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I have a gorgeous male paradise fish in my 20 gallon community along with 3 mollies, neon tetras, 1 swordtail, 3 zebra danios, and 2 night gobys. He blew a bubble nest once and kept flaring his fins. He then proceeded to kill 4 neons and 2 swordtails in order to protect his nest ]:|. He calmed down, but i would love to breed him. What is the smallest tank that i could breed him in? ($$ is always an issue) I was also thinking about keeping the female paradise fish in that tank, or could she be in the community tank also? So basically what is the most economical size tank to house one paradise fish and potentially breed?

How long have you had him in this tank? It almost sounds like he's not meant to be in a community tank. Like bettas, different personalities and some can live in communities, others cannot.

For breeding only, I would think a 10g would be sufficient. A female would probably work in your 20g, but I doubt with the male, simply too small a tank for her to escape from his agression.

Very, very nice fish though, one of my favorites.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Thanks for you response! i have had him in their for a few months and after his one bubble nest he never did it again. I got some mollies and zebra danios instead of tetras and they seem to be able to put "Edward" in his place, he doesnt bother them.

I was thinking Edward could go in the 10 gallon alone and then put the female in the main community tank. How does that sound? Is 10 the smallest? and If so, do u recommend a kit for a tank or buying everything separately?

Glad to hear he isn't bothering the new tankmates.

I would think the male living in the 10g would be ok. I've only had one female but never had problems with her in a community tank.

You might want to get prices on a 10g kit as well as price it out buying everything separately. Most kits I've seen don't come with heaters. On a day-to-day basis that wouldn't be a problem since paradisefish are found in temps as low as 50°. But raising the tank temp will help trigger spawning.

I've purchased 10g kits. In addition to adding a heater I eventually upgrade the filter since I tend to overstock. For whatever reason I've also had problems with the strip lights that come with the kit (could be the brand?)

Keep us posted what you decide to do.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

After many weeks of conteplating whatt to do i was sitting on my bed and decided to sparadically buy a 10 gallon aquarium. The female paradise fish is still in my community tank, but i moved the male to the new 10 gallon after using the water from my community tank. I did not buy a kit since i realized a filter would just mess up the bubble nest, and the hood would make it more difficult to catch any fish if necessary during breeding. Now i just need to start the bubble nest process. Will paradise fish build bubble nests under cups or plants? I have some plastic plants floating on the sruface. I need to get a heater, anyone know of a reasonably priced heater?

Also i was wondering if there was any corner filter that you can think of that is reasonably priced and will not create a huge surface agitation since i do not want to break up any bubble nests.

Last edited by Hooktor at 09-Jan-2005 10:13

Use a round sponge filter, with a flow control valve.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett