my Paratilapia

[Rafini]

Took some long needed photos of my paratilapia sp.
had him for about 9 months I would say, He went through a major growth spurt so I slowed down his growth by controlling his feeding a little. I had no intention of speed growing a monster, So I fed him larger amounts of small very nutritious NLS with my other cichlids so they could catch up a little.

He/she lives with african cichlids, 7 filament barbs (would recommend these as a dither for anyone) and a large abramite headstander.

Any idea on the locality? this fish shows a lot of gold and blue spots

9 months ago

a month later

and tragically now (I`ve been working all summer)

Needless to say a beautiful specimen, alpha of the tank but entirely peaceful unless chasing away a provoker.
I would recommend these fish to anyone

Rafini

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

That has been my experience with these wonderful fish, I would highly recommend them to anyone and if I had to pick one fish to keep it would be a definite contender. An African with the personality of an American but not nearly as aggressive. I just picked up an East Coast Small spot to put with my other Madagascans from Daves Fish.

 

[Rafini]

Thanks, I wish I could find other madagascans locally. buying fish online is something only Americans can enjoy at a low cost. the only Madagascans I have ever owned are Ptychochromis Oligicanthus and Paratilapia. Haven`t seen the Ptychochromis since either

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

Have you ever heard of Afishianados? I believe they're based in Canada and they can get Madagascan cichlids. How was your experience with the Oligacanthus? I just picked some of those up as well as some Paretroplus Nourisatti.

 

[duanes]

Ptychochromis oligacanthus and sp"tarantsy" were the first Madagascan cichlids to spawn for me, and are (IMO) some of the easiest to care for. They do well in communities.
Paretroplus nourisatti can be problematic unless your tank is large. But sometimes if treated the way rift lake species are (crowded) may be OK. They are also rheophillis cichlids, often coming from areas where rapids are present, so a heavy current may help hold back aggression.
I had 6 in a 150 gal, where the male (once it hit about 5") hunted down and killed all others of his species, except the female he spawned with, but then promptly killed her..
All Paretroplus are some of my favorite cichlids of all, but all (except maybe kieneri) need very large spaces, I found my 150 gal was always too small after they matured, and found they did best in 400 gal + pools.

 

[Rafini]

I found Oligicanthus to be easy to care for and their colors came out really well. The 2 I had I'm pretty sure were a male and female pair, very little dimorphism though.
I really would recommend them ifyou can get hold of them, they have a nice blue color with shiny golden sparkles.

I would love to dedicate my 120 to madagascans but like I said I never see anything for sale. I will check out afishionados but the exchange rate to canadian dollars is terrible right now