[helene schoubye]

I am not always convinced that Paro’es do not like light 🙂 .. I mean, they do like – or some prefer – dark tanks with dim light, – but some paroes seem to not pay too much attention to it and swim around happily. A good thing is probably the amount of companions, be it boraras or shrimps, it may help the paroes to feel less shy also.
But I understand your intention of balance, and this being an experiment, – I think it is a good experiment, gone well so far. And though we do often aim to keep paros so that the spawning is optimal, and you can have the fish breed, – sometimes it is good to experiment with how to keep paros in a different setting.
I have a kind of ‘retirement tank’ at the moment for my oldies, – and a few odd singles that can go together. My last p.sumatranus male f.inst. is sharing tank now with a single p.harveyi male and 2 female quindecim. Of course not optimal, however I am quite sure they will not mix – and in this tank, its really not about breeding but about giving those fish a good retirement 🙂 ..
So sometimes an (extra)ordinary community tank setup is needed, I think, – and its nice to see different ways this can be done.