I'm fairly new to tropical fish and am in the process of setting up a 60x35x30cm tank. The tanks been cycled and has white cloud mountain minnows and pearl danios so far.

I'm looking at adding a male and female dwarf gourami in the future, once the tank is better established and if my other half has her way some guppies as well. In the mean time I've been considering paradise fish but I've been seeing some conflicting information about them. Some say they are fine and peaceful, some that the males are aggressive, and some that they're fine but aren't compatible with small fish-which would present a problem with the minnows.

Has anyone kept them with small fish such as minnows?


Thanks.

This post has been edited by tenohfive: May 3 2008, 02:32 PM

are the measurements in cm or inches

Cm.

Did u come to my house and collect a corner tank the other day by any chance?

Quite possibly, I did pick one up as a quarantine tank last week (glad you reminded me-I'd forgotten about feedback.)

That's a bit mad, these small world things keep happening to me. Hope the tank was ok for you.

I've just set it up this morning. Its alot better than I expected it to be, I was looking for something cheap and cheerful to use as a quarantine tank but its more than presentable so am thinking about getting another tank for quarantine and using your tank for betta's or something similarly small.

Yes it's lovely tank, I was using it for a single betta until I got an arcadia off a lady on this site which fitted under the cabinets instead of front of them, glad u like it so much, should've charged you more

Paradise fish are fine when they're juveniles but as they mature, they become aggressive.
They are best not kept with Gouramies as they are both from the same family and will end up fighting. Males should not be kept together as they will attack each other, very much like Siamese fighting fish.
As beautiful as they are, they would be best suited in a species only tank.

Any sort of timescale on how long it takes for them to mature? The reason I ask is that in about a year I intend to get a 3-5 foot tank and set it up as a species tank with cichlids, sharks and barbs/loaches.

Mine matured in about 3 months, so not very long. I kept mine with Gouramies and they were fine together until I came down one morning and found one of the males attacking everything!
If you've got a spare tank, then you could keep a male with at least two females. I wouldn't add any other fish, just in case you do end up with aggression.

Doesn't sound like its worth the risk in all fairness. Thanks for the advice though.


I feel a "what fish next" thread coming on...

I know the feeling...