Polleni growing up with Oscar in CA/SA community?

[THQ]

Hi all, planning to add a juvenile polleni with my juvenile red tiger oscar and the rest of the SA/CA community in my ~180G. From my research it appears polleni can be found in pretty much any water conditions in Madagascar including soft acidic waters, so parameters should be ok.

I have heard wildly different things on polleni aggression, but I hope by being the last juvenile in the tank, and growing up with the rest of the team, of which the 6" oscar and 8" gold severum are currently fighting for supremacy for, that the polleni won't murder everything. Also have elec blue acara, ellioti, heckelii, GT all about 4" and a 10" snakehead gudgeon (super peaceful aussie native).

What are people's experiences with oscar/polleni growing up together? I have heard they can become good friends like that. But also I have heard polleni will not tolerate big black cichlids that look like it, like an oscar.

Thanks.

 

[Frank Castle]

Hi all, planning to add a juvenile polleni with my juvenile red tiger oscar and the rest of the SA/CA community in my ~180G. From my research it appears polleni can be found in pretty much any water conditions in Madagascar including soft acidic waters, so parameters should be ok.

I have heard wildly different things on polleni aggression, but I hope by being the last juvenile in the tank, and growing up with the rest of the team, of which the 6" oscar and 8" gold severum are currently fighting for supremacy for, that the polleni won't murder everything. Also have elec blue acara, ellioti, heckelii, GT all about 4" and a 10" snakehead gudgeon (super peaceful aussie native).

What are people's experiences with oscar/polleni growing up together? I have heard they can become good friends like that. But also I have heard polleni will not tolerate big black cichlids that look like it, like an oscar.

Thanks.

I have heard Paratilapia can be VERY nasty. I wouldn't do it if I were you, you might end up losing some fish..........



.....or worse, a LOT of fish.

 

[cprings]

I have a polleni and Oscar that couldn't get along better in a 5' 120. THe Oscar is likely about 9-10" and 8-9" for the polleni. Polleni probably has more mass behind him at this point. Tankmates are one GT, one Heros efasciatus "rotkiel" and a Amatitlania siquia rio danli. There is 0 aggression between the two and just about 0 in the tank. I've kept bleekeri in the past as well but lost one in hurricane sandy but he was also in a 120 with a juvenile synspilum and some efasciatus with no aggression issues. The few times I've seen heavy aggression from a Paratilapia species it has been in quick aggressive strikes. My Oscar and the polleni may be a unique occasion but it is certainly possible to keep them together. By the way my Oscar is mostly black. Brazilian wild caught.

 

[robham777]

I have a lone paratilapia that was in a display tank at the lfs. They do not usually sell out of their display tanks, but this fish was claiming a large portion of the tank and causing issues. So it was pretty easy to convince them to sell me the fish. The potential is definitely there for some problems. I think as with most situations it is a crap shoot, and depends a lot on the individual fish involved. Paratilapia are imo some of the coolest fish in the hobby, and I would be willing to give it a shot. A larger concern for me would be the overall stocking density of the tank. It sounds like a lot of fish even in a 180 to me.

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

In the store we couldn't keep Polleni with Oscars when they were smaller because the Oscars would pick on them. When your Minutus or Magna gets bigger the table turns. It might work but I doubt it. I'm picturing an Oscar on one side -a Polleni on the other and those poor acara's in the middle. I didn't mention the Severum because he'll be long dead by then. Every fish ends up picking on the Severum first. They're peaceful have small mouths and can't maneuver well. Bullies like Oscars and Polleni rarely can resist your "nerd fish" Severum can't really flee too well or hide. Bad mix all around- but I've probably mixed worse disasters up so I'm not judging- just warning you Fish Thunder Dome sucks

 

[Tahn]

I just removed my paratilapia from my 55 gallon that has a long finned albino oscar and chocolate cichlid. I know its very overstocked My oscar is the most peaceful and submissive oscar ever, and noone seems to bother him. The paratilapia are a lot more nervous when it comes to new tanks or tankmates and more easily spooked when you come near the tank so it was alrgiht for about a week.

Then he got way too comfortable and started chasing the chocolate around. The Oscar would occasionally go between the two as if to try and diffuse the feud but nope, eventually the chocolate lost and spent all his time scared in one corner of the tank so I removed the paratilapia.

My Goal was large peaceful cichlids, so I'm probably gonna just leave it as the chocolate and oscar, they seem to be buddies already. Maybe I'll add a severum but I'll do it in secret so nobody on this forum can make fun of me. My paratilapia is on craigslist for 30 bucks now

 

[THQ]

Wow... looks like polleni are one of those cichlids that can be either peaceful or psycho. Guess it's a 50/50 chance. But I'm willing to take a chance at owning one of these cool fish.

So many cool points:
- beautiful (look like a starry night sky)
- rare (in fact endangered apparently, so I feel an obligation as a fishkeeper to buy a fish to keep the breeders in business, doing my bit to keep this beautiful cichlid far away from extinction)
- active and full of personality (described as oscar-like)
- very hardy (have been found in Madagascar in literally every type of water imaginable from cold to very hot temperatures, alkaline waters hard as rock to soft acidic tannin stained waters).

 

[THQ]

A larger concern for me would be the overall stocking density of the tank. It sounds like a lot of fish even in a 180 to me.

Really? You are the first person to mention that my tank would be overstocked. According to aqadvisor I would still be <100% stocking at full adult sizes. Not sure how accurate aqadvisor is but it must surely be more accurate than the inch per gallon rule (in which case I am waaay understocked).

 

[robham777]

Really? You are the first person to mention that my tank would be overstocked. According to aqadvisor I would still be <100% stocking at full adult sizes. Not sure how accurate aqadvisor is but it must surely be more accurate than the inch per gallon rule (in which case I am waaay understocked).

Assuming all the fish get along and reach average size or better, then I would say it would be a heavily stocked tank. That is just my opinion, and there are probably as many opinions about stocking as there are fishkeepers. I personally like to have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to bioload. The way I look at it is an adult oscar, gt, severum, and pollini alone will require frequent heavy water changes to maintain a low nitrate level. Basically you are giving each fish 45 gallons of water.A sump and minimal decor are good ways to increase the actual water volume for the tank. I think it is probably a good idea to experiment with stocking while the fish are relatively small in order to find the best mix long term for a community.

 

[bbortko]

Mine does fine with 2 sev, 2 psittacus, dats, cl and sd. The biggest psittacus is around 10" and the polleni is an inch or two bigger and they completely anymore each other. The polleni was 8" and the psittacus were just big enough to not get eaten so the psittacus grew up knowing the polleni was the boss and hasn't cared to challenge the issue.