Killer Male Paradise

[Leopard-danio]

Well this is a sad sad day, my male paradise fish has killed the last female, i dont know how i just know that i saw cuts on the previous female, so i can only presume that he has done the same to this female.

He didn't really like the first female, he jus favoured the one that's just died...

I think that he bothered her so much that she has died from stress, so now he's jus with the loach, they get along fine, cus he knows if he nips the loach, the the loach will suck his fins.

Any ideas on why the male didn't favour my first female???

 

[diet]

two women= twoo much nagging!!!!

 

[Leopard-danio]

Oh no there was jus the one female he favoured, that was the equally aggressive one, the other one was placid and quiet, he killed her first then he killed his missus... he got on with the male betta for some strange reason...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

firstly, what size tank is he in? paradise fish are pretty territorial and aggressive; in my opinion, a male housed in anything under 15g should really just be kept by himself. they grow to be fairly large too, so an individual would really need a minimum 5g tank.

by the way, did you realize that paradise fish aren't really "tropical"? they do well at pretty much any temperature between 60-75 degrees. elevated temperatures tend to inspire breeding activity, which in turn stimulates aggression and territoriality (so if you aren't breeding on purpose, i'd suggest keeping them without a heater).

its also suggested that you NEVER keep only 2 paradise fish together, just like you shouldn't keep 2 bettas in the same tank. male paradise fish can and will fight to the death; males also tend to harass females (as you've discovered). if you want to keep multiple paradise fish, then you'll need to get together either a group of 4+ females or 1 male and several females.

 

[Leopard-danio]

The tank size is around 20gallons to 25, and yes i know paradise fish are not really tropical, ¬.¬ the bloke selling the fish didn't even know that...idiot he is... and i had two females with him, and yet again the bloke selling the fish said oh he will only need 1 or 2 females ¬.¬ aload of rubbish again, as im guessing he bothered my last female so much that she eventually gave up.

I'm going to take him back to the aqaurium cos i think he is going to give up too, all the fish i've had from that place and only one has lived a long time, and thats my coldwater loach, i'm going to get 2 small sucker fish i forget the names of them now, they are quite smale, and you vcan get them in white and also brown. I kept two of them b4 but foolishly listened to my mum when she said to put a seashell in the tank, 3 fish died as two got stuck and 1 started eating them was traumatised when i found them as the shell was at the back of the tank so i was unaware until i came round to the weekly clean-out.

 

[sylvia]

'Sucker fish' are usualy plecos and many of these grow huge and produce amazing amounts of waste. They are also territorial and won't do well together in a small tank unless you get a mating pair. That you don't even know the name of the fish shows that you have not researched it. You should never ever buy a fish without knowing how to care for it or whether it is suitable for your tank.

 

[vancouver]

I'm guessing they mean algae eaters.. siamese/chinese or whatever..

Those are commonly sold in albino and regular form...

Who knows though

 

[sylvia]

Siamese algae eaters and the 'Chinese' (they aren't realy from China) variety are not the same species and behave very differently. While a few Siamese algae eaters would be ok (though they should be in a group idealy in a larger tank and can be extremely tricky to identify correctly - similarl-looking species are generaly not schooling fish and do best alone) and only grow to about 5", the more common 'Chinese algae eaters' stop eating algae when they reach about 4-5", are territorial and highly aggressive to similar-looking fish or their own species and are infamous for turning slime-coat-eater and eye-sucker once they are over their algae-eating phase. Because they grow to 10", they can also eat smaller fish.

So, again, research is essential.

 

[Leopard-danio]

Hmmm yet another aqaurium staff who don't inform me thoroughly, i just remeber the sucker fish was white, small and slender, i also had an brown one, very fast, hard to catch. Heres a pic of what it looked like.

I did ask if they would go ok with gold fish and the person at the aqaurium said it would be fine, i also asked what to feed them, he said catfish pellets are ok, so i got some and the sucker fish lived nearly a year, it was just unfortunate that we put the shell in. The "sucker fish" or whatever breed it is was fine in the tank, was active, didn't produce much waste, kept my tank algae free.

I know that i was sold them as sucker fish, so i believed them as they are meant to be a lil more specialised in fish than me.

Anyway the paradise fish went back to the shop, and i got a refund, he said it was unfortunate that i got a nasty pair...

 

[sylvia]

That is, unfortunately, the 'chinese algae eater'-type of 'sucker fish' and not suited to a community tank at all (same goes for the normal variety - this one's xanthic). LFSs almost always give terrible advice when it comes to these fish. It's a shame realy cause they are beautiful and interesting - they just do better on their own.

 

[Leopard-danio]

Ohhhh... that explains why the chinese algae eater chased my goldies now and again... if i would have known they were non community i would never have got one... ¬.¬ aqauriums never cease to amaze me... well this guy said to me that this fish would be perfectly fine in a community tank...foolishly i believed him... next time i get a fish ill look up on the type id like and if they are compatible

 

[Tsi_User]

Ohhhh... that explains why the chinese algae eater chased my goldies now and again... if i would have known they were non community i would never have got one... ¬.¬ aqauriums never cease to amaze me... well this guy said to me that this fish would be perfectly fine in a community tank...foolishly i believed him... next time i get a fish ill look up on the type id like and if they are compatible

I hate to say it, but i'd suggest trading the CAE for a few Ottos before it gets really agressive

 

[Leopard-danio]

Oh he isn't with me anymore...he died cus of a shell we had in the tank...he got stuck along with a goldie... was quite upsetting to see two fins stickin outta the shell.