What's Compatible With Paradise Fish?

[cuticom]

I currently have a 5cm male albino paradise fish. Now that i got a nice bundle of christmas money, i want to upgrade him and get some fish to go with him.

So what fish are definately compatible with paradise fish? Tropical or coldwater dosn't matter, as I can buy a heater. He's currently in a coldwater tank, all by himself. At the store when i got him, he lived with about 50 goldfish, but I'm not a big fan of goldfish, plus they're to messy for my liking.

I was thinking maybe a small schooling fish? like I think they're called mountain cloud minnows or something. Or something like mollies or guppies? or danios?

Emma

 

[cuticom]

Well he's in his new tank, torturing the filter and attempting to rearrange all the massive river pebbles I put in. Anyone have any ideas?

Emma

 

[cuticom]

Hmm one other question, yesterday Gavin raced all over his new tank, and paced back and forth at the front until lights out. Now he just lies on the pebbles, then will go up get some air and then dive back down and rest in a new position on the pebbles? Grante his tank isn't very intersteing yet, just an old teacup ornament for a hideyhole, some plastic plants and massive smooth rier pebbles as the substrate.

Is he bored? I'm really tempted to get a small school of those little minnowy things and put them in the tank with him, i thought having other fish around might be interesting for him?

Emma

 

[vancouver]

I just got my first paradise fish today.. 2 of em actually..

A white cloud somehow hitchiked in the bag.. so the white cloud is in with them..

They've only been in there for a few hours, but they haven't even looked at the white cloud... I can imagine when the paradise fish get bigger though there might be a chance of white clouds becoming food.

How big is the tank you have now?

A larger non aggressive/non nippy type tetra might be good long term.. like black skirts? or something with a similar body shape to black skirts... not long and slim like white clouds or neons.

 

[cuticom]

He's in a 10g. He's a very odd but also cool fish LOL. he's hilarious with food, he's so very suspicous of everything, then he'll take a tiny tiny bite, then realise it's delicous and eat the whole lot in one bite.

Hmm odd, I just came down to turn the lights off and shut my computer down, and he's wizzing all over his tank inspecting each pebble. It's the first time I've seen him move all day.

Oh one other question to juveniles have smaller tails and fins then when their adults? Gavin was sold as a male, but his tail is tiny as, nothing like all the pics I've seen, even when he flares it.

 

[vancouver]

Their fins should grow as they grow

 

[cuticom]

This is his tank (weird shape I know, it was custom made originally for axolotls). It's got a 200l per hour internal filter, which I added a spray bar to spread out the flow area, so it's gentler, as gavin dosn't like strong currents that much.

This is Gavin

 

[vancouver]

It's an albino! just like my 2..

I like hows there's a cup in there.. hahaha .. does it go into the cup?

 

[cuticom]

Yeah, he sleeps in there. I put it in as i was unable to get the filter with the flow rate I wanted. Had to get one that was stronger, and i was worried he might get blown around, so I gave him a cave out of the flow to get away.

The cup was made by my granny, it's more then extremeltyugly, but surprisingly matches the tank LOL.

I originally wanted a blue/red one. But the shop said they wouldn't be stocking them again, so it was him or nothing and i really really wanted a paradise fish LOL.

It's probably kinda obvious I chose the subtrate before i got him LOL, he's the same colour as it.

 

[sylvia]

How big is that fish? It looks like a female to me.

BTW, paradisefish only grow to 3" so white clouds won't be lunch. However, they can be killed by an aggressive male.

If you are prepaired to go semi-tropical, danios and american-flag fish make good tankmates. You'll generaly need to keep fish that are fast and boisterous enough to get away from a grumpy paradise without actualy provoking an attack. Some loaches, such as dwarf chained loaches, are also good tankmates.

Avoid platies, guppies etc that can easily be killed but swordtails usualy work alright. Tetras are ok but check that they are not an aggressive type as they'll be dead in no time. Very small fish like neons are also generaly not a good idea.

If you have a female, you are in luck as she won't be anywhere near as aggressive as a male. Keeping only one also means it is less likely to get overly territorial so most things will do well with it.

 

[cuticom]

He's only bout two inches lng.

I'm siding towards him being a male, he has pointy tail ends, and from the pics I've seen females dont ahve that?

 

[sylvia]

Not necessarily. also, I based that on the body shape rather than the fins and at 2", it's actualy pretty big. A pic that included a clear shot of the tail/fins would be helpful but, for now, take a look at some pics:
http/aqualandpetsplus.com/Gourami,%20Paradise.htm

 

[cuticom]

Heres an older pic of him-

 

[vancouver]

I've seen a paradise fish that was quite large.. 3'' was maybe the size of it's body only, but with fins it was more like 5''

 

[sylvia]

You were right, it's a male You can see the beginnings of the typical tail extensions in that pic.

Yes, I know the body only is 3" but I don't count fins when estimating fish length. Also, the tail is variable in length so it's not a good idea to consider it. I assumed you meant the length of the body is 2".