New additions: P. polleni!

[Cypherman]

Finally got some! I'm so excited! I set up a 10 gal. tank in the fishroom just for the four 1.5 inch little guys (not their permanent home, of course lol) with a sand bottom. I'll be adding some plants and driftwood later on. My question is: What's the approx. growth rate and what's the best food for them? I plan on mixing up feeder guppies, frozen bloodworms, ghost shrimp and a pellet of some kind. PH will be approx. 7.0-7.2, and a temp. of 75 F. Anything I'm forgetting? Wish me luck

They're cute little guys; an unimpressive flesh-color, with a hint of grey striping and a black dot in the dorsal fin. I was somewhat worried about them b/c I hadnt had time to properly cycle the tank (runnin on an AC 150...Bit of an overkill, perhap, but they dont seem to mind the current) but they were taking frozen bloodworms within hours so they should be just fine.

 

[gregga]

Cypher..........
Congrats on the new purchases......Paratilapia Polleni (small smot) and their "sister" species Paratilapia Bleekeri (large spot) are some of my favorites.
I've kept 7 (5 currently) of these Malagasy fish over the past few years and this is what I have observed:
- Although they are from Madagascar, their temperament and eating habits resemble species from CA-SA.
- They are tough on others of their own species, but get along quite well with other similar-sized cichlids.
- I've never had a specimen get over 7", despite having some in tanks as large as 125G.
- They are open-water swimmers, that look jet black with bright turquoise/blue and white spots throughout their body when happy. Beautiful to watch them patrol a tank. However, they tend to turn grey when they are stressed or unhappy.
- Unfortunately, I've had no luck breeding these guys. But I enjoy them so much that I am considering an entire Malagasy stocking of a 180 gallon I have on order.
One thing I would do however is stay away from live feeders. IMHO, they are a health risk to fish. Plus, mine never have shown an interest in live feeders. Hope this helps. I can post a few pics of my adults later tonight if you're interested........Regards, Gregg

 

[Cypherman]

Yea, I'd love to see those pics! I've heard they can grow anywhere from 1/2 in. a month to as fast as oscars...What do you think gregga?

 

[gregga]

Cypher...Here's some pics of mine.........They grew at a "normal" rate..not the accelerated rate oscars usually grow at.
BTW, where in Buffalo? I'm a UB graduate.....

 

[Marcus]

Congrats on getting a very cool fish! If you have access to Cichlid News check out the newest issue. It has a huge article on P. polleni.

I've raised both P. polleni 'Large Spot' and 'Small Spot' from young fry and I have actually found them to grow a bit slower than the average cichlid. Mine were fed pellets and a variety of frozen foods.

I have to concur with Gregga's observation on maximum size. My large male 'Small Spot' never grew past 7". He was 7 years old and raised in a 75 gallon tank. My male 'Large Spot' is in a 125 and seems to have maxed out at 6". He's only 3 years old however. He may grow a bit more.

I also have to agree that body shape and temperment is more akin to the cichlids on the other side of the world. If anything I'd say they are similar to the more mellow CA's such as H. bocourti & H. pearsii. My 'Large Spot' is in with some Chocolate Cichlids, Long-Nosed Pikes & New Guinea Jewels. While he is the largest fish (by double) and does chase after the others from time to time, he has never harmed any of the ther fish. I would not recommend that they be kept with any of the Guapotes or other such 'TankBusters'.

 

[Ivan]

I've seen Large spot at 12" mark. Never heard of them only growing to 7". Must be missing something to stop at that size.

 

[Cypherman]

No access to "Cichlid News"....$20 a year? Thats almost a subscription to the ACA, minus the frills Still, that article would be almost worth it heh. Nice guys BTW Gregga! I live in Williamsville, about 4 miles from UB which I am attending now lol. There seems to be a lot of WNY'ers on this forum...

Impressive, eh?? They're taking frozen bloodworms with gusto, and some of the feeder guppies have vanished so things are looking pretty good. I really wish I could get them at my house so I could keep an eye on them 24-7, but space isn't allowing for it quite yet lol.

As for the size differences, it probably has something to due with the poorly described taxonomic status of the group...There's probably at least a few subspecies or even full species between polleni (and bleekeri if you count that one).

 

[gregga]

Marcus...ever have any luck spawning these guys?

 

[Rare Cichlids]

In my experiance the fry can grow at varied rates. Some will double in size in a months time, yet others won't have grown at all.

 

[Marcus]

Mine have always grown at varied rates but the males have always grown more quickly than the females.

I've never gotten any of then to spawn. When I ended up with 2 pairs of the 'Small Spot' I gave a pair to a friend. His spawned and mine didn't. Oh, well. This has always stumped me as I am usually pretty good at getting things to spawn. Unfortunately, I won't be getting them to spawn anytime soon as my male 'Large Spot' decided to eliminate the rest of the group.

That brings up another interesting point. The 'Large Spot' are by far the more aggressive of the two.

As far as my fish 'missing something', I don't know what else I could do to make them grow larger.