# My experience with black paradise fish, Macropodus spechti



## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Hello all! I recently (Tuesday the 15th of May, 2018) got a pair of wild caught black paradise fish and, in view of the relative lack of information about them online, wanted to post this journal online to track my progress with keeping and (hopefully) spawning them. Here we go!
*The tank* - A heavily planted 5 gallon...relatively small for a fish this size, but there is no evidence the fish are uncomfortable in a tank this size (they are not being unduly bored or aggressive in behavior; they are acting perfectly normally). The tank was originally intended to be a licorice gourami tank (these were an impulse buy from the wetspot tropical fish) so the PH is only 5.4...they aren't phased in the slightest. The temperature is about 76 fahrenheit.
*The fish* - These black paradise fish are both currently about 2 inches long. They look a lot like M. opercularis (the common paradise fish) in body shape but have a noticeably more pointed head. Their pectoral fins are somewhat orange, as are their eyes; the rest of the fish is grey. The male has significantly longer, more pointed unpaired fins than the female and, when he is displaying (I.E at his reflection in a mirror) his color changes sharply - he becomes a much darker grey with faint darker stripes, his unpaired fins become a partially transparent black, and his pectorals and eyes become a much darker orange.

The fish's behavior was somewhat unexpected - both fish were initially very shy and hid behind anything they could. The female has since figured out I am harmless and has become much less shy, but the male is still a nervous creature that often dives for cover when I approach (individual personality perhaps?). Both are accepting live baby brine shrimp and frozen foods (the female being more willing to try the frozen food), but neither has shown an interest in pellets yet. Hoping to try to spawn them in a few months at most...going to lower the water level and increase the temperature into the 80's (may eventually try them in my water garden...unsure). If you have any respectful questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave them. Thanks!

PS: Here is a video mostly of the male arguing with his reflection; https://youtu.be/1JLDwEbX450

Well, apparently the fish are VERY happy with this tank...I came home today to discover a bubblenest at the front of the tank! They don't appear to have actually spawned yet, but my fingers are crossed that they will soon


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

cool.. don't forget the plastic wrap..later..
Macropodus spechti ? Black Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis concolor) ? Seriously Fish


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## cbachmann (Aug 6, 2013)

Very cool. Always interesting to hear about new fish in the hobby?


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Hello again all! Yesterday I increased the temp to about 82 degrees to encourage spawning, and today I lowered the water level to about 5 inches to further encourage spawning. It seems to be working  while they still haven't spawned yet, the male has built a much larger bubblenest slightly to the right of the original nest. Here is a picture of the nest and another of the elusive male. Thanks!

















Important update; the male (Fudge) was keeping the female (Caramel) stuck in a corner all day. There wasn't a huge amount of physical fighting involved, but Caramel still looked unhappy, so I have moved her to her own 5 gallon. I will try to spawn them again in about 2 weeks - plenty of time for her to be conditioned for spawning. Clearly a 5 gallon is big enough for ONE black paradise fish, not two...


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Very interested to see your future posts! I always thought this was a very neat fish. Don't they color up gorgeous when they are spawning- but I have only seen pics of that, not in person. I have a blue version of macropodus opercularis. It's my easiest tank, and by far my most personable fish.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

BIG update time! I moved the male back in with the female Tuesday evening (the 29th of may 2018) and on Wednesday evening not only had the male built a bubblenest but they spawned before my eyes  The male and female had both taken on a very dark greyish brown color with some blue iridescence (the male was slightly darker). Didn't see the eggs come out as they spawned, but now the male is guarding the bubblenest, so I believe the spawn was a success. Hope I can rear the fry...

Bump:


JJ09 said:


> Very interested to see your future posts! I always thought this was a very neat fish. Don't they color up gorgeous when they are spawning- but I have only seen pics of that, not in person. I have a blue version of macropodus opercularis. It's my easiest tank, and by far my most personable fish.


These PF's are indeed quite pretty when spawning or fighting - they turn dark grey with fainter dark stripes, faint iridescent blue is visible on all their unpaired fins, and the pelvic fins and eyes turn very red. They have been a little hesitant to feed (they only take frozen and live food...no pellets thus far) but have otherwise been a piece of cake.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

We have fry! Looked in the tank to see several very young fry still in the bubblenest. Very excited


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

ooo, how very cool. Congrats!
can you leave the fry with the parents, or do they have to be separated soon?


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Seriously fish says they don't eat the fry, but I will be removing the parents just in case. Going to put them in my water garden for the summer (it has a weighted lid so my precious fish do not get eaten)


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I've heard they do very well in outdoor ponds.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

I am waiting until nighttime temps are in the 60's before putting them outside...as Vietnam natives, Macropodus spechti is probably not as cold hardy as M. opercularis.

Well, as of this morning the fry are free swimming, so now the fun of feeding them begins...fed them infusoria and then moved the male back with the female in another tank. The fry are lazy ambush predators that don't swim much...if I put my finger near them some of the fry try to eat something off my finger.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Just started feeding the fry BBS last night...not sure if they are eating it yet, so will continue feeding infusoria as well for a few more days. They are definitely growing, but their small size means that I do not have any additional pictures of them at the moment.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Well...as of yesterday they are definitely taking bbs  Also, had to separate the parents (again) because Caramel's fins were getting shredded. Double confirmation that a 5 gallon is not big enough for a pair of paradise fish.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

The fry have about doubled in size since leaving the nest  Also, moved the parents outside to one of my water gardens yesterday. Thus far all is well


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Grah the great said:


> The fry have about doubled in size since leaving the nest  Also, moved the parents outside to one of my water gardens yesterday. Thus far all is well


Will you be able to find the parents before the winter?


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

ChrisX said:


> Will you be able to find the parents before the winter?


Yep...went through doing that last year with my water gardens  Good question though.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Here's another update! Both parents and fry are doing well. The fry have developed caudal fins and blackish heads (neither of which are readily apparent in the picture I took, alas) and got their first top off today (their first water change will be tonight). Also pictured is the water garden the parents are currently in...they have proven hardy to at least 59 degrees (not bad for a Vietnamese fish). The swamp milkweed is gearing up to bloom


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Any updates? I'd love to see pics of your fry, or the adult black paradise fishes!


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

The adults managed to jump out of the water garden...however, I still have 150 or so fry that I just moved to a 20 gallon.


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## Mr. Limpet (Dec 26, 2010)

If you can get a hold of some Macropodus ocellatus you can keep them outdoors year-round, even in Maine.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Mr. Limpet said:


> If you can get a hold of some Macropodus ocellatus you can keep them outdoors year-round, even in Maine.


I have coveted that species for years...if only they were easier to find...


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## Quetzel11 (Jan 23, 2019)

I suppose this is a bit late, but I've been looking all over the place for some of these fish. If you don't mind me asking, might you be able to point me in the general direction of I might be able to get my hands on some? None of the half-dozen stores in my area have been able to track any down, and I've only found a single specimen available through online channels. Apologies for bugging you, though help would be immensely appreciated!


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Hi everyone! Hate to revive a 'dead' thread, but it's about the same species and it feels dumb to start a new one  Anyhow, of the many fry my black paradise fish pair produced, I raised about 24 to the point that I could give them away to my fish club. However, I have kept three (which have turned out to be a male and two females) and intend to spawn them this year. The F1's have been even easier than the parents; they take flake readily and don't seem nearly as inclined to jump (though I'm not chancing it after losing their parents to jumping!) The two females are sharing a ten gallon with a pair of flagfish (which they get along beautifully with) while the male is with a pair of red paradise fish, a danio, and a pair of Aphanius mento (which have also proved much more placid than internet lore claims).


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I'd love to see some pictures!


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Here's some pics! First of the male (the fish in the front);









Then of the two females (plus a flagfish photobomb :grin2: ). The second female is just visible in the back;









A pair of these will likely be going in the water garden this year, but I might breed them before then if there's enough interest.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

How does the male get along with your red paradise fish? I have two blue paradise fishes- male and female- but had to separate as they were fighting a lot. Am thinking of re-introducing at some stage... it would be cool to keep them w/another paradise fish type, if they don't quarrel too much.... probably it is individual temperament?


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## AguaScape (Oct 28, 2018)

I was trying to answer on your original thread, but my phone was not showing the add button. Yes, I would be interested in purchasing some when the time comes.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

JJ09 said:


> How does the male get along with your red paradise fish? I have two blue paradise fishes- male and female- but had to separate as they were fighting a lot. Am thinking of re-introducing at some stage... it would be cool to keep them w/another paradise fish type, if they don't quarrel too much.... probably it is individual temperament?


Possibly. I've had close to two dozen paradise fishes over the years, most of them in pairs or trios, and have not had serious fighting (a lot of chasing, but no fin damage). The male black paradise fish primarily squabbles with the female red paradise fish, who often chases him briefly; both are dominated by the male red paradise fish, but he rarely chases anyone. None of them damage each other's fins.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Mine tore each other up. Ripped scales, torn fins. My male was cornered and the female wouldn't let him out of that spot for three days so I decided to separate them... They both healed up remarkably quick, though. But his tail has never looked the same.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

JJ09 said:


> Mine tore each other up. Ripped scales, torn fins. My male was cornered and the female wouldn't let him out of that spot for three days so I decided to separate them... They both healed up remarkably quick, though. But his tail has never looked the same.


WOW...I only had stuff like that happen if I tried putting a pair of PF's in a 5 gallon, and never that badly. I'm sorry...must've gotten some really aggressive individuals. My black PF's have never been that mean.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Well I think part of the problem is the female was older, larger, and had been living in a tank at LFS for over a year, bossing around all the smaller fish (was the only paradise fish in there). She immediately wanted to claim my entire 33 gal and boss my male paradise fish. He gave a good fight but lost. I'm waiting for him to grow _larger_ than her (he's almost equal size now) and maybe try it one more time. I don't necessarily want to breed them, just have them cohabit the tank peacefully enough!


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

JJ09 said:


> Well I think part of the problem is the female was older, larger, and had been living in a tank at LFS for over a year, bossing around all the smaller fish (was the only paradise fish in there). She immediately wanted to claim my entire 33 gal and boss my male paradise fish. He gave a good fight but lost. I'm waiting for him to grow _larger_ than her (he's almost equal size now) and maybe try it one more time. I don't necessarily want to breed them, just have them cohabit the tank peacefully enough!


Always good when fish cohabit peacefully  undesired spawning should not be an issue unless there is no water movement in part of the tank (a male PF will bite PEOPLE who get near his nest! Talking from experience here). My original wild caught black PF pair cohabited peacefully in a 21 inch, 17 gallon round storage tub outside peacefully until they escaped to their doom; my other PF's have cohabited fine in ten gallon tanks as pairs.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

*Update on the planned F1 spawn! It's official *

Hi everyone! Here's an update on my F1 black paradise fish  I have a couple people who want their fry, so I started conditioning them yesterday by feeding them BBS and moving the male to his own spawning tank, which is a half filled ten gallon at about 78 degrees. The fish are already in very good condition, so I will introduce a female Sunday and hope they spawn. Currently I have six fry requested...I will willingly produce up to 34 more. I will be spawning the male with the smaller female...the larger female is bigger than he is and would likely refuse to spawn with him.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Here's another update! Moved the smaller female in with the male last night. There has been a lot of flaring, but no bubblenests yet. I will keep you guys posted.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Here's another update! The pair have calmed down and the male seems more interested in showing off to than attacking the female, but no spawning yet. Still feeding heavily...


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Argh...still no spawning  their parents spawned within a day of being reintroduced to each other, but these fish are not nearly as eager. Added the second, larger female to the tank and while there was a lot of displaying and quarreling, there was still no bubblenest or spawn...any idea what I'm doing wrong here? Temperature is 76, feeding BBS twice daily and another food in between, doing weekly WC's. The tank is covered in duckweed and has very little surface agitation.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Maybe they are not quite mature yet? I've read that the paradise fish reaches maturity at two years old- certainly my male has not reached full size yet and he's probably a year and a half with me here.... I don't know if black paradise fish also grow slow like that.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

JJ09 said:


> Maybe they are not quite mature yet? I've read that the paradise fish reaches maturity at two years old- certainly my male has not reached full size yet and he's probably a year and a half with me here.... I don't know if black paradise fish also grow slow like that.


 Oy...hope that's not the case, or else this project is thwarted. The male and larger female are about the same size as their parents were when they bred. I will keep trying to spawn them until the end of the month and then wave the white flag for now.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Well, did the distilled water WC. I only did it 2 hours ago, but I think I pushed them in the right direction...the two females have paled in color while the male has turned on spawning (AKA very dark grey) colors. He is now displaying to the females with relatively little chasing...guessing I am going to spot a bubble nest soon.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Cool!


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

My male black paradise fish does not seem to rate high on the smart-o-meter - he's constantly displaying to the females and yet has not thought of building a bubble nest. I hope he smartens up and remembers his species builds bubblenests...


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Oy, this isn't a good update...all my black PF's are male and I won't be able to get a female until mid March; coupled with a several week vacation starting late April...I will have to postpone this spawning project. I am sorry


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## Newlinta (Dec 31, 2017)

Any updates from anyone on this post?


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Newlinta said:


> Any updates from anyone on this post?



I gave away the remaining black paradise fish.


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