Breeding the Zaire Blue Frontosa by Anton Cass

The fishes that this account centres around were obtained from Rene (see previous article) in February 1997. He had a large breeding group and at the time they were producing fry on a regular basis. Regrettably a move of premises forced the sale and invariably the ‘splitting up’ due to cost of this group.

Upon my return to the U.K the two fishes, one large 12 inch male and a 7 inch female were placed in a divided 60 gallon aquarium. I had no intention of letting them reside together as they had been sharing a group existence and conditioning the female was also a major factor. As a general rule it is never a good idea to keep pairs of mouthbrooders in the same tank on their own. The end result is usually one very dead female. Some success has been obtained the bi-parental species and even some Aulonocara but usually a group of fishes is the better option.

Imagine my surprise next day when, upon checking I found them both together. The male had literally pushed over the partition, which I believed to be secure and was causing the female to seek refuge in the top corner of the aquarium.

Consequently I ensured that this would not happen again. I put both fishes into separate tanks. A few weeks later, I introduced both fishes into a 72 inch x 24 inch x 24 inch aquarium, specially prepared for them. Several rocks were placed a certain points towards the rear to allow the animals to seek cover should they feel threatened and the substrate consisted of coarse sand. Filteration was provided by means of a built in wear unit powered by a small garden pump. Ph was stabilised at 8.00, Gh 12-15 degrees and temperature maintained around 75F

Again the female was not too happy as the male, who was proving to be somewhat of a nuisance, was harassing her. Another partition, this time very firmly secured. This arrangement continued for around two months during which time I was able to get the fishes feeding on a diet of chopped mussels and lance fish. (This species is predatory). The female fed well, devouring even the larger pieces avidly. The male however was somewhat more conservative, quite often ignoring larger morsels and taking only medium size to smaller pieces. Artemia and mysis shrimp were consumed with much more urgency but the actual amount required to satisfy the appetite of such a large fish was to say the least considerable. According, as these fishes were wild and by nature, crepuscular feeders, food was left in the aquarium overnight. Upon checking the following morning nothing was ever found uneaten.

Later I acquired some Cyphotilapia frontosa of the Blue Mpimbwe variant, another of the Blue Frontosa, which is not quite as difficult to obtain. It does not possess the same intense blue colour of the Zaire and appears to be somewhat easier to spawn (for possible reasons refer to the article on catching the Zaire Blue). With regard to colouration the difference is distinctive with the Zaire race not only being more blue and possessing large blue scales on the head, especially on the uncial hump of large males, but also the black bars on the white background appear to be clearer in definition.

Four Blue pimple fronts were added to the aquarium and the divider was also removed. The large male, now known by many as ‘Elvis’, after the goldfish card advertisement (he looked far better than the somewhat bedraggled specimen they used) immediately showed interest but because of numbers was unable to concentrate his efforts on one individual. After a short time, perhaps a few days, the female also began to harass the pimple group, making attacks from her now newly established territory. Accordingly the mpimbwe earmarked for re-housing. They were in fact sold before this was undertaken but the end result was that both fishes were now living compatibly in same aquarium.

Observations show the frontosa to possess a high degree of intelligence quite often approaching the front of the aquarium whenever anyone went near. The female learned to look after herself and cope well with her much larger co habitant and despite the obvious size discrepancy had not trouble in obtaining her required amount of food. In one scuffle she was seen to actually grab the male’s tail, which must have given him such a shock that he went of to a corner of the aquarium where he sulked for three days, refusing to come out and did not bother feeding. It seems fishes can suffer from damaged egos as well as aquarists.

Another incident concerning the male witnessed the true hunting instinct being displayed. A large (approximately 7 inch) Triglochromis otostigma was added to the aquarium on a short term basis due to lack of accommodation. Almost immediately ‘Elvis’ literally crept up on the new arrival, positioning himself about 6 inches away ‘sitting’ on top of a flat rock. As the otostigma moved so did ‘Elvis’. This behaviour lasted well over an hour with the huge frontosa mirroring the Triglochromis’ movements exactly but never making any effort to attack. He seemed to be actually sizing up his possible prey rather similar to a big cat stalking an antelope. The decision to leave the newcomer alone was probably based on the fact the fact it was too large to consume and was not worth the trouble. Cyphotilapia frontosa are not known for putting a lot of effort into anything.

Aggression was best described as sparring and this was limited to conspecifics (other frontosa). In the case of other species aggression became avoidance. Some Malawi ‘haplochromines’ had been added to the tank, again because of accommodation problems and in the hope that their presence might make the fontosa think about starting a family. This ‘trick’ has worked before with frontosa. One such fish, Copadochromis azureus (a wild pair imported from Malawi) decide they would spawn instead. The male dug his usual pit in the sand and had very little trouble in keeping ‘Elvis’ out of the way. In fact to say that the large frontosa despite having the advantage of size weight and just about everything else retired behind the filter column until the spawning was completed.

The female frontosa did produce eggs on two separate occasions but with no conclusion other than that they were infertile due to lack of the males interest.

This changed however on 30th March 2000. Both fishes were observed to be more interested in each other than anyone or anything else, including food. Closer inspection revealed both ovipositors being visible, that of the female being usually large and fleshy, whilst that of the male being much smaller (despite his size). Colouration of the fishes had intensified, both of them showing a deeper blue especially around the head. Actual enticement or luring of the female was however somewhat limited, probably because it was too much effort. In the wild the fish has been recorded as slow moving and further aquatic based records show the frontosa as only being very mildly territorial, sometimes actually using a nest or depression constructed by another fish. Elvis was true to form. Not only did he not put much effort into feeding and fighting, courtship rituals did not figure too big on the agenda either. His seduction technique consisted of an almost vertical head up position in mid water above the female and then after returning to a more normal posture a solitary raising and lowering of the dorsal fin.

Despite the (apparent?) lack of effort whatever he had done must have had the desired effect, as around noon the pair were seen over a rocky area towards the rear of the aquarium. The female then disappeared behind the rock and could be seen quivering as she laid her eggs. She the moved backwards as she inhaled the spermatozoa deposited earlier by the male. Cyphotilapia frontosa is possibly unique in this method of fertilisation.

Elvis throughout the entire procedure remained true to form. He took little interest in what the female was doing making no effort to display to ensure her continued interest. He decided to take a break and went to the opposite end of the tank and sat on a rock around 5 feet away, returning occasionally to provide encouragement by a single raising of his dorsal fin and going behind the rock to the spawning site presumably to ensure sufficient fertilisation was available for the females needs. Cyphotilapia frontosa live to a great age possibly 25 or even 30 years and it is quite easy to see why. The total lack of stress and slow pace of their lives would ensure cardiac failure could ever result.

The female was left in the main aquarium for three weeks, primarily as a move too soon could result in a premature expulsion of eggs/fry and after this time should this happen the embryos would be sufficiently developed to stand a good chance of survival if they needed to be incubated artificially.

This proved to be unfounded despite somewhat of an effort to catch for her for transfer into another aquarium the female did not show the slightest inclination of releasing her offspring. Other accounts have differed and some actually catch the females three days after spawning and then raise the young artificially, a practise I do not favour because past experience has proven that fry hatched in this fashion do not become imprinted to their mother i.e. they do not realise they are mouthbrooders. Any young I have tried to spawn after being reared thus seem to having difficulty in actually brooding often devouring the fry out of panic after a couple of days. An eminent Belgian aquarist, Wilfred Van der Elst actually commented on this problem not just with Tanganyikan fishes but Malawis as well and wrote quite a detailed account about it in Cichlid News.

The brooding tank was some 45gallons in capacity filtered by large sponge filters and a large plastic pipe added for cover. Water parameters were the same as in the aquarium used for spawning.

A brooding period of 5 to 6 weeks was anticipated but no fishes were to be seen. The bucco pharynx or buccal cavity was noticeably larger indicating fry. Cyclops was added to the aquarium, as many tanganyikan mouthbrooders appear to feed their offspring whilst still holding them in their mouths. Also it is possible that the female could release the young to feed at night when no one was around, thus affording the protection of darkness.

After nine weeks the female was seen to be more uncomfortable with her offspring. The distension of the bucco pharynx was considerable and as experience with other Tanganyika fishes had proved fry that are held too long quite often suffer and die shortly after release. Cyprichromis and Paracyprichromis can be guilty of this should they feel too stressed to release the fry.

Accordingly the decision was taken to remove the fry from the female, a task that was not relished as she was a large strong fish and because her safety was paramount as well as that of her charges she would have to be handled firmly but without any excessive force. Just prior to catching her two fry were noticed hiding under the filter. They were around 10mm TL and had rounded stomachs proving that they had been feeding. A five gallon bucket was half filled with tank water and the female placed inside, in the hope the shock may make her release the babies. However unlike some larger cichlids, Champsochromis caeruleus being one that released its young in the bucket, she flatly refused to let out any despite her not being understandably too keen on the surroundings.

The next step was the most feared. The babies were going to have be extracted by making her open her mouth. This method is quite safe provided the fish is not left too long out of the water and by holding the fishes opercula (gills) it makes the expectant mother cough out the babies. Many experienced breeders use the method on Cyprichromis, Paracyprichromis and a lot of mbuna should they feel the young may suffer if the female is too stubborn to release them. There is however a large difference between the fishes mentioned and a fairly large, very strong female frontosa, especially one that is quite valuable. Holding her gills had no effect as she just held on all the more so using a powerhead shaft with the rubber grommet on the end, her lips were prised open and out swam 20 baby Zaire blue frontosa. These were returned to the original aquarium and the female went back in with her mate who appeared not to have missed her too much and he hardly paid any attention.

Of those young released four swam tail up for around three days before recovering to swim normally. I have since found out that my tactic of removing the fry in this manner actually saved them, as I was just in time. Many breeders had allowed the fishes to go longer with the result that all the young swam tail up and died. Compare again with Cyprichromis etc and Paracyprichromis especially nigripinnis where this is not uncommon.

Due to their large size the baby frontosa were able to consume Cyclops and sifted adult artemia immediately and around 6 weeks later the largest had grown quickly to around 25mm and were showing the famous blue colour. Their size now averages around 50mm and they readily consume adult mysis shrimp, small krill and flake food. Their diet is similar in style to a natural one except the flake as young frontosa in the wild actually eat soft crustaceans before they become large enough to practise their sneak attacks on dozing cyprichromis during the dawn and twilight hours.

Three years may seem like a long time before achieving any success. The time factor is irrelevant when considering the hours of pleasure and interaction that these fishes gave. Patience is a virtue and despite the long haul involved, Elvis and Priscilla(?) provided a valuable insight into the remarkable lifestyle of a race of fishes that differs radically from the other variants in the lake. Man’s influence has again been shown to have a profound effect on nature whether intentional or not. Jobs Erneuerbare Energien, Studium und Karriere

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