Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[jedimasterben]

Jedi, thanks for the link. Very informative. But I have to ask - is my Mandarin a male or female? I'm officially confused, because my eyesight tells me it's a male based on the now-visible spike on its dorsal fin, but its previous behavior suggests that it is a female.

It is a male. Females will never have that first dorsal ray extend in any Synchiropus species.

[Tamberav]

It looks like a juvi male to me but their behavior suggests otherwise.

 

I am concerned about the white spots :/

[Snow_Phoenix]

Okay, thank you everyone. Guess a name change is in order for my Mandy. And I'm concerned about the blemishes as well. He seems to be swimming and eating alright, but still losing a bit of girth. I'm thinking of picking up some cured LR from a friend and stuffing it in the fuge compartment until I can get some more chaeto - just in case. Funny thing is that he's still accepting frozen - especially bloodworms and mysis.

[Tamberav]

Here is a great pic of a mature female and male: http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/tm.aspx?m=35636

[Simone]

Okay, thank you everyone. Guess a name change is in order for my Mandy. And I'm concerned about the blemishes as well. He seems to be swimming and eating alright, but still losing a bit of girth. I'm thinking of picking up some cured LR from a friend and stuffing it in the fuge compartment until I can get some more chaeto - just in case. Funny thing is that he's still accepting frozen - especially bloodworms and mysis.

 

I still think the behavioral observations are more important than the physical ones. Both your mandarins are over 2 inches right? They start maturing sexually at around 6 months, these must be at least a year, large enough so that if they were both male they would be fighting, not cuddling.

 

I had my female spotted mandarin first and her dorsal fin looked similar to yours and multiple people here told me that she could be a juvi male, but after looking at multiple pictures of spotted females online, I felt sure enough she was female to try adding a male. I added the male in a breeder box and they immediately started exhibiting courtship behavior through the box and have been bonded ever since. i will try to get a picture of her dorsal fin for you.

 

Maybe you could get one of those medicated foods for her?

[Tamberav]

Maybe they were cuddling because they were sick? One died the next day I think? And this one not looking good. May have been ill and fighting not a high priority? Just a thought.

 

The spotteds are a pain in the ass to sex. Especially at a LFS where they won't put their fin up

[JoeDigiorgio]

Idk. It's been a minute or two since I've had a picturatus pair at home but I don't recall ever seeing a female with a spine that prominent. I also don't think 2 males would have tolerated each other.

 

Is it at all possible that you've got them confused and the female is the one who died?

 

How long did you have them for?

[jedimasterben]

I also don't think 2 males would have tolerated each other.

If they were juveniles, then they would probably have been ok with each other for the time being. As they got closer to sexual maturity (which is ~12-14 months) they probably would have been less friendly lol

[JoeDigiorgio]

Mmm. I'm gonna respectfully disagree. Any two healthy males of any age post settlement will fight pretty furiously. I've seen 50 day olds sparring.

 

The reason I ask how long you had them is because 2 new fish usually don't fight. This isn't always true but is relatively reliable. We've all seen LFS tanks packed with anthias, flame angels, mandarins, clowns etc etc etc. Scared or unsettled fish don't fight. Other priorities are in play. They may even 'cuddle' for safety in numbers for a few weeks until they're home, as it were.

[jedimasterben]

[JoeDigiorgio]

You guys need to stop with these pics. Making me want another pair. That's just what I need right now lol

[jedimasterben]

You guys need to stop with these pics. Making me want another pair. That's just what I need right now lol

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure the one that died was a male full-out. His fin was very sharp and pointed when fully raised, but he was approximately 2.25" long. This 'female' is 2.5" long. Although I'd love to get my Mandy paired up in the far future, right now my main priority is making sure she/he heals. I'm not sure if the parasite took a lot out of her, but one thing's for sure - I'll be giving this LFS a miss from now on. I just purchased an onyx Occy two days back, and the fish died under less than 2 hours despite being well acclimated. Initially I thought it was a problem with my tank, but a quick param check showed everything was spot on.

 

Since I've had two fish suddenly die on me from this LFS and one which came in sick with an isopod attached - yeah, I won't be giving them my custom anytime soon unless it's dry stuff. I'll continue observing my Mandy to see if there are any changes in his/her fin. If it grows longer and tips upwards, I'll know it's a male. But if it's stunted, I'm inclined to think it -might- be a female. There's no proper way of knowing unless I introduce another Mandy to the tank, but I need to take care and nurse this one back to full health first.

 

Thanks to everyone whom helped. I appreciate it.

[Snow_Phoenix]

This was the male who died. You can see how pointed his fin was even while it wasn't held up:

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

I can't see the pic for whatever reason but I believe you. Just had to ask. A lot of times fish will die with fins all clamped leaving room for mistake on our part.

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I can't see the pic for whatever reason but I believe you. Just had to ask. A lot of times fish will die with fins all clamped leaving room for mistake on our part.

 

Hang on, Joe - any chance you can follow this link instead?

 

http://i.prntscr.com/3fb9564e44224d51a7c066539f0bce86.png

 

And yes, I admit the male was very stressed at the store when I picked him up. He lasted 2 days only in my tank and adapted to frozen instantly, although he didn't like it when I put some garlic juice in his frozen food for some reason. The other Mandarin is still alive and doing okay - not too great, I fear. I'll definitely head out to pick up some cured LR rubble pieces to stuff my fuge with. Hopefully that'll keep the pod population up so the fish does fatten up a bit.

[Obsessed Reefer]

Question for everyone. Currently I have two netted breeder boxes, like this. My question is, since they are fairly small, and as Simone pointed out, it might stress them out having both of them in a small area, would something like this work better? My only issue with it is that it's external, and I need an air pump for it, but I like the idea, and it's a lot bigger, and since I'm only going to have them in there for a few days to make sure they are eating frozen after taking them home from the store.

[jedimasterben]

Considering that it is still a half gallon in total volume, it's not exactly a large area.

[Simone]

Question for everyone. Currently I have two netted breeder boxes, like this. My question is, since they are fairly small, and as Simone pointed out, it might stress them out having both of them in a small area, would something like this work better? My only issue with it is that it's external, and I need an air pump for it, but I like the idea, and it's a lot bigger, and since I'm only going to have them in there for a few days to make sure they are eating frozen after taking them home from the store.

 

Oh you have two boxes? I thought you were talking about putting both fish together in one box.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Hang on, Joe - any chance you can follow this link instead?

 

http://i.prntscr.com/3fb9564e44224d51a7c066539f0bce86.png'>http://i.prntscr.com/3fb9564e44224d51a7c066539f0bce86.png

 

And yes, I admit the male was very stressed at the store when I picked him up. He lasted 2 days only in my tank and adapted to frozen instantly, although he didn't like it when I put some garlic juice in his frozen food for some reason. The other Mandarin is still alive and doing okay - not too great, I fear. I'll definitely head out to pick up some cured LR rubble pieces to stuff my fuge with. Hopefully that'll keep the pod population up so the fish does fatten up a bit.

 

Still wont work :'(

 

Question for everyone. Currently I have two netted breeder boxes, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lees-Aquarium-Pet-Net-Breeder/19299497'>like this. My question is, since they are fairly small, and as Simone pointed out, it might stress them out having both of them in a small area, would http://www.amazon.com/Marina-Hang-On-Breeding-Box-Large/dp/B005QRDCP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413063528&sr=8-1&keywords=breeder+box'>something like this work better? My only issue with it is that it's external, and I need an air pump for it, but I like the idea, and it's a lot bigger, and since I'm only going to have them in there for a few days to make sure they are eating frozen after taking them home from the store.

 

I don't see the point in buying this if you've already got the netted one. Plus if by some work of the FishTank Devil they manage to jump out, they end up jerky-fied instead of in the display lol

[Obsessed Reefer]

Oh you have two boxes? I thought you were talking about putting both fish together in one box.

 

Yea, I have two of the netted ones, was thinking of seeing if I could somehow combine them into one, haha.

 

I don't see the point in buying this if you've already got the netted one. Plus if by some work of the FishTank Devil they manage to jump out, they end up jerky-fied instead of in the display lol

 

Yea, that was the one thing I didn't like.

[Obsessed Reefer]

So I got home today and set up my in tank fuge, and it's a lot bigger than I thought. I might be able to use it for the fish.

[Obsessed Reefer]

What does everyone soak their food in? My lfs sells selcon and vita Chem.

[Jorgieee]

I really want to put one in my 29 gallon biocube, but I hear they are hard to feed is there any tips you guys suggest if I do go that route thanks !

[Obsessed Reefer]

Good news! My pair is acclimating as I type. When I got them, I noticed the male had some minor fin damage, which I hadn't noticed last week, hopefully it was just a hermit or something. I'm going to keep a close eye to make sure he pulls through. The pair has officially been named by my girlfriend, as Mushu & Maleficent (M&M).

 

 

I really want to put one in my 29 gallon biocube, but I hear they are hard to feed is there any tips you guys suggest if I do go that route thanks !

 

Tons of tips throughout this thread. I know it's very long to read through. One of the easiest methods is using some type of breeder box to contain the fish inside your tank, and feed it inside there, so it has a chance to get the food.

 

On the note of this tread being super long, maybe we can get an edit to the first post to consolidate the information.