Red Frontosa Cichlid (Cyphotilapia frontosa 'Red')

Choose the Red Frontosa, a copper-barred humphead from Lake Tanganyika

The Red Frontosa Cichlid is a colour strain of Cyphotilapia frontosa, the large, slow-moving humphead cichlid of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. In place of the usual black bars on a white body, the Red Frontosa has broad reddish-brown to copper bars on a pale, pearly body. Seriously Fish lists it among the few selectively bred ornamental strains of the species and notes that it is also called 'copperband' after the colour of its bars, so every Red Frontosa is an aquarium-bred fish.

Frontosa are among the most impressive cichlids a fishkeeper can keep, and among the most demanding in space. They grow to around 30 cm, live in groups with a clear pecking order, need hard, alkaline, spotless water and take several years to mature. The Red Frontosa suits a keeper who is ready to build a very large Lake Tanganyika aquarium for a group of them. FishBase lists the wild species as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (assessed in March 2025), which is a good reason to choose aquarium-bred stock such as this strain.

Check the names on the label

Tell the red strain apart from other frontosa

Seriously Fish explains that wild frontosa are usually sold by the place they were collected, to keep each bloodline pure. Most populations have six dark vertical bands on the body; the population from Kigoma, on the eastern side of the lake, has seven. Among the few bred strains it names are the red, or copperband, and the 'black widow', in which the bars are broken into large blotches.

You can compare every form on our Cyphotilapia frontosa page, see the blue species on the Cyphotilapia gibberosa page, and browse the whole Lake Tanganyika cichlids category.

Know exactly what you receive

• One live Red Frontosa per purchase, in the size you select: Small, the smaller grade, or 5–6 cm.
• The fish is not sexed. Seriously Fish says young frontosa are impossible to sex accurately.
• Our photographs show the strain, not the individual you will receive. Bar colour varies between fish, and Seriously Fish notes that in Cyphotilapia the bars tend to fade from view in large males, so an old male can look quite different from a youngster.
• Dispatch days and our Live Arrival Guarantee are explained on the delivery page.

Plan the group before you buy

Frontosa are not fish to keep alone. Seriously Fish says they are gregarious and should be kept in a group of at least five, ideally ten or more. OATA says very few African lake cichlids do well singly and that frontosa do best in groups of over six, with more females than males to prevent fighting. FishBase likewise records several females to one male in aquariums.

Because young fish cannot be sexed, the usual approach is to buy a group of youngsters at the same time and grow them on together, so the hierarchy forms while they are small. Order the whole group in one go and choose the same size for all of them, so no single fish is much smaller than the rest.

Plan the aquarium around a 30 cm adult

The fish you receive is a few centimetres long, but the aquarium has to be planned for adults of around 30 cm, living as a group. The sources agree that frontosa are big; they differ on the exact figures.

Standard length leaves out the tail, so the 255 mm and 33 cm figures describe similar fish. We recommend building towards the Seriously Fish size, because it is written for a group of adults kept for the long term.

Run a three-step space check

1. Length: 240 cm is the figure to plan for; treat 180–200 cm as the very least, as the OATA and FishBase figures show.
2. Width and depth: at least 60 cm each way, with more if possible; adult frontosa are deep, heavy fish that need room to turn.
3. Group and companions: five to ten frontosa plus any tank mates. Our tank volume calculator turns your measurements into litres, and the stocking calculator helps check the whole group.

Build a rocky layout with caves and open water

In Lake Tanganyika, Seriously Fish says frontosa live along rocky, sediment-rich slopes between 6 and 120 metres deep, usually among boulders with patches of open sand between 15 and 70 metres, and form large aggregations that sometimes number a thousand fish or more, with the oldest and largest in deeper water. Shelter is scarce in that habitat, so the aquarium should give the fish a mix of open water and a few well-made refuges.

Seriously Fish suggests a sandy floor with piles of smooth, water-worn rocks of different sizes, some built into caves, and perhaps a few large boulders; earthenware flowerpots also work as refuges. Avoid sharp edges, which injure the fish. The dominant male usually claims a particular cave, so build enough caves big enough for the largest males, and add some smaller ones for females holding eggs. OATA recommends fine coral sand or a similar substrate to help buffer the water, rockwork that breaks up lines of sight to reduce aggression, and notes that African lake cichlids uproot all but the hardiest plants. Stack rocks on the glass floor before adding sand so digging cannot topple them.

Divide the floor by function

Keep the water hard, alkaline and spotless

Lake Tanganyika water is hard and alkaline, and frontosa need it that way. The three sources give these ranges:

Where the sources overlap, aim for 24–26°C, pH 8.0–8.6 and 12–18 dGH, with carbonate hardness of 10–15 dKH as OATA suggests. FishBase's hardness figure is lower than the others, so treat the low teens as the bottom of the range rather than the target. Above all, keep the values steady.

Match UK tap water to the targets

Seriously Fish warns that frontosa need hard, alkaline conditions and in most cases will not thrive in untreated tap water. UK tap water ranges from very soft to very hard depending on where you live, so test pH, GH and KH before you buy. If your water falls short, raise and buffer it with a coral sand substrate, as OATA suggests, or with products made for African lake aquariums, and adjust slowly. Treat every refill with tap water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine. Our water parameter matcher checks your readings against the fish, and the water chemistry guide explains pH, GH and KH.

Waste readings matter even more than habitat values. Seriously Fish describes frontosa as extremely sensitive to deteriorating water quality and says they should never go into a biologically immature aquarium. OATA's limits are zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and nitrate no more than 20 mg per litre above your tap water.

Filter big, flow gently and change water weekly

For an aquarium of 864 litres, Seriously Fish suggests turning the water over four to five times an hour with three filters of 1,150–1,440 litres per hour each, using external canisters, a sump or both, and heating with roughly 200–300 W across three heaters in a room at about 20°C. It also says high flow rates should be avoided, so point the outlets to keep the current gentle. OATA recommends an oversized filter and vigorous aeration so there is plenty of dissolved oxygen.

Follow a weekly routine

1. Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and hardness every week and keep a record (OATA).
2. Change water every week. OATA recommends 25% a week; Seriously Fish recommends at least 30–50% a week for frontosa. Match the new water's temperature and hardness to the aquarium.
3. Siphon waste and leftover food from the sand.
4. Check the filters for blockages, and rinse media only in the water removed from the aquarium, never under the tap (OATA).
5. Check heaters and the thermometer, and make sure every rock pile is still stable.

Our cichlid care guide sets out the same routine for other cichlids.

Feed a meaty, varied diet without mammal meat

In the wild, Seriously Fish describes the frontosa as a generalised predator of smaller fish, large invertebrates and molluscs, with some algae and detritus swallowed while browsing; FishBase records snails, mussels and fish. In the aquarium Seriously Fish recommends high-quality prepared foods with live or frozen brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and shrimp, and says some of the dried food should contain a good share of vegetable matter such as spirulina, with chopped peas as a useful extra.

Two things to avoid, according to Seriously Fish: mammal or bird meat such as beef heart or chicken, whose fats the fish cannot properly digest and which can cause fat deposits and organ damage, and 'feeder' fish such as small livebearers or goldfish, which can carry parasites and disease and are of little food value. OATA suggests pellets with a higher animal content plus frozen brine shrimp, prawns or cockles for the larger, predatory lake cichlids, fed twice a day in amounts the fish clear within a few minutes.

Build one measured meal

Introduce the group to a mature aquarium

Only add frontosa to an aquarium whose filter is fully matured. OATA advises checking that ammonia and nitrite are zero before any fish goes in and building up the population gradually, because stocking too quickly causes new tank syndrome. For African lake cichlids it adds that some species are best added as a group, so no single newcomer takes all the aggression, that peaceful species should go in first and more aggressive ones later, and that rearranging the décor helps when new fish join.

Acclimatise with OATA's floating bag method: lights off, float the bag for about 10 minutes, add small amounts of aquarium water over up to 20 minutes, then net the fish into the aquarium with as little bag water as possible. Because hardness and pH may differ between the bag and your aquarium, take the mixing slowly.

Use a first-week checkpoint plan

Choose Tanganyikan tank mates too big to swallow

Seriously Fish says frontosa may eat much smaller fish but can form part of a well-chosen Tanganyikan community in a big enough aquarium. Males do not hold fixed territories like many cichlids; instead the group forms a dominance hierarchy with one or more alpha fish, depending on the group's size and the space available. OATA's general rule is to stock African lake cichlids only with species from the same lake, and it does not recommend mixing Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids because of their different temperaments and behaviour.

Screen each companion

On our site, the Furcifer Featherfin Cichlid and the other Cyathopharynx featherfins are the classic large companions; check every candidate's adult size first. Keep frontosa away from our Malawi cichlids, and run your final list through our tank mate checker.

Watch for problems early

Frontosa show stress quickly when the water slips. OATA's list of changes to watch for applies to every fish in the group: swimming (hanging at the surface, sitting on the bottom or swimming erratically), colour (darker or paler than normal), temperament (more aggression or more hiding), breathing (gill covers moving faster or slower), appearance (white spots, fluffy growths, damaged fins or scales), condition (weight loss or gain) and feeding (less interest in food). Clamped fins, flicking against décor and shimmying are further warning signs.

Pair each sign with an action

Breed frontosa with patience

Seriously Fish describes the frontosa as a maternal mouthbrooder that is commonly bred in aquariums. Adult males grow larger than females, with longer fins and a bigger forehead hump, and each male should ideally have at least three or four females. Sexual maturity takes several years, so a group bought young needs patience.

The eggs are very large and few, usually 10–50 depending on the female's size. She picks them up as soon as they are fertilised and carries them, and then the fry, in her mouth for a long time: 35–50 days or more. FishBase and Seriously Fish both describe how a brooding female takes in food that the young in her mouth can eat, even while they still have large yolk sacs; Seriously Fish suggests offering brooding females regular meals of newly hatched brine shrimp, and says the fry are not released until they can survive on their own. Some breeders strip the eggs or fry from the female and raise them in an egg tumbler, but Seriously Fish says this is not for beginners.

Set up for a spawning group

• Keep one male with at least three or four females where space allows, and plenty of caves.
• Keep water movement low and lighting soft; Seriously Fish says little or no water movement is ideal and low light strongly helps.
• Leave holding females undisturbed and offer them small foods such as newly hatched brine shrimp.
• Keep each strain or locality form separate if you want pure-bred young, as Seriously Fish explains for wild populations.

Browse our African cichlids for more fish from Lake Tanganyika and the other African lakes.

Answer Red Frontosa buying questions

What is a Red Frontosa?

It is a selectively bred colour strain of the frontosa or humphead cichlid, Cyphotilapia frontosa, from Lake Tanganyika. Seriously Fish lists it as the 'red' strain, also called 'copperband' because the dark body bars are reddish-brown instead of black. Its care is the same as for any frontosa.

Is the Red Frontosa a different species from the normal frontosa?

No. It is the same species bred for colour. The blue 'Zaire' frontosas are different: Seriously Fish places them in a second species, Cyphotilapia gibberosa, described in 2003.

How big does a Red Frontosa grow?

Very large. Seriously Fish gives 255 mm standard length, FishBase 33 cm total length, and OATA says frontosa can grow to over 30 cm. Plan for a fish of around 30 cm.

What size aquarium does a group need?

Seriously Fish gives 240 × 60 × 60 cm (about 864 litres) as the minimum for long-term keeping and recommends more width and depth. FishBase gives more than 200 cm and OATA about 180 cm or more. We recommend planning for the 240 cm figure.

How many should I keep?

A group. Seriously Fish says at least five, ideally ten or more; OATA says frontosa do best in groups of over six and that more females than males helps prevent fighting. One purchase is one fish, so add the quantity you need.

Can I sex young frontosa?

No. Seriously Fish says juveniles are impossible to sex accurately. Adult males grow larger, with longer fins and a bigger hump on the forehead.

What water does it need?

Hard, alkaline, very clean water. Where the sources overlap, aim for 24–26°C, pH 8.0–8.6 and 12–18 dGH, with zero ammonia and nitrite. Seriously Fish warns that most untreated tap water is not suitable, so test yours first.

Can it live with Malawi cichlids?

OATA does not recommend mixing Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids because of their different temperaments and behaviour. Keep frontosa with other Lake Tanganyika fish that are too big to be eaten.

Which sizes can I choose?

Two: Small, the smaller and cheaper grade, and 5–6 cm. Each purchase supplies one unsexed fish of the size you select; the photographs show the strain, not the individual.

Consult the care references

• Seriously Fish: Cyphotilapia frontosa (Humphead cichlid) — names, the C. gibberosa split, locality forms, the red (copperband) strain, habitat, size, aquarium, water, equipment, diet, behaviour and breeding.
• FishBase: Cyphotilapia frontosa (Humphead cichlid) — maximum total length, water values, distribution, wild diet, mouthbrooding, minimum aquarium length and IUCN status.
• OATA: How to look after African lake cichlids — UK guidance for African lake cichlids: water quality, frontosa tank length and group size, maintenance, feeding, introduction and health signs.
• FishBase: Cyathopharynx furcifer (Featherfin cichlid) — adult size, habitat and water values of the featherfin cichlid suggested as a tank mate.
• Tropical Fish Co delivery policy — current dispatch days and Live Arrival Guarantee terms.