PARADISE FISH ???

[calmara]

I think I may have a problem with my Paradise fish, and i'm not sure what to do. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I had one paradise fish. I just bought another a week ago, and introduced it to the tank today. My issue is that the original Paradise is being aggressive. I had been told, and even read, that they do fine in pairs or more. So tonight I do some more reading, and where many sites say to have them in at least pairs, more say that they are aggressive, and will fight just as male bettas.
I also read that they will establish a pecking order, and once this is done, all is well. But I also read they will fight to the death.
I'm not sure what to do. Do I let them figure it out, or is the new guy at risk for being fatally brutalized?
I cannot tell what sex they are, and any ideas on how to tell would be great. They are about the same colors and size.
Thanks so much for your help....

 

[Madame_X]

I made a similar mistake with putting two dwarf gouramis together in a 12 gallon tank. I ended up having to separate them. Paradise fish are in the same family as gouramis; I just don't think you can put two males together unless your tank is fairly big.

When most websites refer to keeping them in pairs, I'm pretty sure they mean 1 male and 1 female, not just two regardless of gender.

Watch them closely for a couple days, but if it doesn't let up you will most likely have to separate them.

 

[Patwa]

I cannot tell what sex they are, and any ideas on how to tell would be great. They are about the same colors and size.
Thanks so much for your help....

if they are the same colour and size, then you likely have two of the same gender...BE CAREFUL!

Paradise gouramis, like many other fish out there, are sexually dimorphic...that means the male and female differ greatly in areas such as size, colouration and shape.

Male Paradise gouramis are very striking in appearance, with lots of vibrant colours....females are about hte same size, but have a more plain beige colour (you can still see the marking, but they are very faint)

I have 2 Paradise gouramis (male and female) and they get along very well.

hope that helps,

Zach.

 

[calmara]

many thanks

thanks for your help.
i went ahead and seperated them; it was getting ugly!
it's tough to determine which gender they may be; they're both somewhat pale, until they see one another, then they brighten up, especially the stripes. But they huff up like bettas, so i imagine they are both males.
i guess this just gives me an excuse to set up another aquarium in the house!
so, what others will do well with them? i like guppies, but something tells me they'd get harrassed. but they don't seem phased nor interested by the frogs... but then again, they don't have flashy fins.
thanks again...

 

[Madame_X]

I think you're already on the right track--nothing with flashy fins.

Platies would probably be fine, or regular danios (not the long finned variety). I have some marble hatchets that are quite amusing (hubby picked them out--didn't think I'd like them but they're fun!) and those would work for you too.

Just stay away from anything in the anabantid family!

 

[madasafish]

As far as I know, paradise fish are quite renowned for their aggression to each other. Here's a link from liveaquaria.com which gives a little bit of advice not stated so far:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1007

Good luck, and separate them soon! Gouramis are generally peaceful fish, but are nasty to conspecifics (members of the same species). The weaker fish may not (but may) be killed, but will certainly end up traumatized by the attacks of the other. As per tankmates, liveaquaria recommends larger, hardy species. I'd tend to aggree! No guppies, no neon tetras. Danios are fast, so might be ok, but perhaps err on the side of caution and go with fish like tiger barbs.

P.S. A fun fact.... Paradise Fish are thought to have been the first fish kept in *aquariums* back in the 19th century. Actually, they were jars... but it was these fish that started the aquarium hobby!! Got this info from one of the aquarium mags I read last week!

 

[ADCISCO]

I have a paradise fish and he is a pretty tough fella.....has already jumped out of the tank...thought he was dead....and he moved and I threw him back in the tank and all is fine. I added him to a tank that had a pink kisser, 3 neons, 5 danio,1 hatchet fish 4 gold dust mollies,3 serpea tetra, 2 pristella tetra,3 rasbora and 5 white clouds....he was used to the qtankand being alone and when I put him in the big tank they all chased him for a day and the next day he chased them and now is all well.....he messes with no one now and no one messes with him. If there is any nippyness its the kisser and the paradise in passing other than that they are fine.