Paratilapia Pollini

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Feeder Fish
Nov 11, 2023
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IMG_6477.jpegT
First post here on this forum …
I really liked starry night Paratilapia, after a long wait my LFS managed to get a batch and I received this guy a month ago when he was 2 inches IMG_6397.jpegIMG_6298.jpeg …due to the limited info on these species I wanted to ask a cpl of questions from experts here
-is this male or female?
-What tank mates he can have as now he is with a L333 pleco I tried to get him an Oscar double his size as a tank mate but he killed it after 4 hours..
-He won’t eat anything other than bloodworms and brine shrimp ignores all other foods.
-My tank is established a year ago with some anubias and all the measurements are within normal !!
 
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tlindsey

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View attachment 1529445T
First post here on this forum …
I really liked starry night Paratilapia, after a long wait my LFS managed to get a batch and I received this guy a month ago when he was 2 inches View attachment 1529446View attachment 1529447 …due to the limited info on these species I wanted to ask a cpl of questions from experts here
-is this male or female?
-What tank mates he can have as now he is with a L333 pleco I tried to get him an Oscar double his size as a tank mate but he killed it after 4 hours..
-He won’t eat anything other than bloodworms and brine shrimp ignores all other foods.
-My tank is established a year ago with some anubias and all the measurements are within normal !!
Welcome aboard
I personally never kept a paratilapia pollini starry night but others will chime in with their experiences.
duanes duanes
 
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duanes

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Isla Taboga Panama via Milwaukee
There are at least 5 species of Paratilapia, over the years I have kept 3 of the species.
One was the Paratilapia "small spot" (below)
The males sport a prominent cranial profile, and will be larger than females
1699785223190.png1699785020737.png1699785089065.png
He is not full grown in the left pick, and probably grew another 3 or 4 inches.
Left shot below is a female, the male is with a couple females in the shot on the right
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Another species I've kept is Paratilapia andapa, below
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Both species outgrew my 6 ft tanks, and I made a mistake of thinking they might tolerate each other in 400 gallons, but that didn't work out, they killed each other, even in that 400 gal amount of water volume.
1699785845891.png1699785882090.png
I found they are best kept with cichlids that don't look like them.
If Kept with cichlids with similar iridescent spots , such as any from the Herichthys carpintus group, JDs, of GTs, it usually ends up with fighting, and sometimes death.
Cichlids I found they could share a large tank with (6ft or more) were other Madagascar cichlids in the genus Paretroplus.
These Paretroplines have very different body, fin, and mouth shape, indicating they don't compete for similar resources
1699786281188.png1699786306687.png1699786427404.png
It is possible, to keep them with some species of Central American cichlids, as long as colors and mouth shape is different, and you have proper large enough tank size (well over 100 gallons). To me an oscar with its similar black coloration and similar mouth shape, would seem to be a competitor, and maybe problematic.
1699786534267.png
Above they shared a very large tank with the vegetarian Central American Cincelichthys bocourti, and madagascan Paretroplus maculatus.
 
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