Cypho:	(Greek) means "hump."
Tilapia:	means "fish" in the language spoken in the area around Lake Ngami, Africa.
Frontosa:	(Latin) means "with big forehead."
Common Name(s):	Frontosa
Food:	carnivorous, but will accept dead (beef heart, liver, other tissues) or packaged foods (flakes, pellets, sticks, etc.)
Similar Species:	none
Habitat:	rocky waters with sandy bottoms at depths of approximately 60 feet
Origin:	Lake Tanganyika
Other Name(s):	none
Previous Name(s):	Paratilapia frontosa, Pelmatochromis frontosus
Size:	male - 16 inches; female - 10 inches
Water:	72-83ºF; pH - 7.8-9.5; 10-20ºdH; hard and alkalinic
Variants:	Blue Mpimbwe, Blue Zaire, Burundi, Kasanga, Kigoma, Kipili, Zaire, Zambia

Behavior
As in nature C. frontosa are gentle to other tankmates. The tank size therefore does not need to be put in relation to their maximum size. Even if C. frontosa can successfully be kept in a 42" long tank (approx. 85 gallons); a larger tank is be preferred.

The tank should be decorated with a lot of rocks that form caves. The females usually do not need hiding places, but the male needs a (large) shelter to which it can retreat. The stones in the aquarium must be properly anchored since these are powerful fishes that can dig up large amounts of sand. If the stones are loose they can fall and hurt the fishes or, worse crack the tank. Plants usually work with C. frontosa if you only can find out a way not to get them dug up. Although C. frontosa do not tear up, or eat plants, they will dig them up, no matter how well you anchored them. In tanks larger than 200 gallons C. frontosa can be kept in groups of 10 individuals or more. Such a group can even contain more than one male.

In smaller tanks C. frontosa are best kept in groups with a male to female ratio of 1:4. You can sex them by studying their genitals. A large hump is also a good way to decipher the sexes but it is not definite because even females can have a hump (even if it is smaller than the male's).

C. frontosa is rather peaceful in aquarium. Two males of the same size often threaten each other, but without any of them coming to any harm. Often the smaller one gives up and swims away instead of fighting. The problem is the defeated C. frontosa has nowhere to go. In the wild, the battles are usually over territory. When a C. frontosa loses its territory, it is expected to find a new one; this is impossible in a tank. If the loser is still in sight of the victor, chances are it will be fought again, and again. This can, and most likely will result in a death. The only ways to overcome this is too have a large tank with enough caves/hiding-places to safely house one or two males, or remove the loser from the tank as soon as he loses his territory. You will only have to remove the losing fish if the entire tank is "owned" by the victor. When you buy your C. frontosa make sure that you are buying the same geographical variant. This is to avoid crossing the different variants. Although you may form a new variant, there is a 99% chance the young will be handicapped, or sterile.

Food
C. frontosa eats fish, attacking sleeping fish in the semidarkness. They need nutritious food; give them frozen food, such as fish and meat, shrimp, and beef heart. They will also happily consume packaged foods in great quantities.

Personal preferences include Kijaro Super Red pellets; Blue Ribbon "Aqua Select" Krill; Hikari: Cichlid Bio-Gold, Cichlid Excel, Cichlid Gold, Tubifex Worms, Tubulina Cubes; NutraFin: Krill, White Shrimp; OSI: Cichlid Pellets; Red Sea VibraGro Cichlid; Tetra: DoroMarin, DoroMin, Five Star DoroMenu, Krill-E, Vit-A-Boost Freshwater; TetraDelica Ocean Plankton; Wardley: Premium Cichlid Pellets, TEN Cichlid Pellets. I recommend Kijaro Super Red and Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold. They enhance my Frontosas colors drastically, giving them strikingly vivid black stripes, and bright blue highlights in the fins.

When purchasing fish foods, do not always think the more protein, the better. This is not always true. What is important is the source of proteins. Different proteins provide different nutrients and fats. Fish food with 66% protein (TetraDelica Ocean Plankton) is not healthier than Kijaro Super Red (40%). TetraDelica has twice the fat of Kijaro, but then again, it also has twice the fiber. You must consider the fat percentage, and the protein, moisture, fiber, and ash percentages whenever you purchase new fish food.

It is hard to determine the types of proteins in fish foods; fish food containers rarely list the different carbohydrates and fats and proteins. But here are some guidelines you should try to follow, not too much fat, but not too little, very little sodium, or none at all, a lot of fiber (you can't really have too much), and just a little ash. Moisture is only important if you are planning on storing the fish foods. The more moisture, the less it will last.

Breeding
Mouthbrooders generally are not very particular about spawning sites, but C. frontosa clearly like flat sandy areas best where they can dig small pits. However, they will spawn on a gravelly bottom and on flagstone. It is a good idea to locate such spawning sites in the protective vicinity of rock structures or plants.

After much inquisitive circling of each other the two fish will suddenly face each other, and in a typical cichlid manner, "lock jaws," that is, they will meet lip to lip and then close their mouths upon each other's lips. As soon as a strong grip is made they will twist and turn each other for as long as a minute, testing each other's strength. Some observers say that if they are able to maintain the grip for a substantial period of time, the pair will immediately proceed with their spawning process, but this has not been ascertained. The locking of jaws may continue for a week or so until the next step is taken.

Once the fish have accepted each other as suitable mates (and there is usually not too much trouble if both are about the same size), the next step is the selection of the spawning site. If perchance there is a smooth rock lying about the bottom of the aquarium, or even if there is a bit of slate showing through the sand, the pair will begin to clear away as much sand as possible from the selected site and gradually excavate a neat spawning pit or shelf upon which to place their spawn.

The actual spawning is interesting: the female will first deposit a few eggs in the depression, then the male will follow and fertilize them. After a number of deposits of this sort the female will pick up the eggs in her mouth and thus the oral incubation starts. (There have been some instances where the male has picked up the eggs in his mouth, but this is the exception rather than the rule.)

The female need not be taken out of the tank, and neither shall the male. Once the fry have reached the free-swimming stage the female will release the fry to feed on newly-hatched Artemia or brine shrimp. They will also eat large infusoria and protozoans. After a few weeks they are able to take fine dry foods and larger crustaceans like Daphnia and rotifers.

The fry grow rapidly. As soon as the fry are abandoned by their parents, they should be sorted according to size, to give them more tank room and keep the larger fry from being too competitive for food.

Although some C. frontosa raise their fry until they have reached a size at which they can easily fend for themselves, others abandon their spawn under week after they have lost their yolk-sacs and reached the free-swimming stage.

To sum up
C. frontosa is easy to keep in an aquarium. They are beautiful and rather peaceful if you get a good male and good females they are also easy to breed and will give the owner a lot of joy.