle which they take occasionally, dried tubifex which they dont seem to like! Chopped lance fish which they take very little occasionally, pellets they rarly eat! What am I doing wrong or what else can I feed them? The water condition is NOT the prob trust me I'm a professional lol. Any ideas welcomed BIG time...... Please help 

Hi, Lisa:  I have zero experience with Frontosas, but as long as they're growing and fattening up, things can't be too bad.  How big are they now?  Brine shrimp seem awfully small to interest full grown fish for very long.  I think the first thing I'd do is what you're doing -- that is try to interest them in other foods, maybe like frozen mysis shrimp, frozen prawn, frozen bloodworms, etc.  Once you're confident that they're in good health you can start becoming more adamant about the pellets.  Maybe start with FD plankton or krill, then go to something like the Hikari carnivore sticks, then to pellets.  You may have to be tough (I wonder if their previous owner was a feeder fanatic?), but I haven't met many cichlids that will maintain a hunger strike for too long.

Lisa, the first thing to keep in mind with Frontosa's is the fact that they originally come from Deep water, so you don't want to feed them something that they have to come to the surface for.  When they do that they inevitably gulp in air which will cause them to blowt up cause their body doesn't know how to get rid of it like regular food.  There is actually a procedure you can use to get rid of the air for them, but it's not something I would recommend for anyone to try other than a Vet.  Frontosa will grow to a size comparable to an oscar, (I have 2 Fronts 3-4", still small), my oscars can be PIGS, so store bought food can be expensive, not to mention hard on water quality cause they are messy.  I quite frequently by steak, slice it into strips and freeze it. The strips are easier to cut up, and then I just rinse it off to thaw it and remove any blood, fat, that would just pollute the water, when they get sick of that I will cook the steak, I have evan fed them chopped up hotdog, bologna, ect.  I always put that stuff in the microwave first to melt the fat and other residue, then rinse it. (They only get that on occation).  A good point to note also is that Bloodworms are NOT good for almost every Cichlid, a very small amount once in a while might be ok, you won't really notice them get sick so much as just start dying you. Hope I helped, and not babbled too much.......

Jewels,
I've been trying to post a reply to thank you very much for the info you gave me, but I've had problems with my connection (hopefully sorted now), you have obviously done your home work! Can you recommend ant sites or books to read on Fronts? I dont feel very fond of Frontosa.com! The larger of my two Fonts now eats very well, and the other is eating better. I think that they must have been fed feeders and were taking a while to come around. Can you id different types of Fonts? If so there are some pics in the gallery although not v good quality! Looking forward to having Frotosa chats with you.

Kind Regards
Lis
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