Adding new Bangaii to existing one

[mike31154]

If it's any consolation, you are not alone. I had purchased what I thought was a female Mandarin Dragonet for my male but it turns out I now have two males in the tank! After I discovered my screw up I went back to the LFS and asked if I could trade the critter in. After a little hhm haa, they said ok, but it's a moot point since I'm unable to catch the little bugger anyhow. Too much LR and I'm in no mood to re-aquascape my tank at the moment. It will have to wait until I start my next build. Thankfully they're staying out of each other's hair for the moment. The newbie is a juvi and very much smaller than my original resident. I had heard/read that you can't keep two male Mandarins in the same tank and was quite concerned. After a bit of flak from my Blue Devil Damselfish, he has settled in nicely. I suspect that once the juvi gets larger, the power struggle may begin. Need to get that new tank going and separate them in the process. For now it's all good, they're both browsing the tank and keeping themselves well fed. Hope things turn out ok with the Bangais. That dilemma along with your cracked sump seems to be making for a frustrating time lately... don't worry, be happy and this too shall pass.

[Myka]

Luckily, I designed my live rock with catching fish in mind (as well as open swimming space), so I can catch fish at any time without too much struggle. This has already turned out to be quite handy!! I want to add a pair of Mandarins to my tank later on as well. I hope yours stay out of eachother's hair until you get it sorted out. At least they're easier to sex!!

Oh yes, this and the cracked sump = annoyance at reef.

[mike31154]

Yeah, I thought I had the little guy ID'd as a girl at the LFS. Watched 'her' swim around for a good 20 minutes at the LFS to get a good look at the dorsal fin, which helps sex them. There were several more in other tanks at the LFS and I'm sure one was a female but it had a little fin damage so I opted for the one I have now. While it appeared 'she' extended 'her' dorsal it was actually still a little folded over so I didn't see the long spike denoting it as a male. I should have waited for one of the more knowledgeable staff since the young lady helping me out at the time had no clue. They had the fish identified as Mandarin 'Goby' as well instead of Dragonet, a fairly common error, still, I guess. I corrected the misnomer and she went off to find a book on reef fishes to try and help with sexing the Mandarin. I already knew what to look for in the dorsal fin but still managed to screw it up. I think one of the more experienced staff may have known which ones were females when they stocked the tanks. But then again, they still got the name wrong, between all of them.... Live & learn, I don't consider myself an 'impulse' buyer and am generally very patient, but this was one of those times where I didn't... take my time. So far there is still no conflict, but I keep an eye on them when I can and at the first sign of trouble, I'll intervene, even if I'm not ready with the new tank and I have to re-aquascape to catch one of them.

How do you aquascape in order to allow 'easy' capturing of livestock?! That's amazing. Maybe you should run a clinic!! My rock is still just kind of piled up without any support other than pieces of ABS pipe on the bottom to keep them elevated off the glass and out of the sand. It's not a bad arrangement but every once in a while when I move one slightly it's a nightmare to keep everything together and it invariably ends up being a larger than anticipated exercise.

[Myka]

Impulse buys usually suck. In my experience anyway...I've been sucker to that as well.

I use minimal live rock with an open design plan, and make sure none of it comes too close to the glass so I can get a net all around the rock. This time I made some cool arches, so I used zip ties to secure the rock. They can't hide on me...muahahahaha!!! Take a look at the last pics I put in my tank journal so you can see the rocks if you want. I should take a top down shot of the rocks.