New Polleni Owner

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
very easy species to keep...care is equivalent to that of similarly sized Central American cichlids.I had a specimen that was the dominant fish in my old 125 cichlid tank.

One thing to keep in mind is that they generally will not tolerate other Paratilapia in the tank, and sometimes also other similar-looking cichlids.
 
Hi, where are yours coming from and how many are you getting? I'm arranging to get some too so I've been doing a lot of reading. It seems that their care requirements are quite basic. The one thing is aggression as we've all heard.
What size tank you plan on keeping them in? I've seen someone use Congo tetras as dithers for this species. Something I was considering...
Anyway, post pictures when you get them and good luck.

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I presently have six 'polleni' about 2 years old in a 180g tank with a mix of other Madagascans (P. oligacanthus, P. grandidieri, and P. maculatus). They have spent the last 1 1/2 years in there growing out together. I have lots of driftwood and other refuges for safe havens in that the males tend to pursue the females rather relentlessly and the males frequently go head to head although no real damage is done. There are 2 - 9" males and 4- 6-7" females in there. They love spending their time "picking off" the young from the spawns of the other species. One pair of 'polleni' spawned about a year ago. When I saw the "clump' of eggs, I thought they were from an Ancistrus sp. in the tank. I was going to remove them the next day, but they "disappeared" overnight. Just last week, a pair settled into a back corner of the tank, and spawned. I wasn't sure they had since I couldn't spot the eggs. But the pair continued to defend the area for a couple more days so I suspected something was going on. Sure enough, I noticed the female gathering up some newly hatched fry and depositing them in some gravel in the corner. I didn't see too many fry and I decided to siphon them out and raise them away from the parents. When I did, I was surprised to that there were well over 200 wrigglers. They have been swimming for 3 days now and are feeding on newly hatched brine shrimp, and finely powdered pellets. Here's a pic of one of the males.
IMG_2900.jpg
 
Outstanding! Congrats on the spawn as well. So, it sounds like they're slow growing, hard on each other and difficult to spawn.... Yet everyone keeps them in communities?
Click to expand...

Thank you. Actually they aren't particularly slow growing. They do eat like pigs. I have tried to keep them on previous occasions in a species only tank but they are hard on one another, and the females ultimately get trashed (ie. killed). At one point I was keeping a large pair in a 70g in hopes of getting them to spawn. The male had the female holed up in an inverted flower pot with an opening big enough to admit her but not him. He just wouldn't let her out. I was concerned about her not getting enough food. Unfortunately one day she was killed by him. Prior to that, I had loaned the pair out to a friend to let him try his hand at getting them to "go". He kept the pair in a 6' tank with lots of driftwood and a few dithers. He did spawn them eventually. Keeping them in a community setting seems to strengthen the pair bond, which I find in Madagascans is not very strong at the best of times Also, they tend to "present a united front" against other species present. It helps keep the male distracted from beating up the female.
-Jim
 
I must echo the experiences of the above, the males will kill each other, and then the females in tanks 150 gal or smaller(unless she is receptive to breeding). This starts at 3" or so, having other tanks at the ready to save the battered would be advised.
The eggs are laid in hanging, berry like clusters adjoined to plant roots or the like, and if fertile are red in color.
afchur0463.jpg
 
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