First Frontosa?

[thelaw]

hi i want to get a 75 gallon tank and get a frontosa and i want to know a few things before i get it
 
do they need hard water like other African cichlids.
in a 75 gallon tank could one live with a buffalo head cichlid or two.
and what is the best substrate and decor for them.
 
pleas answer i really need some help.  

and could like a rubber lipped pleco live with one. 

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

There are a few issues I see with this idea...
A typical 75 US gallon tank will not house a Frontosa for life, they are big cichlids as adults (~30cm SL), a 5x2x2 is the smallest tank a small group of 4/5 would need for life
Frontosa are opportunist predators that would not appreciate strong current
Buffalohead/Blockhead Cichlids (Steatocranus spp.) all come from strong current sections of the Congo River, with the exception of Steatocranus irvinei, which is not easy to source
Rubbernose Plecs (Chaetostoma spp.) come from strong current rivers of Central/South America
 
You could do a great rheophile setup in a 75g for Steatocranus; Chaetostoma; Distichodus altus/affinis; Synodontis brichardi; Euchilichthys etc. (fish I have, the Africans are part of my 6x1.3x1.5 setup) but I would not combine them Frontosa. If you lucky enough to find Steatocranus irvinei (for instance Ross at Oddball Express in the UK has had some of them for several months), then you could try mixing them with Frontosa, but the tank will need to be bigger than what you have in mind (for both species, S. irvinei should reach ~20cm).