Mandarins' complex social structure

[justahobby]

Cool little article on a fish that easily makes my favorite five http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/04/0423_mandarinfish.htm (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/04/0423_mandarinfish.html):nerd: (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/04/0423_mandarinfish.html)

[glennr1978]

cool read, thanks!

[DrMark]

Good stuff. I love Mandarins. However, my personal opinion is that these fish should not be collected for the Aq trade. Even if collected properly. Vast majority will die of starvation in hobbyist tanks due to their preferred diet. They are cheap to buy so too many uneducated people buy them and are doomed to failure. As much as I love this fish, I wouldnt mind there being no access to them for this reason....JMOA.
mark

[glennr1978]

Good stuff. I love Mandarins. However, my personal opinion is that these fish should not be collected for the Aq trade. Even if collected properly. Vast majority will die of starvation in hobbyist tanks due to their preferred diet. They are cheap to buy so too many uneducated people buy them and are doomed to failure. As much as I love this fish, I wouldnt mind there being no access to them for this reason....JMOA.
mark

DrMark makes a good point here.


I kinda feel bad, I ordered a mandarin that will be here today.

[DrMark]

At least you know how to take care of its needs. Its the people that have basic systems with a nemo that see the Mandarins at the pet stores and take them home to have them "disappear" in 4 weeks. I wonder what happened to the fish.........
mark

[Bill S]

Actually, the one in my big tank "disappeared" for about 2 months! He's now out quite often. The one upstairs I've had for at least 3 years. Never seen either of them eat...

[Rychek]

Nice read. Mandarins are amazing fish and one of the reasons I'm in the hobby. Love at first sight. :) I'm glad my little Draca is fat as a pig.

[CoryDude]

Excellent point Dr. Mark.

Sometimes I wish their availability was more limited so the price would discourage newbie hobbyists. It was even worse in the 90's since the majority of them were caught in the Phillipines using cyanide. Didn't matter if you had an established tank or not, because they'd starve anyways.

Very cool read. Thanks!

[CoryDude]

Nice read. Mandarins are amazing fish and one of the reasons I'm in the hobby. Love at first sight. :) I'm glad my little Draca is fat as a pig.

Thought my wife was the only one to name a mandarin. Ours is called Beulah and she's as fat as a potbellied pig too!

[greatwhite@AlamoAquatics]

interesting info mandarins are one of my favorite fish ive had mine for about 3 years and hes a fat pig . do any of you guys know if theyll breed in captivity that be a cool project if it were possible

[barderer]

part of the responsibility should be on the shop to educate new reefers about the needs of the fish. The store should maintain a book, or computer kiosk where customers can look up the fish they are interested in. But then again...that would lead to less sales.

[CoryDude]

interesting info mandarins are one of my favorite fish ive had mine for about 3 years and hes a fat pig . do any of you guys know if theyll breed in captivity that be a cool project if it were possible

It's been reported that pairs have spawned in the aquarium, so it is possible. Sounds like they would be a good alternative to wild-caught species.

[justahobby]

It's been reported that pairs have spawned in the aquarium, so it is possible. Sounds like they would be a good alternative to wild-caught species.

That would be a good alternative and they can breed in captive enviroments. Being able to remove the free floating eggs would be an entirely other chore.

[greatwhite@AlamoAquatics]

That would be a good alternative and they can breed in captive enviroments. Being able to remove the free floating eggs would be an entirely other chore.

why would you need to remove the free floating eggs , is it because other fish would eat them? what if its just them in the tank would you still have to remove the eggs? I think once my tax classes are over ima start a mandarin breeding tank see what happens.

[rabadanmarco]

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46456

[justahobby]

They will cannabalize the bebe's if you don't seperate them. I am guessing the story goes this: They fight hard food already, So they have floater eggs to increase the chances of the dragonets spreading (vs. increasing in one spot and decreasing food supply) and if current doesn't send the eggs away....well, the parents get an extra meal.

This is entirely my theory. Hopefully other MAASTards will pipe in their own knowledge and food for thought.

[Rychek]

There have been a few successful attempts at breeding mandarins in captivity. One such example can be found here: http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1963. He used wild zooplankton that he collected himself to feed the new hatched larva, but he succeeded nonetheless.