# Frontosa aggression against each other



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Hey Everyone. I purchased a red frontosa about 2 weeks ago. She is around 5". She is timid. I have her in a 125g tank with mostly peacocks and haps. She always hides in the caves and seems to rarely come out. Yesterday I picked up another Frontosa that is larger than the one I already had maybe 6". The guy who sold it to me said he was having problems with her being shy aswell. So I figured perfect match. Well as soon as I let the new one out of the bag my shy one came right out of her hidding spot and seemed very intrested in the new one. I thought great she is finally happy. I went to bed and woke up this morning to find my red Frontosa chasing the new one all over the tank and water all over the floor. I quickly filled a large bucket, added an air stone and heater. My Red Frontosa is now on time out for a little bit. 

Has anyone had issues like this before with frontosas? Do I need a male in their to straighten them out? I cant seem to find anything on the net about issues like this. 

I thought maybe if I let the new frontosa get a chance to to break up the already claimed territory or get a feel for the tank than introduce the red one in a few days the problem will be solved? I cant re arrange the rock work. So thats NOT an option. Any suggestion or ideas would be great

Thanks in advance


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

draw a line in the sand and tell her not to cross it.........................................? on a more practical side, i have only seen frontosa in larger groups so more to spread the aggression? if she is aggressive adding a male may just worsen it because they will fight for dominent breeding place with the male.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

frontosa is a colony fish. They are not pairing fish. It is very hard to keep 2 in a tank. The more aggressive one will not leave the other one alone.


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## sakurachan1 (Mar 12, 2012)

sounds about righttt


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Well I have 3 in there. The third is very small. Should I get myself another one than. A male maybe?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i would get like 6 more and 2 of them should be male, then it will fall into a breeding ritual / pecking order and you will have a functional tank again


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Not sure if I have the room for that. Impulse buying. LoL. You live, you learn.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

typically you would want a group of 6-8 most of which would be females and you need your alpha male and you sub dominant male. the sub dominant male is there basically to make the alpha male ... the alpha male needs to have the threat that there is another waiting in the background to breed with his females etc etc..

so i would try and at least do 6


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

macframalama said:


> typically you would want a group of 6-8 most of which would be females and you need your alpha male and you sub dominant male. the sub dominant male is there basically to make the alpha male ... the alpha male needs to have the threat that there is another waiting in the background to breed with his females etc etc..
> 
> so i would try and at least do 6


I should of started with 5 - 6 smaller ones than. Maybe I can trade someone for a smaller group. Either that or I get rid of the 2 big ones . I always research fish before I buy them. I knew they like to be in a group of 5 or more but I didnt realize 2 would cause so may problems. Impulse buys are always the worst. Thanks for the advice


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I would not do more than 6 in a 125g.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i didnt see his tank size , but your right , but if you can only get smalls then higher numbers will get you the ratio you want and someone is always looking for frontosas


charles said:


> I would not do more than 6 in a 125g.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

I agree 100% with the above. They are a colony fish and need numbers. My friends and I also had 2 in each tank and had the exact problems. Now we have 1 each and things are fine.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I will look for a few more. If I cant find a couple than I will sell my red one. Hopefully I can find her a good home. I should of bought a group of smaller ones to start. They dont seem to grow fast at all.


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## MOLOTO (Jun 8, 2010)

Yes, fronts seem to grow faster in groups of 4 or more. The pecking order follows from largest to smallest regardless of when new fish are added. In our 6 ft 125g, the male spawns with each of the 3 females. We have a different holding female every month. The hard part is trying to keep the female to hold her clutch until after 10 days before we strip her. Then the wigglers go into an egg tumbler. 

We've had several broods now initially in high numbers. However as the fry grow, the group seem to weed out the weaker ones. Last clutch of 40 fry has been reduced to 25 fry after a month of food competition.

Hope this helps. :bigsmile:


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

id like to have one if your getting rid of it pm me please


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## Rajan (Apr 21, 2010)

Do 4 females and 1 male. Should do the trick I have 10 and one baby that survived lol and they are doing great for last 5 years


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