# Paratilapia questions (temp, tankmates)



## Stoic_Southpaw (Jan 21, 2016)

So I have what should be a pair of Paratilapia bleekeri (according to Jeff Rapps, I imagine it's probably polleni) in my 125g, that are about 4" long, with a group of fully grown X. "Kyoga flameback" which has 1 male and 4 females (male is 4.5", females are 3-3.5"). I'm looking for some schooling fish to put in the tank, but I'm having a hard time finding a fish that is affordable, can tolerate the 8.0pH, 20dGH, 20dKH, and 80+ degree temperatures of the tank. Before I get into any other questions, does anyone have any recommendations? The tank is filtered by two sunsun 304Bs, so filtration capacity shouldn't be an issue.

Temperature seems to be a limiting factor for me finding tankmates (I don't want to mix RO water to change pH or hardness). I've read that Paratilapia are very susceptible to ich at temperatures under 80 degrees, and don't usually recover from getting ich. Is there any truth to this? The Paratilapia are the only reason I'm keeping the water temp so high, and lowering the temp would allow me to keep some species that would potentially work well as dithers (like larger barbs).

Any advice is appreciated, and I can provide more information if necessary!


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## whalebite (Jan 11, 2017)

I read somewhere they are found in high altitude lakes that can go down to 53F, and others can be found in Hot springs that are 104F. I don't know if anyone has ever tried them near these extremes in aquariums, but I would be really interested if anyone has, as those low temps would permit their use as a pond fish.
But If you looking for a schooling fish Madagascar Rainbows are you best bet, they are often kept with Madagascar cichlids and can be found in 90 degree water in the wild. I also know they are kept with vics sometimes. They are not dirt cheap, I see them at around $10 a fish, but I once saw them at Petco for I think $5. I didn't buy them. You really want to quarantine them as most I see for sale have ich.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

Stoic_Southpaw said:


> So I have what should be a pair of Paratilapia bleekeri (according to Jeff Rapps, I imagine it's probably polleni) in my 125g, that are about 4" long, with a group of fully grown X. "Kyoga flameback" which has 1 male and 4 females (male is 4.5", females are 3-3.5"). I'm looking for some schooling fish to put in the tank, but I'm having a hard time finding a fish that is affordable, can tolerate the 8.0pH, 20dGH, 20dKH, and 80+ degree temperatures of the tank. Before I get into any other questions, does anyone have any recommendations? The tank is filtered by two sunsun 304Bs, so filtration capacity shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> Temperature seems to be a limiting factor for me finding tankmates (I don't want to mix RO water to change pH or hardness). I've read that Paratilapia are very susceptible to ich at temperatures under 80 degrees, and don't usually recover from getting ich. Is there any truth to this? The Paratilapia are the only reason I'm keeping the water temp so high, and lowering the temp would allow me to keep some species that would potentially work well as dithers (like larger barbs).
> 
> Any advice is appreciated, and I can provide more information if necessary!


Hey there, I have the same setup now, 2 4" Polleni pair in a 125g at 82F and try to keep the KH and GH really low with a pH of 8. Is there a reason why your hardness is so high? It's amazing how active they become once the lights close!


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