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.
Nice male!
