I have a large male small spot and he's pretty personable but I can't keep him with any other fish or he kicks the crap out of them. At the moment he lives with his 3 turtle companions in a 100 gallon stock tank.
paratilapia polleni
- Thread starter youseshan
- Start date
I have one right now at like 3" and he hangs with my 13" Florida Gar 8" Freddy 13" ornate bichir and a 6" loisellei in a 125 gallon. He fights back against the Freddy all the time and she is mean as hell. He was like a 1.5" when I got him about 3 months ago. Like I said about 3" now an he likes to chase his reflection here are some pictures of him 
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I also added one of these to my tank. He lives with an Oscar, Jag, Texas, Mayan, Con, Firemouth, and Silver Dollars. He hasn't been bothered by anyone besides the Mayan. Pretty much sticks to himself or pals around with the Con. Not to shy at all, but always the last one out of hiding at feeding time. I think its just because he was the last one added though. I would say go for it. Why not. Have a big tank though! LOL
They are brown usually when stressed. Imo a comfortable healthy paratilapia should be jet black maybe some dark brown between the eyes. Tiny 2" ones will be brown though. This is a star species in my house. We usually have one after another when they die from old age or other reasons. Ive had great succes raising them together with other dish such as jacks, midas, jags, even severums. But usually when theyre raised together. Ive also had success raising both polleni an bleekeri together from babies to be tolerant tank mates in a a large enough tank. What i have not had succes with is introducing adult or "teenagers" (5-6") into a tank with existing fish. They become the dominant fish fast. And dont tolerate others well. They need space. Lots of space. But its one species i will always always keep. Forever. Love them.
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I have 6 adult 'polleni' (2M, 4F) about 3 years old in a 180G with lots of driftwood, plastic plants and rocks (to break sightlines and define territories). They are housed with 4 Ptychochromis grandidieri and a pair of Ptychochromis oligacanthus. They all grew up together, and are now all adult size, and other than a few scraps, brief chases and head to head standoffs, they get along very well. They know how to avoid serious conflict and there is a very set pecking order in the tank. All species in there have bred multiple times and even with fry in the tank, little "blood is shed". There are even a few 'polleni' young about an inch long quite happily surviving in there. Here's a couple of pics of the fish in there.
Your fish look awesome!!! Which ones are the two yellow ones in the second pic? They are very nice I'm not sure I've ever seen them before...
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Well as it turns out I made it in to my lfs too late, they had only revived 3 polleni the day of the shipment and all were sold by the time I got back. The owner said that was the only time he has seen them available and doesn't think he can get any more...does anyone know where I could find these guys online? I've checked out most of the vendors on here but no luck as of yet...
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I think polleni are simply gorgeous. I have a small-ish (about 5 inch) female. She is not aggressive at all. In fact, she's been beaten severely a few times when I've tried to combine her with other small cichlids. I'm told she'll probably become aggressive when she gets bigger. For now she's by herself in a 45 gallon. Definitely one of the few fish I like well enough to let her have a tank of her own.
Thanks I can't wait to see how he or she turns out when bigger eats like a pig and I like how he or she can hang with my aggressive fish at the size now
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