HELP! What is my Paradise fish Doing?!

[Jimbob1223]

I have a 20 gallon community tank with some neons and cherry barbs, a trio of guppys, two buvillian ram Cichlids and a couple of Paradise fish. The Paradise fish have been together for about 6 months and have always gotten along fine without any violence and harm, recently the male paradise fish has started chasing the female around the tank untill he is tired. I read somwhere that it could be because he has established a territory so I moved the plants and decorations around plus, I added some more live plants to give the female more cover but the male is still chasing her. I don't want to have to get rid of one of the fish as I am close to both of them and love their personalities, and I don't really have the space for another tank although if there is no other option than splitting them up I would rether get a new thank than have the female die. Does anyone have a good idea for how I can stop the male from being so agressive or any idea why he is chasing her? thanks

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post a picture of the fish?
You might have 2 males and the dominant one is trying to drive the other one out of its territory.

 

[Jimbob1223]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you post a picture of the fish?
You might have 2 males and the dominant one is trying to drive the other one out of its territory.

 

[Colin_T]

If the pictures are too big to load, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. They should be small enough to fit on here.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Paradise fish are quite territorial and a lot of people are put off by their aggression so what you're seeing is just natural behaviour i'm afraid. One option is to get hold of a second female to give the male something else to think about.

'm only estimating the dimensions of your tank but at 20 gallons it can't be much longer than 2ft so personally i wouldn't have put them in there at all, especially when you have a pair of Rams. I would have had either/or rather than both.

If you can't get a bigger tank which might give the female some respite I would seriously think about re-homing them to someone who has the space for them. Having one on its own isn't going to lead to a happy fish as they prefer others of their own kind and having two isn't working for you. Three might be better but you could also make things worse due to your current stock/setup.

 

[Cichlid4life]

if you mean paradise fish as in kribensis cichlid, then this is normal behavior for them as they could be two males, but even if it is one male with one female, they are still cichlids, and they can be aggressive with each other.

Paradise fish are quite territorial and a lot of people are put off by their aggression so what you're seeing is just natural behaviour i'm afraid. One option is to get hold of a second female to give the male something else to think about.

'm only estimating the dimensions of your tank but at 20 gallons it can't be much longer than 2ft so personally i wouldn't have put them in there at all, especially when you have a pair of Rams. I would have had either/or rather than both.

If you can't get a bigger tank which might give the female some respite I would seriously think about re-homing them to someone who has the space for them. Having one on its own isn't going to lead to a happy fish as they prefer others of their own kind and having two isn't working for you. Three might be better but you could also make things worse due to your current stock/setup.

the picture you posted is from secondnatureaquariums.com , and that would be considered taking an image from the internet, which is not allowed on forums.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

if you mean paradise fish as in kribensis cichlid, then this is normal behavior for them as they could be two males, but even if it is one male with one female, they are still cichlids, and they can be aggressive with each other.

the picture you posted is from secondnatureaquariums.com , and that would be considered taking an image from the internet, which is not allowed on forums.

That image is in my signature...

 

[Byron]

If by "Paradise Fish" you mean Macropodus opercularis, this species needs a larger tank than a 20g (assuming this is the basic or "high" 20). And the tank is not really adequate for the two Bolivian Rams either.

The peace of the last six months cannot be relied upon, as you have found out. Fish that are in inappropriate sized tanks are affected by that fact regardless of how they appear or behave. Eventually something may go and then you have trouble. We also have no confirmation of the gender as someone pointed out. All environmental factors affect fish's behaviours primarily through increased stress. And once the fish goes over the edge, it will never return and separation is the only answer.

 

[Jimbob1223]

Hi, thanks for the response everyone,
I can't manage to get a photo on but I think the female might actually be a male. Recently 'her' fins have become pointed and 'she' is gaining more colour so it might just be an immature male. I understand that keeping two paradise males in a tank will not work in the long run so I am going to look into rehoming one of them. I have another tank with white clouds in it and I read they make good tank mates so could I potentially house one of the fish in there?

 

[Cichlid4life]

oh sorry, it looked like you just posted it in your post, sorry.