Mandrinfish

[snfkotara]

Are these 2 breeding or fighting?
http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt258/sherrycoats/PICT0076.jpg

[snfkotara]

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt258/sherrycoats/PICT0077.jpg

[snfkotara]

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt258/sherrycoats/PICT0078.jpg

[Squiers007]

Anyway you could post a video? it can be hard to tell how they are moving from pictures, how long have both of them been in there? I'm assuming you bought them as a male and female right? If they are very comfortable in your tank then they very well could be mating, keep up the good work if they are!

[Big_Pun]

can u get a pic of each one with the dorsal fine up

[Kristy]

can u get a pic of each one with the dorsal fine up

She did... check out that third photo. It's definitely a male and a photo, but I think a young male and female, based on the length of that dorsal spike.

Beautiful colors on those mandarins, Sherry! And great photos!

There are videos posted somewhere on the web (cannot research and find it for you right now because I'm at work but could look later if you haven't found one) of courtship behaviors of mandarins. It is a very distinctive behavior. They seem to hold hands (fins) and swim together side by side, then face to face. They kind of swim up to the surface of the water together, then twirl around.

Anyway, if their behavior seems to be like that described above, then it's courtship. I've seen mandarins (newly introduced) that fight to establish dominance and it definitely looks like fighting, with chasing after one another and biting of the fins. More than likely, if these two have been recently introduced to one another, then they're establishing dominance, especially since they are close to the same size.

Hope that helps!

[snfkotara]

Well they have lived together for 2 or 3 months now and they have stopped for the time being but before they did the female had the male by the mouth dragging him around the tank that lasted like 2 or 3 minutes.

[Kristy]

That's fighting. She's showing him that she's boss.

[snfkotara]

lol I redid the rocks last night boy i must have ****ed her off. She has never done that before.

[snfkotara]

my kids said they look like fighting dogs. well think goodness nobody was injuried.

[devonian]

wow, now those are sweet pics! nice! glad your fish are doing good, might take some time for them to get used to each other being in the same tank

[snfkotara]

no they have been together for month they are partner they always hunt together and swim together this fighting just started when the light came on. that why I thought maybe they were mating.

[Big_Pun]

sorry i was lookin on my iphone earlier now i see them, looks like a young male and the other for sure looks like a female, good looking fish, i have a huge fat male i need to find a female for him, by far my favorite fish in my tank, he spends all day hanging with the lawn mower blenny

[snfkotara]

I love mine also but everyone in my main tank are my favorite. Mainly wrasses.

[snfkotara]

this is how they usually swim togetherhttp://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt258/sherrycoats/PICT0072.jpg

[devonian]

wow, they ARE a nice pair

[dmweise]

I am fairly certain that they are fighting. Both of them are males. The females do not have the long dorsal fin spike.

[CoryDude]

I that were two males, one of them would be dead by now. I've seen male/female fight before, but like Kristy/Mike said, it's just to show who's wearing the pants. Pretty cool pair you got there.

[OrionN]

Larger female often will beat up a smaller male.
Whey they mate, they swim around and around while raise up in the water column and releases eggs and sperms. Once they reach the top, they will dash back down to the bottom and will do it again and again until all the eggs and sperm released.

[snfkotara]

so the eggs float around in the water until they go down the drain?

[OrionN]

The density of the eggs is only slightly higher than the salt water and it float around and other fish eat it

[CoryDude]

I knew a wholesaler 10 years ago that reported success in breeding. He had a 300 gallon tank with 400lbs of live rock and no other fish, no sump, or other type of filtration. Not sure on his success rate of actually raising the fry to adults.

[Rychek]

With mandarin breeding the hard part isn't getting the eggs to hatch. Its providing food that the fry can eat that will keep them alive long enough to fully form. It has been done by over at MOFIB (Marine Ornamental Fish and Invert Breeders) but Witt (Matthew L. Wittenrich) was using "wild caught plankton." When he suceeded (last year) he didn't know for sure which components of the palnkton the fry were actually eating. That may have changed since then though.

[OrionN]

That and the time it it take from baby to saleable, plus how cheap it is to get wild caught Mandarin. It is doable but not even near profitable.

[snfkotara]

I just like raising baby fish. I did real well with cichlids.

[Rychek]

This thread has got me thinking about trying my hand at breeding marine fish again. I'm sure if I should be exited or afraid for my pocket book. :bigsmile:

[Europhyllia]

Sherry if you haven't already you really got to check out MOFB.
I think some people have had some success with larvae food other than wild caught plankton such as SS rotifers (only the strongest larvae will be able to accept that as food) as well as A Tonsa freshly hatched nauplii (you'd have to culture them. I don't know where you'd get just eggs here in the US).
I am waiting for mine to start spawning as well and am thinking SS rotifers would be the most economical way to try it even if it means that only a few would make it through the critical stage on that.

[snfkotara]

I have a book on raising baby fish but have read it in a while I need to get it out and read it again. I guess right now if it happens it happens I'm not going to try real hard I am working on getting the 130 gal tank and setting it up the I will concentrate on my pairs having babies.