Paradise Fish

[Alex1110]

Hey people.

Whats your oppinion on keeping Paradise Fish in a community tank?

Right now i have 5 Rosy Barbs, 6 Odessa Barbs, and am planing on getting 2 Opaline Gourami, a Red Tailed Black Shark, and some cories. I would like another fish, and i was thinking of a Paradise Gourami. I have heard mixed things about them, are they too aggressive? I figure they will be mixed with some tough/aggressive fish so they wouldnt be able to cause problems....? If a Paradise Fish is a bad idea, can you suggest another fish to add?

And can somebody suggest an order to introduce them? I was thinking gouramis next, then the cories, then the RTBS, and if i was to get a paradise fish it would be last. Suggestions?

Thanks. Alex.

 

[sylvia]

The blue gouramies you are considering are also aggressive fish and don't do well kept as pairs. If you want some of these, either go for a single male or get a large group (4 or more) of females. A mixed group containing a single male with 2-3 (or more) females may also work but this depends on tank size and you need to keep in mind that this species spawns easily and that, when they do, the males become very aggressive and can kill non-gourami tankmates.

You also haven't mentioned the size of your tank which is an important consideration. Three-spots (of which blues are one color morph) also don't work well with paradisefish. Remember, paradise fish are also gouramies and will react towards other gourami species in a similarly aggressive manner to how they treat each other. With both these species being territorial, they are very likely to clash and, perhaps surprisingly, it would be the larger blues that would probably win out.

If you skip the blue gouramies, a paradisefish would work well with those tankmates. You could also go for a group with one male and 3 or so females. Alternatively, skip both and get a trio of pearl gouramies or, if your tank is large enough, some moonlight gouramies (they get to 7").

In terms of order, the blue gouramies, if you still decide to go for them, should go in last with the RTBS just before them. The cories should go in before any territorial fish and should be in quite a large group. This will help them compete for space later on (at least 6 realy). Like I said, putting both paradisefish and blue gouramies in the same tank is a bad idea.

 

[DarkEntity]

Since Paradise Fish are techinically Gourami, i wouldnt mix them.

 

[Alex1110]

Thanks for the replies.

My tank is 3 foot by 18 inches by 18 inches. I have an Ehiem cannister filter (2215/2217 classic).

Everytime i see a pearl gourami in the LFS it does nothing. I prefer the look of the blue/opaline's, but im not sure about them or the paradise fish now. So, in order of introduction...

My barbs (already in)
6 Cories
1 RTBS

Then finally

4 Blue Gourami's (1 male, 3 female)
OR
4 Paradise Fish (1 male, 3 female)

In terms of colouration and activity, what would you say would be better for my tank, the blue's, or the paradise?

Thanks again

 

[sylvia]

Undoubtedly go for the paradisefish then. Mainly because of their smaller size and more active nature. In terms of color, there realy wouldn't be that much difference.

BTW, this is what mature pearl gouramies look like: http/www.aquahobby.com/mleeri.html And even those pictures don't do them justice. They are extremely easy to underestimate as stressed juveniles in an LFS's tanks.

 

[Alex1110]

Thanks for the advice, i will go for the paradise fish! My only concerns are:

1. Apparently Paradise Fish are more aggressive at breeding time, and they like to breed at warmer temperatures. My tank is about 75F, do you think this will be of concern?

2. I have Rosy Barbs in the tank with them, will they nip the fins of the Paradise Fish?

 

[AnneRiceBowl]

To be honest, if you are not prepared to take care of a spawn of paradise fish, don't house male and female paradise together. My male and female had a spawn in a 30 gallon long in less than a week. I had them in the tank with a SAE, ABN, 2 golden wonder killifish, and a few female bettas. The female became aggressive after spawning while the male tended the nest. Most of the other tank inhabitants were removed. I couldn't catch the SAE because it's so fast, and I didn't want to destroy the nest. The female paradise fish was later removed because the male became aggressive towards her. The SAE was finally removed once the fry were free swimming because the male paradise fish was biting it badly--it still has a scar where the male paradise fish took a chunk out of it. The male was later removed because he became ill.

 

[sylvia]

The rosy barbs wouldn't be an issue.

If you are worried about breeding, I have to agree that the best way to prevent it is to not keep a mixed group. Unfortunately, that either means you only get females or you only get ONE male - as multiple males kept together will readily fight to the death. I say unfortunately because females have shorter fins and are not quite as brightly colored as males (though they are equaly, if not more, active and still have lovely coloring and long fins).

Temperatures don't affect paradisefish quite like other gouramies. They are far too adaptable for that They will breed regardless of temp. if they feel like it. Having said that, if the current in your tank is relatively strong and, considering the other fish you own are fast, active, fish, you may not have problems. I have to say that I over-looked the cories before though - they could be targetted if your gouramies breed (and that would include three-spots if you now change your mind and go for them). Of course, you can prevent your paradisefish from breeding by destroying bubblenests as they appear.

I do have to say that the risk of them breeding is actualy not that high but it's better to be safe than sorry

Can I make a completely different suggestion? Look up the banded gourami (Colisa fasciata). These grow to 4" and are peaceful but not as likely to get stressed or nipped as some of the other fish that share their genus. A trio would be great but you could keep more. They never look that attractive in LFSs but they steadily become more active, less shy and color up to become beautiful individuals. Males are brighter than females and have longer fins.

An alternative (probably a controversial one) would be a group of female bettas. You get color and activity without any risk of breeding. Females are not likely to be the targets of nipping and are not so aggressive as to pose a threat to any of the fish you're going to keep.

If you revert to your original three-spot plans, stick with a group of females. Keep in mind that you can choose from several color morphs and it's fine to 'mix n' match' them as they are all the same species dispite appearances

 

[Alex1110]

I jsut dont have the equipment for breeding fish right now

I do like the idea of the banded gourami, it looks pretty similar to the paradise fish in photos ive seen. I have never seen them in fish stores around me though (perth, australia)

Would it work if i had one male paradise fish, and some female three spots?

Alex

 

[sylvia]

No, the paradisefish wouldn't ignore the females. They can't inter-breed but the male would still treat them almost as if they were his own kind - and female three-spots will usualy retaliate I'm not saying it absolutely wouldn't work in the sense that you probably wouldn't get any deaths or serious injuries - but the aggression in the tank would be unecessarily high and this is stressful for all the fish involved.

 

[Alex1110]

If he was to treat them as his own kind, why can i have 1 male paradise and 3 female paradise if i cant have 1 male paradise and three female three spots? 1 male paradise and three female three spots would have the advantage of not being able to breed. Or do you mean he will try to mate?

I hope ive explained myself properly.

 

[sylvia]

When you have 4 paradisefish, the females are also paradisefish and will deal with the male accordingly. With 3 three-spots and a paradisefish, the result of the male harassing the females is difficult to rpedict. The females, however, you can be sure won't be interested in him - as such, you may well find the aggression just keeps increasing.
Also, paradisefish tend to be smaller and a bit more active than three-spots. This makes it mroe likely that the female three-spots and male paradisefish will fight than that a male paradisefish will fight withf emales of the same species.
The main problem is that, if you go for 4 paradisefish (1 male, 3 females), it'll be the non-gourami fish that could pay the price. If you go for the three-spots and one paradisefish, it'll be the gouramies that'll mostly fight whilst leaving the other fish, for the most part, alone.

I still think you should choose some more peaceful fish or else go for only females.

 

[Alex1110]

Yeh i was just asking. I value your advice!

I am yet to see banded gouramis where im from, so have you got a suggestion for a more peaceful fish, if i cant get banded gouramis?

 

[sylvia]

Do you mean a different gourami or just any other fish?

Other gouramies you could consider are the moonlight (Trichogaster microlepis) or the thick-lipped (Colisa labiosa). The former looks a plain silver but, with the right lighting, takes on a purple hue which contrasts nciely with their red/orange ventral fins and eyes. They grow to 7" so about 3 (prefferably 1 male and 2 females though they are tricky to sex) would be a good number. The latter are smaller (3.6") and look similar to the banded. They come in a few different color morphs though - including a 'honey' version (watch you don't confuse this with the true honey gouramies - Colisa chuna/sota - which only grow to 1.5"). Both these species are peaceful though the moonlights can tend to chase each other around a bit. Spiketailed paradisefish are also an option though they are not common. They grow to about 3" and are active in the mid-water region of aquariums. They are not aggressive towards other fish and would do well in quite a large group of maybe 5-8 (with more females than males) to spread out the aggression within the group and also make them more interesting to watch. These also preffer a planted tank and lots of hiding places - they won't actualy hid all the time as they are not very shy fish but they need to be able to get away from, say, the RTBS when they want to (because they are not top-dwelling so may well run into your shark on occasion). There are ctenopomas you could consider but I'd hesitate to add them while an RTBS is in there as they are territorial in the lower regions but rather placid and won't be able to compete with the shark very effectively unless you go for some of the larger ones - but then you need to cosnider that they are predatory and can eat small fish.

Other fish you could consider are various cichlids. I like bolivian rams and kribs for a boisterous tank like yours. The only worry would be for the cories - but as long as you have a large group of cories, everything would be fine.

Rainbowfish, though not 'centerpiece' type fish like gouramies and cichlids, make beautiful additions. A shoal of boesmani rainbows (Melanotaenia boesmani) or lake katubu rainbows (Melanotaenia lacustris) would look lovely. Equaly, you could try the smaller preacox rainbows (Melanotaenia preacox). Rainbows are notroiously dull in LFSs and easy to overlook but they very rapidly color up once settled in their new tank - and then they are stunning. They are also, most certainly, active .

BTW - you could always ask your LFS to order specific fish in for you - it doesn't usualy cost too much extra - and if they get them in with their next shipment, it could even be free.

 

[Alex1110]

Thanks sylvia! Yeh i did mean any fish, your reply was much appreciated!

I did some looking around on the net with some of the fish you mentioned. I like the rams and kribs. I just want some bigger fish in the tank so I think i am going to stick with gouramis. I have decided to go with 2 blue gouramis, 1 gold and 1 pearl.

I decided to do this because there will be more colour and variety in the tank. Also I think paradise fish may be to hard to deal with as a first timer, and the banded gouramis dont seem to be available (although, like you suggest, i could try to get the lfs to get some in - i will ask them if they do that).

So the stocking i am aiming for

6 Rosy Barbs
6 Odessa Barbs
6 Cories
1 RTBS
2 Blue Gouramis
1 Pearl Gourami
1 Gold Gourami

Just a final check to see that looks okay? Its a 3 foot by 18 inch by 18 inch tank. 190 litres, 50 US gallons. Ehiem Classic 2215/2217 filter. That sounds like alot to me? Maybe drop one blue?