Care
This fish is not found in the wild and seems to be the result of selective breeding short-bodied Convicts and Honduran Red Point cichlids. This short-body trait is similar to that seen in Parrots and has led to speculation that they might be hybrids, which would lead to much larger adult sizes which have not yet been seen. As this fish is still quite a novelty we've yet to see them get any larger than the standard sizes expected for convicts. The strong blue tones and reduced aggression would certainly hint at them being mostly HRP in ancestry. The established existence of short-bodied convicts often artificially dyed and traded as Jellybean convicts would seem to be the logical origin of the trait in the polar parrot. The platinum form is the equivalent of the pink strain of both convicts and HRPs and will happily interbreed.
The aquarium should be large enough to allow any tankmates to escape the potential breeding territory of a single pair, with a much more spacious tank required for multiple specimens. Filtration should be efficient with areas of moderate water movement, along with some quieter resting spots out of the current. Companions can include shoaling fishes including livebearers such as Swordtails and Goodeids, other cichlids should not be too aggressive in order to prevent damage to these bolshie little hybrids, which may well start a fight that they're ill-equipped to finish. Avoid keeping this fish alongside close relatives such as other Amatitlania or Cryptoheros, to avoid hybridisation, although the horse has long since bolted from that particular stable.
Feeding
Omnivorous. Try to keep it varied with good quality flakes, small sinking pellet foods, and a mixture of frozen foods such as white mosquito larvae, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis and chopped prawns and cockles.
Breeding
Unlike the hybrid parrots, these fish are viable and readily breed when both sexes (or closely related forms) are present.
Substrate spawner. Will choose a preferred spawning site at one of the caves, often digging small pits near the entrance. Whilst the female is busy cleaning the spawning site, the male patrols the perimeter, ready to defend against any intruders that may, or may not, be present. When ready, the female will swim over the spawning site in a series of dry runs, after which she will begin depositing eggs. The male immediately follows behind her and fertilises them. The act of spawning has been known to continue for well over an hour in some cases, after which time, the female will start hovering above the eggs, fanning them with her pectoral fins. The male resumes his sentry duty, guarding the perimeter once more. If kept in a larger mixed community type setting, other fish usually cotton-on pretty quickly that it's best to stay well away from the protective parents and this prevents the pair taking out their protective urges on one another. After 3 or 4 days, the eggs should hatch into wrigglers, and the parents will move them into one of their prepared pits. The wrigglers will initially feed on their yolk sacs, and should become free swimming after another 4 or 5 more days. Baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii), microworms, or egg layer first foods should be offered at this stage, followed by crushed flake after a week or so. The parents will continue to herd them from pit to pit until they are ready to make their own way.
