Old female mandarin attacking new male?

[rocketeer]

Hi,

I may need a quick answer here. I had a female mandarin in my 120 gal for a couple of months and she's looking good. I saw a male at a LFS today looking kind of sorry. Thought I'd rescue him. She appears to be biting him. She has her dorsel fin out and is chasing him around. Is this normal? Do I need to get him out quick?

Thanks,
Jack

[rocketeer]

They are about the same size except that he's skinny.

Jack

[JimD]

Id remove it, chances are that its already stressed due to hunger and the additional stress will probably be his demise. Have you been able to get him to eat?

[Inno]

I see you fell for the "I'll save that poor lil fishy" routine ;) usually that just lets the lfs' know they need to restock these hard to keep animals (although it is beginning to get easier to keep them alive longer). Sounds like one is upset over the invasion of territory and added pod competition. I hope there is plenty of liverock, overly plentiful at that and just keep your eye on the skinny one for any bruises if the other becomes too aggressive (you may need to remove the newcomer in the end).

*most skinny mandarins don't survive a week-2wks, from what i've witnessed.

[OrionN]

Some/most female Mandarin are agressive to weaker and smaler males. It is best to add larger males but if they are about the smae size, it should be OK. If the female is the aggressor, they are much less aggressive than between the two males.
I would keep him there for a few days and see what happen. If you can devide the tank, or keep the male in the refugium untill he is a little fatter. How big is your tank? I would not attemp to keep a pair unless you have a 120 or greater with pleny of pods.
Here is a picture of my pair with the male added after the female. But were skinny and a little beat up when I added them into the tank. Now they always within 12 inches from each other in my 450 g tank (8 feet). My Mandarin pair in the past never hang around with each other except when spawn. This pair is always around each other.

[rocketeer]

That's a beautiful shot. She stopped chasing him around. My tank is 120 gal with about a thirty gallon refugeum loaded with amphipods. I was thinking about putting him in there but I don't want to decimate my pod population in there. Anyway, he has eaten a little. I saw him eat a frozen brine shrimp and he seems to like cyclopeeze. I don't know how much he is getting from the live rock. So, we'll see. I need to watch my pod population.

[dan]

did you say 450 gal. WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! and WOW!!!!!!!!!! i sure would love to see that.can i,can i,please.lol o by the way that is nice shot

[Instar]

I wish my fish would pose like that. Most of my pics look like action racing shots.

[OrionN]

........i sure would love to see that.can i,can i,please.lol o by the way that is nice shot
Thanks.
My tank is relatively bare at thia time. In a few monthns, or maybe 1 year it would be much better. If you are here in Corpus anytime, please let me know. I would be happy to show you the tank.

rocketeer
I am glad your pair settle down. IMO, Mandarin is a very rewarding fish to have in our tank.
Minh