Starry Night Cichlid “Bleekeri” (Paratilapia polleni)

Comments: These are fabulous starry-night-cichlid. The males are dark with bright spangles.

Origin: The ancestors of the starry-night-cichlid lived only in Madagascar, which is a large island off the east coast of Africa. But now this fish lives in aquariums all over the world.

Maximum Size: In aquariums, males are said to grow to be about 12″ long, but so far we haven’t seen one bigger than about 11″ long, including their tails, which is very large for most aquariums.

Females are smaller.

Behaviors: starry-night-cichlid are usually not aggressive fish, but sometimes eat their tank mates, if they’ll fit in their mouths.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include other African Cichlids like Buttikoferi, Mbunas from Lake Malawi, and Synodontis Catfish, also Cichlids from Lake Victoria, but probably not Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.

But be careful, a Polleni will eat anything that fits into their mouth.

Temperature: this species is tolerant to a wide range of temperatures from about 72 to 82-degrees F. with 75 to 78 being perhaps ideal.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Pellets is the best food for this species to eat. It would be best to feed them small pellets when their small, then gradually increase the size of the pellets as they grow larger.

In Madagascar, the starry-night-cichlid eat small fish but do not require live fish when living in an aquarium.

Water Conditions: pH about 6.5 to 7.5 with moderate hardness.

But these fish can adapt to most types of water, and so as usual it’s best not to try to change the pH or hardness.

Aquarium Size: A Black Diamond Cichlid will eventually need to live in an aquarium with at least 80-gallons of water.

Perhaps best kept alone or with a few synodontis Catfish. Eventually, one Polleni will need a huge aquarium.

approximate shipping size : 2 to 3inches