Paradise Fish General Care, Tank Setup and Breeding
Densely planted tank is best for your pets
Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis) or some would refer to it as the “macropods” is one of the labyrinth fish members widely popular among aquarist. They make excellent pet fish mainly because of their moderate care requirements coupled with their beautiful, long trailing fins which forms a very unique shape. The fish is known to be a native of East Asian countries mainly centered on China and Vietnam. The species can be found living in rivers, ditches, paddy fields, even puddles of water and just about anywhere else as long as the water is not severely contaminated. Unlike their labyrinth cousins for instance, the betta and giant gourami which are all strictly tropical fish preferring higher water temperature, the macropods can survive living in colder condition as low at 68degF. Because of this, they have no problem adjusting to even aquarium water parameters in countries as far a Europe.
General Care
Looking after the fish nevertheless is pretty much easy. If you are a care-free hobbyist, you will find that they will tolerate whatever condition that you present to them. Any change in water quality although presents a sense of uneasiness is still okay for them provided that the fluctuation is not too drastic. However, never let your guard down because sometimes people tend to take things into granted and let the situation become out of control. Prolonged condition living in water that are severely contaminated with their own fish waste will cause the fish to become sick. Thus if you are a beginner with very less experience on aquarium hobby, the Paradise fish will certainly fit in well. I would suggest you aim for those adult mature fish sold in pet stores instead of going for the younger ones because the older fish tend to be more tolerant to whatever condition that you present to them.
Tank Setup
The tank for them for your paradise fish to live in should be densely planted with submerged and floating species like for example Ceratopteris pteridoides, Limnophila aquatica and Heteranthera zosterifolia. If you don’t mind moving things around during water change, then you can also consider adding bogwood and even maintain a layer of gravel at the tank bottom. Avoid aquarium decorations which have sharp edges because the fish can sometimes bump into these items and injure themselves in the process. Try to maintain a proper lighting because not only will these help the plant to grow but also you will notice that the color of your paradise fish will become more intense and beautiful. You won’t need the metal halide setup as these are only for the marine tank but you can use any of the mild lighting meant for freshwater tank. Check with the pet shop owner as they will recommend something matching both your budget and requirements.
Breeding
This is considered fairly easy for the paradise fish. Although most types of fish require large living space to induce spawning, your labyrinth tank mate can even reproduce in small containers. This is provided that you have enough cover of floating plants and the water quality is maintained clean all the time. Avoid putting groups of fish together because presence of too many of them will disrupt the breeding process, thus I would suggest that you select a pair of male and female fish and isolate them to a new aquarium. In order to ensure that this is done properly with high rate of success, first you need to identify and ensure that you have the correct breeding pair. First of all, you will notice that usually the males have darker colors and longer trailing fins compared to the females. Also you will find the female paradise fish is usually smaller in size but overall much thicker body width due to the presence of eggs. Each spawn can produce a lot of eggs and usually in a single brood, most of the fry about 90 percent and above will survive to adulthood. To avoid outbreak of disease, just make sure that water remains clean all the time and that there is enough live brine shrimp around to feed them. If properly cared for, they should reach mature fish size in about 4 months time period.
Other interesting labyrinth fish family: Giant Gourami and Kissing Gourami
General Care
Looking after the fish nevertheless is pretty much easy. If you are a care-free hobbyist, you will find that they will tolerate whatever condition that you present to them. Any change in water quality although presents a sense of uneasiness is still okay for them provided that the fluctuation is not too drastic. However, never let your guard down because sometimes people tend to take things into granted and let the situation become out of control. Prolonged condition living in water that are severely contaminated with their own fish waste will cause the fish to become sick. Thus if you are a beginner with very less experience on aquarium hobby, the Paradise fish will certainly fit in well. I would suggest you aim for those adult mature fish sold in pet stores instead of going for the younger ones because the older fish tend to be more tolerant to whatever condition that you present to them.
Tank Setup
The tank for them for your paradise fish to live in should be densely planted with submerged and floating species like for example Ceratopteris pteridoides, Limnophila aquatica and Heteranthera zosterifolia. If you don’t mind moving things around during water change, then you can also consider adding bogwood and even maintain a layer of gravel at the tank bottom. Avoid aquarium decorations which have sharp edges because the fish can sometimes bump into these items and injure themselves in the process. Try to maintain a proper lighting because not only will these help the plant to grow but also you will notice that the color of your paradise fish will become more intense and beautiful. You won’t need the metal halide setup as these are only for the marine tank but you can use any of the mild lighting meant for freshwater tank. Check with the pet shop owner as they will recommend something matching both your budget and requirements.
Breeding
This is considered fairly easy for the paradise fish. Although most types of fish require large living space to induce spawning, your labyrinth tank mate can even reproduce in small containers. This is provided that you have enough cover of floating plants and the water quality is maintained clean all the time. Avoid putting groups of fish together because presence of too many of them will disrupt the breeding process, thus I would suggest that you select a pair of male and female fish and isolate them to a new aquarium. In order to ensure that this is done properly with high rate of success, first you need to identify and ensure that you have the correct breeding pair. First of all, you will notice that usually the males have darker colors and longer trailing fins compared to the females. Also you will find the female paradise fish is usually smaller in size but overall much thicker body width due to the presence of eggs. Each spawn can produce a lot of eggs and usually in a single brood, most of the fry about 90 percent and above will survive to adulthood. To avoid outbreak of disease, just make sure that water remains clean all the time and that there is enough live brine shrimp around to feed them. If properly cared for, they should reach mature fish size in about 4 months time period.
Other interesting labyrinth fish family: Giant Gourami and Kissing Gourami