Mandarin question - Introducing male - with established female

[clhardy5]

I have a female green mandarin in my 108 gallon....She's been in there for a couple of months now and is doing great. Fat and healthy. I have a thriving pod population in the tank, and culture Tisbe and Tig pods on the side as well - just in case. I've been wanting to add a male for awhile, and ordered one from Biota. He arrived two days ago, and is currently in a 10 gallon observation tank. He is eating pods and pellets just fine. My problem is....my female is about 1.75 inches long, and the male they sent me is much smaller.- maybe just over an inch. I've been reading that this size difference may be an issue - as the female may be very aggressive to a smaller male. So....should I put him in and watch closely? Or should I keep in the the QT to grow?

TIA

 

[KrisReef]

I'd make a post on Tinder for these kinds of situations. :)

(Common, someone must have a legit answer!) bump

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I have a female green mandarin in my 108 gallon....She's been in there for a couple of months now and is doing great. Fat and healthy. I have a thriving pod population in the tank, and culture Tisbe and Tig pods on the side as well - just in case. I've been wanting to add a male for awhile, and ordered one from Biota. He arrived two days ago, and is currently in a 10 gallon observation tank. He is eating pods and pellets just fine. My problem is....my female is about 1.75 inches long, and the male they sent me is much smaller.- maybe just over an inch. I've been reading that this size difference may be an issue - as the female may be very aggressive to a smaller male. So....should I put him in and watch closely? Or should I keep in the the QT to grow?

TIA

I've also heard to add a smaller female to an established male. If you choose to proceed, I would proceed with caution. Acclimation box first and monitor.

 

[AZReef13]

Yes, I tried this a while ago, Have 3 year old Captive breed female, Aquired a captive breed male, who was smaller to her, Once in tank she hunted him down,,,, Well rest of story, is she is still single...

 

[NashobaTek]

If the female is bigger she will kick his hinney. When I added the 3 I have, 1 female was a little bit bigger than the male and she nailed him on the way to the bottom. As he out grew her they started hanging out together and now all 3 stick close to each other.

Best advice is keep them separate until he's her size or bigger.

 

[clhardy5]

Thanks everyone....I'm going to leave him in the QT for awhile, and let him grow. He seems happy - hunting pods all day. Last question....how fast will he grow? Just trying to figure out a time line.