Starry Night

[AquaApprentice]

Looking to get two Paratilapia Polleni (small spot) from a pet store, one that I believe to be a male, and one that I believe to be a female. They are going in a 75 gallon, the male is probably a good 6 inches at least, while the female is a little smaller,

Two questions...one, these fish have never been together and I know polleni are very highly aggressive when it comes to conspecifics, how likely is it that they will fight and kill one another rather than pair up? And are there any steps I can take in order to help to ensure that things go smoothly?

Two, what would you all use as a substrate for them? Both in terms of color and PH buffering? I was thinking about the CaribSea Eco-Complete Cichlid Sand as I think it would do wonders for the fish' color, but do you think this would cause the water to become too hard and alkaline for them? What would you recommend?

What color background to make them stand out? Navy Blue?

 

[Maduro]

In regards to aggression, there's no way of knowing if they'll fight or pair off. This is assuming you have opposite sexes. I would recommend you aquascape your tank with structures that will break their line of sight so one of them has a place to retreat to if needed. It really is a roll of the dice in regards to compatibility.

It wouldn't hurt to put some fast moving small cichlids like auratus or labs to distract them from each other for a bit. My Polleni lives with a flock of Africans peacefully.

In regards to water parameters, cichlid sand is fine...my polleni has been in Alkaline water his whole life. Background color is your personal preference

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I had a single specimen polleni small spots and it was the dominant fish in a 125 with mid-aggression new world cichlids and a couple of haps. As for sand, the issue I would have is the re-decorating by the paratilapia...as for pH it is for the most part irrelevant, as long as properly acclimated if the source youre getting it from has it much different from you.

 

[R'OC]

I had a pair in a 265 with pea gravel, used primed tap, ph was about 7.6-7.8, not too terribly hard, rearranging wasn't too bad i didn't think, they were housed with dat's, 2 FRT's, Large arowana, other malagasy cichlids, large asst. cats, and lots of geo's and they were great, they ran there corner and pretty much left everyone alone. lots of h20 changes(40 percent weekly to bi-weekly) and heavy filtration, they like to eat!

 

[dent20]

I just picked up a pair over the weekend myself. They're still small though. The male is about four inches. I have mine in a 125 with multiple Africans and am also hoping for the best in terms of them getting along.