Paradise Fish

[smithy05]

hi my dad recently bought a pair of paradise fish for his tank and they look pretty good im not sure on max size, no info here but was wondering f any1 has any experience of them as im looking to get some when i upgrade my tank also are their any fish they cant go with?

any info on breeding, etc and how large a shoal/group is recommended?? the 2 we have seem quite happy

 

[ncjharris]

There is loads of info on the web, have a look on google.
here
or here

We have a breeding pair (the male is ill at the moment though) and although they are described as aggressive we personally have seen none. They are magnificant fish, able to tolerate a reasonably wide range of conditions and will eat just about anything you give them. It is reccomended that you keep at least 2 females to every one male to reduce the stress on the female. In addition, they are known to recognise other gouramis as threats, and so mixing will need to be done carefully.

They are bubble nest spawners and for this to happen you will need a slower current from your filter and lots of surface foliage - we used long vallis.

They are labyrinth fish - which means they have a primative breathing organ which allows them to breathe air when the oxygen concentration in the water is low.
They are active swimmers and will need at least a 20g when they are fully mature.

 

[sylvia]

You may find you need to seperate them. Paradisefish are lovely, colorful, hardy fish that only get to 3" but males can be extremely aggressive. Keeping 2 males (I don't know what sex yours are) in the same tank, unless the tank is very large, is asking for trouble. They will often fight to the death in the same manner as bettas.

If you don't know how to sex them, post some pics. If they are young, it may still not be possible to tell. However, we can give it a shot. If you want to know how to sex them yourself and can't post a pic, just search the forum and google. If you're still not sure, ask.

 

[Bear6360]

I have a blue paradise fish. It is a male. He is not much of a schooling fish. He stays in the corner near the floating plants. I keep him with other gouramis, catfish, a rainbow shark, and loaches. He is a bit aggressive. My shark and my blue gourami are the aggressive ones in the tank, though. I wouldn't keep him with smaller fish, though. I fed my fish live guppies (fry), and the paradise fish was the only one to hunt them and them.

The males have longer dorsal fins than the females. I would be very careful mixing fish with paradise fish. From what I understand, they are one of few fish that can actually catch danios.

I hope that helps.

 

[kat and james]

we had a pair of paradise fish ages ago, we were told by the lfs that they would be perfect in our community tank with angels, loaches etc. however the male paradise fish killed the female one within days, and it then went on to our angels, chomping through 5 in a matter of days. this all went on during the night, and as we were told these fish were not aggressive we didn't even think to accuse them. turns out, after further research, that a lot of people say that these fish are not suited to community tanks at all, and should be kept in a species only tank!

in my experience i would never get these fish again, they are beautiful, especially the males, but they just caused too much stress and heartache in our tank!

kat