The Paradise Fish (Macropodus Opercularis) was one of the first fish introduced into the aquarium hobby. The species is a good choice for all aquarists levels as it’s undemanding and will accept a wide variety of water conditions. Below, check out a complete Paradise Fish care guide. Learn about water parameters, food and feeding, appearance, behavior, tank mates, reproduction and aquarium setup.
Paradise Fish: Complete Care Guide
Technical Details
Name: Paradise Fish, Blue Paradise, Paradise Gourami, Blue Paradise Gourami;
Scientific Name: Macropodus Opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758);
Family: Osphronemidae;
Species Origin: Southeast Asia;
Length: Up to 4 inches;
Life Span: 5 years or more;
Care Level: Easy;
Water Parameters
pH: 6.0 – 8.0;
Water Hardness: Between 5 – 19;
Temperature: Must be kept between 16 – 26°C;
Distribution / Habitat
The Paradise Fish can be found in many areas of Southeast Asia. In China, it’s found from the eastern Yangtze River basin to the Pearl River basin in Hong Kong. The species also inhabits the Taiwan waters, northern and central Vietnam, northeastern Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.
In the wild, the Paradise Fish is found in all types of lowland habitats. It lives in swamps and backwaters of major rivers, as well as rice paddies, irrigation ditches and stagnant ponds, always preferring calmer waters.
As a member of the Anabantidae suborder, which can breathe oxygen from the atmosphere, the Paradise Fish has an organ known as the “Labyrinth”, which allows it to survive in stagnant water bodies with very low levels of oxygen or even polluted ones.
Although it’s an omnivorous fish, in nature the Paradise Fish is an opportunistic animal, showing a tendency towards a carnivorous diet. A very interesting behavior observed in this fish is that sometimes it jumps out of the water to capture prey that is above the surface.
Description
The Paradise Fish has a robust and elongated body, with all its pointed fins. The caudal fin is forked and tends to be quite long in males, extending in serrated filaments.
Like all anabantids, the Paradise Fish can breathe atmospheric air by swallowing it at the surface of the water through its Labyrinth organ. This special organ acts like a lung that helps the fish to live in polluted environments or with extremely low levels of oxygen.
Males can reach about 11 centimeter in length, with the caudal fin trailing for up to 4 cm. Females are a little smaller, reaching around 8 centimeter. The lifespan of the fish is around 6 years, but there are reports of specimens that reached up to 8 years when in environments with excellent water conditions.
Generally, the Paradise Fish is a very colorful animal adorned with a mixture of red, blue, white, black and with a reddish tail fin. The fish’s body is usually blue with red vertical stripes that extend to the fins.
There are other color variations, including black and albino. Albino variations can have a very attractive pattern, mostly white accented with bright red spots and vertical stripes along the body that extend to the fins.
Foods and Feeding
Although the Paradise Fish is omnivorous, his still has a greater tendency towards protein foods. In nature, it’s an opportunistic animal and feeds on small fish and other types of aquatic animals including, for example, planktonic and zoobenthos invertebrates. A characteristic observed in this fish is that, sometimes, he can jump out of the water to capture prey that is above the surface.
To maintain a balanced diet in the tank, provide a high quality flake or pellet feed for omnivorous fish. You can also provide some live food, but you shouldn’t forget about vegetable matter.
The diet supplementation should include bloodworms, brine shrimp or any other suitable substitute. Try to feed him once or twice a day.
Temperament / Behavior
The Paradise Fish is very similar to the Betta Fish in behavior, although it’s a little less aggressive. He really prefers to live alone, but will accept other species of fish in the tank, as long as they are larger and peaceful.
You can keep a few Paradise Fish together in the tank, but as they mature, the males will become combative with each other and any small fish will become easy prey. The big truth is that the males don’t get along very well with each other, unless the tank is quite large, with lots of decorations and places for all of them to hide.
The ideal is to keep a couple or a group formed with several females.
Tank Mates
In a community tank, the Paradise Fish needs to be the dominant species. Therefore, it shouldn’t be placed with more robust species that may compete for spaces in the tank. In addition, he is famous for fighting other dominant fish, but he can hide and succumb to stress if his tank mates are much stronger. Some say you can even pair him with a betta, but there’s no proof that it works!
A mix of neutral personalities who aren’t similar in appearance is the formula for success in the mix. Some good tank mates for the Paradise Fish would be non-aggressive medium to large gouramis, cyprinids, large characins, loricarids, and large synodontis catfish and loaches. Avoid fish that are slow swimmers or have very long fins.
Being an extremely skilled hunter, very small fish or fry rarely last long in the tank.
Sexual Differences
The male Paradise Fish is larger than the female and tends to have a brighter color pattern. The male’s fins are also larger.
Reproduction
Like most anabantidae family fish, the Paradise Fish builds bubble nests and raising them is quite easy. It will breed in the same way as the betta fish, creating a bubble nest that it will defend to the death.
Males build bubble nests frequently, usually under a leaf. Before spawning, you should condition adult fish with small amounts of live or frozen food several times a day. When well fed, females begin to fill with eggs, getting a very plump appearance. Females that are not yet ready to lay must be removed, as males have an aggressive behavior and can maim or even kill an unprepared female.
The breeding tank must have a minimum of 21 gallons and a low water level (15 – 20 centimeters). You can add a small filter to oxygenate the water, but remember that the flow must be gentle.
You can also use floating plants or any other species that come up to the surface of the water to create places for the male to build his bubble nest.
See Also:
In the reproduction process, males build the nest and corner the female. Then he wraps her around his body and the two spawn at the same time, with eggs and sperm released simultaneously. This behavior can repeat itself several times.
The eggs are floating and most float to the nest previously built by the male. He will fetch any eggs that have sunk to place in the nest. Remember that the male can get extremely violent during this phase, so you should remove the female from the tank to avoid problems.
Hatching time varies somewhat with temperature. Generally, fry emerge between 30 and 50 hours, but it can occur between 48 and 96 hours. After hatching, the fry will emerge and swim freely. It’s at this time that you must remove the male, as he may eat the fry that leave the nest.
Once the fry are hatched, they can be fed infusoria or special liquid food until they are big enough to eat brine shrimp nauplii.
Aquarium Setup
The aquarium for the Fish Paradise needs to be at least 26 gallons for one male and two females.
This fish usually swims through all regions of the tank. It’s quite hardy and adapts to most water conditions.
I recommend that you take care of the filtration system, but make the water flow smooth. Also, it’s good to add a lid, as the Paradise Fish is an excellent jumper.
In the wild, the species is found living in small water bodies. Therefore, I recommend that you decorate the aquarium in such a way that it allows both dominant and quieter fish to live happily. This means you should create hiding places and add some kind of plant cover.
The Paradise Fish will display its best colors on a dark substrate. Some roots and rocks can also be part of the environment, as they help to create the refuges that the fish needs.
References
FishLore. Aquarium Fish Information Disponível em: https://www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.htm. Acesso em 02 de abr. De 2019;
Freyhof, J. and F. Herder, 2002. Review of the paradise fishes of the genus Macropodus in Vietnam, with description of two species from Vietnam and southern China (Perciformes: Osphronemidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 13(2):147-167. (Ref. 42924);
David Alderton, Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish , DK Publishing, Inc., 2005;
Dr. Rudiger Riehl and Hans A. Baensch, Aquarium Atlas Vol. 1, Publisher Hans A. Baensch, 1991;
