[mr.davon24]

{PS. Polit } Would these fishes be ok with labs and Dems?

 

[tropheus duboisi breeder]

Dems and Polits are both Pseudotropheus and both Dwarf. IME the Polit male may not color up. I said Male Polit because IME the dominant polit does not like to color up when there is another male.

 

[mr.davon24]

So what color would they color would they be if they don't color up? Also what do you have in your 55g?

 

[chapman76]

A non colored male polit is kind of a muted blue/grey and you'll most likely see the darker blue mask still.

I will add my input. I have a 55g w/

8 Cynotilapia sp. Lion Mara Rocks
8 Pseudotropheus polit
8 Metriaclima msobo
1 Pseudotropheus sp. Dolphin Manda

I have 2 fully colored polits in that tank. One I think is a sub dominant male that is kind of blah looking and the rest I'm assuming are females.

I'd think they'd be OK because demasoni seem to only really be aggressive towards conspecific fish (fish that look like them).

 

[cichlidaholic]

I believe SinisterKisses has two fully coloured males in a tank, as well.

I could never get my group to colour up more than one at a time...Ever...

And, they coloured down when housed with both demasoni and afra Cobue. They only looked really nice as the single dwarf species in a tank.

Others have had better results.

I would shoot for either one or 3 male polits, not two. I think that would be your best chance for success.

Great fish, but I didn't find them anywhere near as aggressive as I'd heard...

 

[mr.davon24]

Thanks woud I have to break them down like 1m/3f or that doesn't matter? Also how could you tell the sex of them?

Chapman can you post pics?

 

[tropheus duboisi breeder]

Thats odd. In my 55 i Have Cynotilapia afra "Cobue", Yellow labs, Melanochromis Interruptus, Pseudotropheus Polit. My polit male is always colored up. Maybe its because the cobue are smaller. Don't know, but cobue are going to be changed with some other cynotilapia.

 

[mr.davon24]

Does anyone have picture of them in their tanks? Cynos are Peacock right?

 

[cichlidaholic]

No, Cynotilapia are mbuna.

Polit males tend to show colour off and on by 1.5 inches. I've seen little 1 inchers show nice colour momentarily. Females will be a drab brown colour, not much to look at, but I've seen worse with other species. You would still want 3 or so females per male.

They mature at a small size, I've had one inch female polits produce 10-15 fry.

tdb, by "colour down" I meant that my male polits didn't hold their nice colour constantly, as I would have liked. But, neither did the afra when I housed the two species together. The demasoni were always boss, but when I tried my group of polits with them, the males did the same thing. Maybe I just had some wimpy polits!

 

[mr.davon24]

Thanks kim... One more thing is the mask a dark blue or black? How many should I get? 4 tops? 1m/3fm

 

[chapman76]

The mask is dark blue. A trio or a quad. The females are very blah so maybe just a trio.

 

[thinking_fish]

My polits and Demasoni work great together.

 

[fishboy11]

In one of my 29g's with polits i have 3 full colored males at 2" and then a couple other smaller males who can show full color at any time. In my 55g with:
1m/3f WC Met. callainos pearl
2m/4f Ps. polit
6m/6f Met. zebra manda
1m/3f Ps. ndumbi

Both males can show full color at any time.

 

[why_spyder]

I'd say - give it a shot. Everyone will have a slightly different experience. Remember, each fish has its own personality - what works for one person, may not work for the next.

 

[jhunbj]

Does anyone have picture of them in their tanks?

 

[mr.davon24]

Thats one nice fish. What bulb(s) are you using? I'mma go for it getting three 2day. I'll try to post pictures.

 

[SinisterKisses]

Does anyone have picture of them in their tanks? Cynos are Peacock right?

My F1 dominant male in his non-hyper-active colouring - more of a blue face than black

This guy and his girls were kept with a group of 12 or 13 demasoni for about a year. From my experience with mixing polits with other mbuna, the demasoni were probably one of the better combinations - and yes, as Kim mentioned earlier, I've managed to keep two adult males fully coloured up in the same tank for some time. I no longer have that second male, but I do have an almost full grown male in the tank now (the dom male's son) who is almost fully coloured all the time, and his dad here never fades.

 

[mr.davon24]

That's one spectacular fish there. Are they really that bright white or do the bulbs or camera flash help? Either way you’ve sold me on them. I can’t wait to get off work now lol. Oh can you post a picture of you female if you can?

 

[cichlidaholic]

They are really that bright white when fully coloured! The males are amazing looking, and SK has some really nice ones. I don't think I have any female pics - not really the prettiest fish to photograph...I think SK does!

 

[mr.davon24]

Ok.... Thanks kimmie. Now I am on the hunt for those and some other fish.