Mandarin input

[niloc16]

i've tried like crazy to find this info but i cant so i thought i'd bug you guys. will mandarins change sex? i thought i had a male and just purchased a female but now that they are flaring up at each other it seems i have 2 females. they arent fighting, actually hanging out together side by side within 10 minutes of being in the tank.

thanks in advance

[Reefhawk1]

They do not change sex. Unless you have a very large tank they will battle until one dies.

DO the madarins you have have a short dorsal fin or long?

[niloc16]

they have a short dorsal and since i posted earlier the battle has begun. the smaller one is attacking the new larger one and then every once in a while the greenspotted mandarin jumps in for an attack. hope it works out. they are in a 265 gallon

[Johnny Reefer]

FWIW, I've got a male and a female. Going on just over two years now. At first the male gave the female a hard time, but that didn't last too long. Ever since they pretty much just ignore each other. Tank is a 180g.

Good luck and cheers,

[fishoholic]

I don't have 2 mandarins, but I have a mandarin and a scooter blenny (which are still the same family) and my 230g was not big enough for the both of them. They were introduced at the same time but my mandarin continued to chase my scooter down the overflow into the sump, so in fear of scooter being found on the floor one day he nows lives in the `fuge.

[dsaundry]

Well I have 2 manderins..male+female, they hang out and sometimes they don't, I also have 3 scooter blenny's as well. They are not interested in each other at all. The manderins are fed with Marine formula 1+2 along with mysis and there is a healthy batch of copepods as well that they seem to be doing well on. I fed the manderins at first with the jar method but for the most part they are self sufficient now..fat and healthy for about 6 months. All this in a 72g bowfront. So for now all is very good with them. I will also say that the first manderin I initially bought from a LFS didn't make it a week. It wouldn't eat no matter what I tried. So I think the message is that all fish can act differently no matter what.:biggrin::biggrin: