Anyone keeping a pair of mandarin dragonets?

simontan · Oct 3, 2011

So I've got a noah's ark thing going in my tank where I've got a pair of clowns, pair of chromis, and a pair of anthias. I'd like to keep the theme going by pairing up my mandarin dragonet. I'm pretty sure my current one is male but not 100%. Either way if I get a female, they will hopefully pair up. If I end up with two females, I'm hoping they at least won't fight.

Anyone here been able to keep a mated pair of mandarins? If so, how did you introduce them? At the same time? Male first? Female first?

ldreefer · Oct 6, 2011

I have been wanting to add another Mandarin to my tank as well. My tank is booming with pods! I have had my first Mandarin for about 2 weeks now and I don't even think he's made a dent in the pod population. I would love to have a pair of them though. I am interested to hear some advice on how to go about doing it as well.

fusionvi · Oct 6, 2011

I have pair in my tank, i had the male 1st and about 2 months later when he started eating prepared food, I added the female. They are paired up now. they both eat prepared food.

simontan · Oct 6, 2011

How long have they been paired up now? Was there any conflict at all initially?

ldreefer · Oct 6, 2011

What size tank do you have fusion?

fusionvi · Oct 7, 2011

they have been paired up for 6mths now and they swam separately on opposite ends for about 15days. Pair is in my 75gal setup. Now they both eat frozen food and also eat small pellets.

simontan · Oct 7, 2011

@fusionvi wrote:

they have been paired up for 6mths now and they swam separately on opposite ends for about 15days. Pair is in my 75gal setup. Now they both eat frozen food and also eat small pellets. said:
Did they fight at all when you first introduced the female or just stay at opposite ends? I've introduced what appeared to be a smaller female, but the old male in my tank has been chasing it around a bit. Not relentlessly, but enough to make me wonder if I may have inadvertently picked up an immature male that just hasn't yet developed a prominent dorsal fin spine. Hopefully things'll calm down in the next couple days.

ldreefer · Oct 7, 2011

I have a Target Mandarin. How do I tell the difference between a male and female?

simontan · Oct 7, 2011

@ldreefer wrote:

I have a Target Mandarin. How do I tell the difference between a male and female? said:
Mature males have a long spine at the anterior end of their dorsal fin.

fusionvi · Oct 8, 2011

@simontan wrote:

[I]@fusionvi wrote:[/I][quote="they have been paired up for 6mths now and they swam separately on opposite ends for about 15days. Pair is in my 75gal setup. Now they both eat frozen food and also eat small pellets. said:
Did they fight at all when you first introduced the female or just stay at opposite ends? I've introduced what appeared to be a smaller female, but the old male in my tank has been chasing it around a bit. Not relentlessly, but enough to make me wonder if I may have inadvertently picked up an immature male that just hasn't yet developed a prominent dorsal fin spine. Hopefully things'll calm down in the next couple days."]

Yea, When i introduced the female the male did chase her around for a day and a half, then they stayed a the opposite ends for 14days. Next morning i found them swimming together and they have been happy together since.