Paradise Fish

[mkdodd]

Hi all....


I`m busy stocking up my 100 gal community tank, i`ve only got a dozen golden barbs and 4 snakeskin gourami`s at the moment....

My dillema is that i have just seen a tank full of paradise fish at my lfs and would love one in my tank, i`ve done some research into them and some say "no probs" in a community tank while others say "stay clear"!!!?

Any advice?

 

[big mick]

Not a fish Ive ever kept but in all honesty Ive heard very few good reports, someone else might be able to advise you better having actually kept them but Im pretty sure most folk will say the same.

 

[kat and james]

my advice.. STAY AWAY FROM PARADISE FISH !!! we were seduced by their pretty colours too, were advised that they were perfect for our community tank so we bought two, one male and one female. everything was fine for a while, and then suddenly we started losing fish left right and centre during the night especially angel fish. as we were told that paradise fish were perfect for our tank we didn't even suspect him (he also killed his mate), till we started doing extensive research, and talking to the guy in the LFS. paradise fish are definetly NOT suitable for a community tank!!
however some barbs and gouramis can be aggressive anyways, so you may find that they fit into your tank well, but they will limit the other types of fish you can add to the tank. so i would advise NO!
good luck with the set up!!

 

[Labyrinth]

Not ever kept this Gourami but I have hear it can be a very aggressive fish and territorial. It, IMO, should be kept in a species tank rather than community. They can eat small fish so beware.

 

[Briarmoor]

I only have one and she is my first, she came from a species tank and was okay at the LFS, but even they said not to put her in a community. She has showed serious aggression towards gouramis, with flaring and rushing them and the like. I would not trust her without a tank divider. JMO and much more territorial than even my 3-spots. She is very cool though and will take food from your fingers (not for the faint of heart as she really is pushy) and come to the glass when she sees you. She will remain by herself here.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i recently opened up a poll asking this very same question. i think everyone wondering whether they should get a paradise fish should read sylvia's post.

i have a paradise fish in with guppies, dwarf platies and a pair of kribensis cichlids. i have had no problems except for the krib attacking the paradise fish while there were fry in the tank (of whom 24 survived and were sold to the LFS).

my tank is also 2 feet deep and four feet long, with both floating and tall plants. there is a huge difference in keeping an agressive, territorial fish in a 10 gallon and a 100 gallon. yes, if you are going to cram a fish into a territory too small for it and then make it compete with other fish you are going to have problems. i think most of their unfortunate reputation stems from being inappropriately kept. of course all paradise fish are individuals.

this is how i selected my male:
most LFS sell all their paradise fish from a single tank. paradise males are as competetive as bettas, so putting a four in a single tank is a war zone. but it seems that as the number of tankmates increases, combat becomes restricted between the most agressive individuals. what you want to look for are shy fish with complete fins. the males who have the least desire to fight will lurk away from the group; those males who have fought the least will have the least amount of fin damage. don't wory if he's rather pale. paradise fish markings are pretty uniform within the different color morphs, so whatever fish you select should color up nicely if fed some spirulina.

--EDIT--
mine's three inches long, so he's pretty well fully grown. judging by the size of his mouth, there's no way he could swallow anything over an inch. as i mentioned, i just sold off 24 krib fry at about a half-inch in length. they quit swarming about three weeks ago--and i had ZERO losses between those periods. i saw the paradise try once or twice to eat a fry that swam too close, but he was just too slow. i've not seen him swipe at any of the fry since they approached the half-inch mark, even if they swam within just a couple of inches of his mouth. so unless its something small and dumb like guppy fry, i doubt that my paradise could/would catch and eat it.