Multiple Mandarin Fish

[txmaverickmh]

Hey Guys,

I have a question that I am seriously pondering...GC Reef got in the ORA Spotted Mandarins which are so awesome, still juvenile-like and supposedly trained to eat frozen foods.

I have a Green Mandarin, that I have had for the past nine months, does very well, eats all day, and I have a very healthy pod population that keeps her very happy.

MY QUESTION: Can I get one of the ORA spotted mandarins for my tank? Since they are different species and have different colorization, will they be docile towards each other? Has anyone kept different species of mandarins in the same tank?

I am just curious, doesnt sound like a great idea, but I am almost willing to give up my Green Mandarin for one of these new ORA Spotted Mandarins, they are sooo cool!

Michael

[Europhyllia]

No
and
No

lol
What do have now? Male or female?
If you have a male now and you get a small female I could see it work out theoretically. Otherwise be prepared for war

[OrionN]

I would not put the two in your tank. If you have the room and food for two, I would get a pair of the same species. They are soooo.. cool.. when they spawn

[ErikH]

Yeah they dance when they spawn. It is cool! If you add two, spotted, or psychedelic, and they are the same sex, especially male, they will fight all the time.

[z28pwr]

My wife had a Target Mandarin and a Green Psychedelic in her 265 and whenever they crossed paths they would go at it for a few seconds then be on their way. I wouldn't mix them together, specially since they will both compete for pods even though one may accept frozen it will still hunt pods.

[alton]

I want to add something to this and I know it is a little off subject but with the new ORA Mandarins even they are eating frozen remember they are still slow eaters. Unless the new ORA Mandarins come up to the top to eat, the other fish are so much faster and the mandarins are at the bottom. Michael I have never been able to keep two mandarins in one tank. Maybe when they come up with ORA green ones I will try to keep two in my forty since they do not compete with jawfish for food.

[txmaverickmh]

Answers are good enough for me, so I won't do it, but man those ORA mandarins are cute little guys!

[Reefer4ever]

I do not know of the tank size or ho w many pods you have, but I would not risk getting rid of your mandarin to get another just in case he only eats pods and not frozen.

[Europhyllia]

some observations I made with my pairs:
#1 I love my Kent Sea Squirt tool for target feeding. I used to just put some on the rocks and it would float away. I now aim it at a red Blasto I got from Firewater. The mandarins come to the Blasto to dine and the Blasto always gets the left overs. It's win-win and the stuff doesn't float away.
For the other fish I just squirt the food into the water column so they can chase it.

#2 I had a pair of male/female spotted similar in size and for them the arguing continued. Sometimes they wanted to be together and spawn and sometimes they fought. Kind of an on again off again thing.

#3 Because of the occasional fighting I was really worried about my last pairing of the big male with a tiny female but it actually worked out perfect. No fighting at all. Ever. So sweet. Always together, spawing in the evening and no fighting ever. Big male with small female is ideal IMO.

#4 I was hoping I could make a trio work of 1 large male with 2 tiny females and that didn't work. As fiercly as males fight each other, the females can be just as aggressive towards each other. The male would have been happy with two girls but the girls didn't agree so I would say avoid any same sex pairing: female/female or male/male

#5 Never rely on just pods to feed your fish :)

[Kristy]

Big male with small female is ideal IMO.


I once paired a big female with a very small male (less than half her size) and it was smooth sailing. So I would guess that the size difference is the key to success and not specific to big males / small females.



The male would have been happy with two girls but the girls didn't agree
I have encountered some human pairings that had the same problem. :)

[roscozman]

They actually brought this up this weekend at L*MAR. I believe it was during the Copepods presentation. She did mention they are two different species but they would advise not keeping more than one.

[Reefer4ever]

I have encountered some human pairings that had the same problem. :)

LOL