The spiked tailed paradise fish have two dark brown lines extending from the eye to the tail. The rest of the body is a beige brown color. The unpaired fins are reddish brown and are out lined in light blue. The caudal fin ends in a point hence the name spike tail. The male has longer fins than the female. The total length of the male is 7.5 cm while the female has a total length of 6.5 cm.

Their natural habitat is in ditches and bogs in western India.

This species is very suitable for the community tank, however larger tank mates may bother them. Some of the smaller gouramis would make nice tank mates for them. They are not fussy about water conditions, however regular water changes are a must for any aquarium fish. The ideal temperature is 25C. They will eat anything that will fit into their small mouths.

These fish are easy to breed. Introduce a pair into a well-planted tank with caves. The male will build a bubble nest either under a rock cave or at the surface under floating plants. 200 to 300 eggs are laid per spawn. The female will help the male gather the eggs and place them in the bubble nest. When spawning is completed the female should be removed. The male will look after the spawn until they go free swimming, then he too should be removed. The fry need infusoria for the first couple of days, some may be large enough to eat baby brine shrimp as a first food. If the young are kept in favorable conditions they can be bred in only three months. Wow! Fast growers.

This is a fish that I would like to add to one of my community aquariums. It stays small and should fit in with the other small fish that are already established.

Other information: When the fry hatch they hang tail down in between the bubbles of the bubble nest, or under the piece of Styrofoam or plastic lid. Sometimes the male will mouth them or fan them, but don’t worry as a rule he will not eat them. There is more danger of the male eating the fry after they go free swimming. Even then the males won’t seem interested. However that is why the male should be removed.

In conclusion paradise fish sound like interesting fish to keep, as long as the proper conditions can be provided, if there happens to be fighting or belligerent males. There have been two kinds of paradise fish available in the local pet stores. One was the albino paradise fish, which were pink with white stripes and red eyes. I assume a color strain of Macropodus opercularis. The other is called the purple paradise fish. This fish looks a little different. It is slightly bluish purple with some red or yellow in the fins. The caudal fill is round. There are only common names in this store, and I can not find an exact picture of this fish in my books. It does look however that they may have only males, as these are large fish, possibly adults. Could this be Macropodus chinensis? I have no idea! Since I can’t find any information on them, I refuse to purchase them. I prefer to know something about the fish that I place in my aquariums, that way it causes less conflict in the aquariums and less stress for me.

P.S. Don’t forget to quarantine all new fish before adding them to the community aquarium.

Reihl Rudiger, & Baensch Hans A. 1994 Aquarium Atlas fourth edition, published by Tetra Press.

Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod & Dr Leonard P. Schultz, 1990 Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes revised edition, published by T .F .H publications,