Polleni tankmates

[cockroach]

I would not lock Kabib and McGregor in a small bar alone for a week. Neither would I put two male polleni's in a tank together for that long.

As stated above, cover and lots of it with some that only the female can fit in between is essential for long term success. Generally. There are of course exceptions.

 

[Predator07]

I agree with tankmates, if you put 2 male polleni in a tank as small as 75 gallons, one with probably be killed by the alpha. And in your case, it most likely would be the nice one. I couldn't keep 2 males(or unreceptive females for that matter) in a 150 gal tank with my dominant male.

Could I keep my polleni (male)with my convict(male)??

 

[duanes]

Could go either way, depending on if one cichlid sees the other as a territorial usurper, and if they see each other as similar (usually a bad thing for housing cichlids).
All cichlids are in some way territorial, and I consider both those species intensively territorial, so if available space is perceived as a limited resource by one or the other, there may be trouble. To me a 75 gal is in reality a fairly small tank, why I give it a 50/50.

 

[cichlidkid11]

I put 2 male adult Paratilapia (approx 10" each) in a 400 gallon pool, hoping they would divide it into 2 territories. It did not take long for the alpha to seek out and kill the other, and claim the entire space as a no other Paratilapia zone. It however, ignored the Paretroplus.


I do believe Paratilapia find any other similar shaped, iridescent spotted cichlids as competitors, to be vanquished, for that reason I probably would "not" house them with JDs, because of that similarity.

By the looks of it, your species is likely Andapa which is the largest and most aggressive one. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

I think keeping multiple breeding pairs of polleni is doable in a >= 180 gallon but you're gonna need a pond for andapa as they get twice as large as your small spots and maralambo

 

[Predator07]

Not sure on the sex but here's my polleni

 

[Milingu]

It looks female. The forehead is not as steep as you would expect in a male and the whole structure of the fish is more round.

 

[Maduro]

I've had great success keeping Polleni with a group of small African rift lake cichlids. His color, movement, and size present a nice contrast to the darty bright rift lake cichlids. Also, the Africans breed like crazy and the Polleni is so well fed he ignores the free swimming fry. He doesn't feel threatened by any of the parents either so it works. I think as "big fish" enthusiasts we tend to try monsterfish match making that would never be possible in their natural environment and often results in hurt fish.