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man thats alot of questions at one go...
lets see...
1. how many fronts should keep? i intend to start with 1-2inches fronts + 2 or 3 Synodontis multipuntatus (thanks route for the recommendation).
2. what other tankmates should i get? blue dolphine? tropheus?
This question seriously depends mostly on you. But as frontosas are well known for their slow growth , you can easily put in 4 at one go into a 3.5ft tank. I would not recommand just two as they're rather territorial - most tanganyikans are. Blue Dolphins are malawis and although its not really recommanded because of their different water requirements, i've seen and heard of many people actually mixing cichlids from malawi and tanganyika so i guess its all up to you. Would not recommand tropheus as they need a strict vegetable diet or risk bloat. If ya gona feed frontosas vegetarian i'm sure those poor fellows will grow even slower... [] Unlike us , they can't go out for a plate of nasi lemak or roti prata in the middle of the night if they're feeling hungry. [:
]
I would recommand tankmates from the Neolamprogus and Altolamprologus catagory.
3. what type of air pump is suitable?
any type of air pump will do. frontosas come from the deep waters of lake tanganyika and which has very little water movement but very rich in oxygen supply... (can't remember why).
4. as i couldn't get hold of used sands, filter, etc, how should i condition the new tank. do you guys normally add bio bacteria and put in some "tough" fish for water cycling? which is the best and fastest way of conditioning the water before introducing the baby fronts and others?
You might wana consider using Nutrafin cycle to speed up the cycling process or read up more on fishless cycling. Here's an article on it..
http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/fishless_cycling.php
5. what kind of lighting should i use? i kinda of like those in art's 2Ft Tanganyikan Setup tank (posted in this forum). what are they and where to get those.
again this is rather up to you to decide for yourself - frontosas don't need light to grow..the one art is using are marine lights.. might wana pm him for more information or send him a mail at
[email protected]
6. lastly, the substrate. should i use coral river sand or coral bits? i heard that those very fine coral river sand will clot up the filter and since cichlids like to dig, will it pollute the water easily?
coral sand and river sand are two different kinda substrate. i would recommand coral sand as it helps buffer the water to a comfortable level for the tanganyikans. i'm using the fine coral sand too and it wont clot up the filter unlike riversand. don't worry , your cichlids wont dig enough to actually "pollute" the water.
coral chips can be placed in your filter if you like.
thanks for helping.
i hope i did.
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