Paradise Fish And Other Gouramis

[rami]

I have a 20 gallon long tank with 3 paradise fish ( I believe all males, they get along great) and an aferican dwarf frog. I was wonder if I could add some other gouramis. I was looking inparticular at the opaline blue ones. does anyone know whether they would get along or not?

 

[nmonks]

On the whole Macropodus don't mix well with gouramis. Apart from the fact Macropodus prefer cooler water conditions than most other gouramis, around 22-24 C versus 26-28 C, males become very aggressive when mature. Gouramis can be aggressive at times, it is true, but against these much more waspish labyrinth fish they're likely to come off worse. Frankly, I'd be surprised if your three males worked for long in a 20 gallon tank. Males are very intolerant of one another, and only marginally less aggressive towards females. Together with their preference for cooler conditions than most tropical fish, this is why Macropodus aren't considered community fish.

Cheers, Neale

I have a 20 gallon long tank with 3 paradise fish ( I believe all males, they get along great) and an aferican dwarf frog. I was wonder if I could add some other gouramis. I was looking inparticular at the opaline blue ones. does anyone know whether they would get along or not?

 

[rami]

Yeah that is more or less what I was afraid of. I love how the people a the fish store said " o yeah they are great community fish! they will go with anything" from now I I'm gonna thoroughly research everything before I buy it.

anyone got a different opinion?

 

[Curiosity101]

NMonks is spot on.

But on top of that an opaline would've been too big for the tank anyways.

 

[nmonks]

Well, this is kind of the point of all those fish books you see on sale... of all the ones around, it's hard to beat Baensch Aquarium Atlas volume 1 as a good starter. It contains virtually all the fish you commonly see, hundreds and hundreds of them, and provides lots of details. It has a few errors, but not too many.

Paradisefish can be excellent fish, and some species are less aggressive than others. But that said, choosing tankmates for them is tricky, and you're better off with things like loaches that are too fast to be much bothered by them. Some of the subtropical barbs can work well, too, but you do need to pick species that aren't "nippy".

Cheers, Neale

I love how the people a the fish store said " o yeah they are great community fish! they will go with anything" from now I I'm gonna thoroughly research everything before I buy it.