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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Paradise Gourami
I am looking for a "centerpiece" fish for my 55 gallon community, and I really like paradise fish (paradise gourami).
However, I have read that they can be very agressive; some articles even compare them to male betta splendens...
some other articles say they do well with tankmates as long as they have plenty of hiding spots.
Anyone had experience with this gorgeous fish? Anyone have any comments?
Thanks! | 
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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| I had one in my 40-gal for a while, with tetras and a pair of cryptoheros myrnae. She was fine with diamond and black skirt tetras, as well as the cichlids, but someone in there took exception to red tetras, and devoured both a school of von rio tetras and of serpaes... not sure whether to blame the paradise fish or the cichlids though since it happened overnight in both cases. Could just have been a size thing too, since I thought they'd be fine being the same length as the black skirts, but the slightly less deep bodies could have been enough to let whoever manage to fit them in the mouth lol. She and the myrnae (plus 2 tetras... poor things) were the only survivors of my heater going haywire when I was away and no one noticing, and something I added while restocking did her in, but I can't for the life of me recall what. Wish I could be more helpful with that! Since mine was a female, I'm not sure if you'd have differences in aggression levels with a male...
What other fish were you thinking of keeping with it?
Edit... Just remembered, it was an extra male honduran red point I stuck in there till I could rehome him who killed the paradise gourami. He got big and mean a bit faster than expected.
Last edited by Pandora; January 10th, 2009 at 12:56 PM.
Reason: remembering! | 
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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Stocking plan:
Ghost catfish
sparkling gouramis
licorice gouramis
(cardinals? dont really want them, mother is crazy about them)
Cories
platies
guppies
red tailed shark
crystal red shrimp
apple snail
I wanted a HUGE tank with a lot of small fish. The tank will be heavily planted and aquascaped... I want a centerpiece, but I am not sure about this baby. Will it kill everyone? or will it be just like a dwarf; grumpy but not a killer? | |
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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| i had a pair of paradise fish and both were very aggressive towards my gouramis, the female paradise died and the male continued to hound the gouramis. since the gouramis went off to fishy heaven hes been fine and turned into quite a nice fish, i would not ever buy anymore paradise fish tho. | |
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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by helen38  i had a pair of paradise fish and both were very aggressive towards my gouramis, the female paradise died and the male continued to hound the gouramis. since the gouramis went off to fishy heaven hes been fine and turned into quite a nice fish, i would not ever buy anymore paradise fish tho. | Well, it is said in the other websites that it should not be kept with other
"agressive gouramis" or bettas. Both the licorice and the sparkling are the size of a cardinal tetra and are very peaceful... im fearing he might want to attack the guppies... or all the others! 
or maybe I am only being paranoid?  | |
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January 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| mine were dwarf gouramis, no idea if that wouldve made any difference, he does chase the mollys now and again | |
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January 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I've been looking into a paradise fish and from what I've found if you want to do a community tank you're better off going for a female. Males tend to not only cause problems but many of them get aggressive to the point where they need a 20 gal to themselves (unless with tankmates that can stand up to them).
Here's a good link: http://fish.mongabay.com/belontiidae.htm (you'll have to scroll down) | |
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January 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Thanks red... hmm... oh gosh. Any other suggestions for a centerpiece?
german blue ram?
another gourami?
Help?  Quote:
Originally Posted by Red1313 I've been looking into a paradise fish and from what I've found if you want to do a community tank you're better off going for a female. Males tend to not only cause problems but many of them get aggressive to the point where they need a 20 gal to themselves (unless with tankmates that can stand up to them).
Here's a good link: http://fish.mongabay.com/belontiidae.htm (you'll have to scroll down) | | |
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January 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Haha, wish I could help Alessa. Other then the Paradise Fish I've never looked into Gourami's. Maybe try a different fish (like the blue ram) to contrast with the gourami's? | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| What about an angelfish as a centrepiece? They are generally peaceful and will be fine with the other fish on your list. Not sure about the shrimp tho.. how big are they?
oh and I think paradise fish prefer cooler water | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| my vote would be for a pearl gourami or moonlight gourami, from what i've read they are one of the most peaceful varieties and generally are only aggressive towards other males of the same species. | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| seriously, would an angel be ok with the sparkling gouramis?
because if it is then I guess I'd go for one. | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| i dont think an angel would bother the gouramis....but that's just a guess on my part. | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by agabr123 i dont think an angel would bother the gouramis....but that's just a guess on my part. | the problem is that the sparklings are about the size of a neon tetra, that was my main concern.
Also, are angels happy living on their own? or do they need to have more of their kind around them? | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| hmm, yeah i'm not sure....i guess it depends on how fast they are!
i think angels are pretty happy by themselves, if you wanted any more, you'd have to get six juvies and have a pretty good chance of two pairing off, take a huge risk by just buying two and hoping that they get along, or buying a proven breeding pair ($$$$$ sticker shock for me!) | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I guess I'll stick with one only... never thought about angels thanks for opening my mind to them alex  | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| no problem! i've wanted angels for a while but i'm trying to figure out a way to do it without having to buy a breeding pair (i don't want to breed i just want them to get along! ) and without having to return the other four (if i got six juvies and hoped for a pair out of that).
personally, i LOVE the koi angels and the black marble angels. | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Are you sure that the angels and the sparkling g's would work? I thought you couldn't have them in with neons? | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Red1313 Are you sure that the angels and the sparkling g's would work? I thought you couldn't have them in with neons? | That is my concern, probably if I get the angel while it is a juvy?
Im also gonna wait to see how you do with your new paradise... | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| oh, yeah i forgot! angels have been kept with tetras if they have been raised with them. so getting one as a juvie would definitely increase your chances of not having any problems | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Eh... as I said, I'll wait to see how you do with your paradise fish. After that i'll decide. | |
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January 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Well he's going into his tank tonight and I'll be adding Red an hour later I'll let you know.  | |
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