Paratilapia Polleni

[Jenn]

Still no luck getting these two love birds to give me any babies. Open to suggestions.....anyone??

[crazyred]

Give 'em a sip of the same "Koolaid" that your JD's are swigging.... :LOL

Red knows nothing about breeding those kind of fish....good lookin' fish though! :)

[Jenn]

Yeah, that male Jack is a machine! I even tried putting some of the Jacks water in the polleni tank---thinking I must have super high levels of hormones in the tank--no go.
Maybe I should flag down a couple teenagers from the highschool at 3pm and buy those fish some 'E' JK! :D
Cripes this is frusterating! I got a bit of money into those fish. They had raw prawn, soaked in a light garlic for supper last night--we had hot dogs. lol

[AASPBY]

Ooh! What beautiful fish!

[Jenn]

gee thanks :D They are pretty cool huh? The picture doesn't do them much justice either, those spangles are a green and silver and gold that just sparkles. I have 3 of them, expensive being they are on the Red list and all. Wish they'd huury up and give me some babies. As you can see, those 2 paired off.

[betaboi]

Well there is one method that a lot of people use to spawn cories (which can be relatively difficult to entice). What they do is they skip a couple water changes so the water level drops and the wastes build up. This simulates the dry seasons in the wild when there is minimal rainfall. Then the breeders perform a large water change (50%) to simulate the coming of the wet season. As you may know it is during teh wet season when most fish spawn. So this drastic change in water quality entices them to spawn.
This method is a little risky though if you have some more sensative fish.

Have you tried that crazy speaker method that i mentioned before? I really was not kidding, as messed up as it sounds, it has really worked for me with my labs! Just try anything that isn't too extreme that you think would simulate the wet season. Higher water levels, higher or lower temps (depending on origin), flashing lights have been used to simulate spawning activity too, just don't give anyone a seisure. ;)

[AASPBY]

gee thanks :D They are pretty cool huh? The picture doesn't do them much justice either, those spangles are a green and silver and gold that just sparkles. I have 3 of them, expensive being they are on the Red list and all. Wish they'd huury up and give me some babies. As you can see, those 2 paired off.

Wow! Those fish sound like some major eye-openers!

[angle fish]

for a minutie I thought you were talking about the bird "lovebird" I was like, I CAN HELP, LOL

[AASPBY]

I thought this was interesting:

This species grows large enough to qualify as a food fish and has long been appreciated as such by natives and visitors to Madagascar alike for the flavour of its flesh.

Do you enjoy eating your fish? Kind of weird, actually. :LOL

[Jenn]

I know,thats one of the reasons why they are in trouble--they are thick, as well as big and apparently tasty.
betaboi---We have one of those underwater lights that changes color--kinda like soft flashes. I will try that--thank-you!
I have lowered (and raised) the tank temp. Lower seems better--they maintain a bare spot on the tank bottom when its lower. They have a 10" circle cleared infront of that clay pot.
I put egg crate in to give them privacy--they like that. The male stands guard at the 'door' I cut in it.
I have tried sprinkling cooler water on the surface, I've tried doing a 40% water change with water a little cooler that what they have.
I have a power head in rthere to simulate a river (thanks Lloyd)
They stick together 24/7, sleep together in that clay pot (don't know how they both fit)
I've tried every kind of live (frozen) food. I dug them earth worms yesterday--they liked those. Should I toss some of my live guppies in there? I don't like doing that. I ussually only throw the ones with deformities in (which is very very few).
They hate fake plants, pull them all out, always.

[betaboi]

If they don't like fake plants maybe they're just making the area clear so when babies are present they don't lose sight of them.

That sprinkling cool water idea poped something up. You could probably make your own rain simulator out of PVC attached to a powerhead or pump that is in the tank. Just make a couple legs or mounts to hold the PVC pipe on (you'd probably want to PVC pipe to be lower than the legs so water doesn't drip down on the legs). Then drill some holes in the pipe, turn on the pump/powerheads and watch! :p

It probably wouldn't have any effect but neat idea! Thought i'd share.

I don't know if you've seen this site (probably have) but it's got some breeding info, apparently captive breeding is fairly difficult with these guys...
http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=76
Here's another:
http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=117

Of the few sites i've had a look at on breeding these guys the majority say that they are notorious for eating their eggs when bred in captivity. Who knows, maybe they've already bred and just ate them before you could see. :p HTH

[Jenn]

Yeah, I've read all that stuff. There are so few websites on these guys. They haven't had any eggs yet, I can tell by the looks of their 'equiptment'. :D
Maybe a small pump with smaller flexi-hose (like airline only bigger) inside the tank---We have a few of those little ones they use in patio fountains. Submersible, flow control--they're great. That way I could probably run it along the trim kit, inside--maybe all the way around.
If they do breed and eat their eggs, they will breed again and I can be better prepared (like taking the eggs). These fish are FAR more vicious than the Dempseys--they WILL bite me if I put my hands in. They try to attack our dog (150lb Rotty) when he walks past! lol. If I touch the glass, they attack--I actually have a picture of that. So, should be interesting if there is ever a need to 'try' to take their eggs.
Oops, and thank you!