Pairing Mandarinfish

[Nihilus]

Lol, we all lose some marbles eventually!
The only side I cling to is the fishes...

I'm just saying, often as I tell people I've had many of those, don't think that in the back of my mind anyone that does not know I've been around is probably thinking, yeah, you've gone through many of those cause you can't keep em!

Cool!

On a side note; how many of us are bouncing the ball off another site? Tell the truth now...

 

[Nihilus]

I've always thought that Paul B's fish live forever? Did I miss something? lol

 

[Nihilus]

Just a highlight...

 

[davocean]

Cool!

On a side note; how many of us are bouncing the ball off another site? Tell the truth now...

I figure everyone here probably thinks I'm a noob!
Both places have value.

 

[Paul B]

Also keep in mind many of us have had multiple tanks running, 5 at one time was my record, and that was in a 1 bedroom house...

This is true. I had 14 tanks once, most of them small for breeding and experiments.

Don't forget, there's a lot of us that think this old man has lost his marbles... Just an EGO MANIAC... Will see...

Probably most of you do, but thats OK. I appreciate the criticism

These animals aren't hard to keep once trained to eat frozen as long as you keep up with the feeding. They do like to jump unfortunately.

Yes, for a fish that can barely swim, they do jump mostly at night.

I think any male and female will spawn if you feed them correctly. I also think most fish will.

 

[Ley3198]

This is true. I had 14 tanks once, most of them small for breeding and experiments.

Yes, for a fish that can barely swim, they do jump mostly at night.

They get spooked easily lol. Its good to know the behavior is mostly at night. It always helps me to keep a plexiglass cover on the tanks at night. Helps fight evap too. I once had a red ruby dragonet that found the exact position in the center of the tank and jumped through a small feeding hole and get trapped outside. No more holes after that one.

 

[Paul B]

This ruby red and female mandarin jumped out. I don't have a cover. Both were spawning.

 

[Ley3198]

This ruby red and female mandarin jumped out. I don't have a cover. Both were spawning.

Overnight correct? I don't think Iv had a dragonet jump out during the day time. Iv made it a habit to put lids on the tank whenever I am not in the room just for peace of mind, but never noticed any signs of jumping on the lids.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Is it possible to keep multiple dragonet species together?? I’m assuming they will attack each other. I was thinking of doing scooter blennies or a finger dragonet in a larger tank with a pair of mandarins.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Is it possible to keep multiple dragonet species together?? I’m assuming they will attack each other. I was thinking of doing scooter blennies or a finger dragonet in a larger tank with a pair of mandarins.

 

[SourAngelfish]

I have no idea why that duplicated

 

[davocean]

I had a pair of mandarins w/ a single ruby male, they were fine.
Seems most of my reading suggests different species can tolerate each other, or even a harem of females to a male, just mainly 2 males of same species do not get along.
Pod supply could be an issue, depending on tank size, fuge, amount of rock

 

[SourAngelfish]

I had a pair of mandarins w/ a single ruby male, they were fine.
Seems most of my reading suggests different species can tolerate each other, or even a harem of females to a male, just mainly 2 males of same species do not get along.
Pod supply could be an issue, depending on tank size, fuge, amount of rock

yea I’m definitely concerned about the pod count, Do you think Spotted and green mandarins would fight? I understand why scooters and mandarins don’t fight, but I would think that mandarin species would fight due too similar body shape.

 

[Ley3198]

Is it possible to keep multiple dragonet species together?? I’m assuming they will attack each other. I was thinking of doing scooter blennies or a finger dragonet in a larger tank with a pair of mandarins.

Yes, as long as you are providing plenty of food for all of them and hopefully most are trained on frozen foods, it shouldn't be a problem. They do require more feeding through out the day, say 4 times instead of your regular 2, but it works better with their metabolism.

Scooters seem to not really care who they are put with. My male scooter seem to flare up the most out of all of them, but never aggressively. Hes lived with a large male spotted, and now with a male Blue mandarin. They will just keep on booping around and ignrore him. He seems to only really flare up to show off to his girlfriend who he constantly spawns with. Spotted and Green males will not tolerate each other (there can only be 1 alpha male regarding these 2), They will nip at each others tails. But females seem to do ok regardless of species, then again, I havent had a mated pair of them yet to gauge their aggressiveness during mating time. As much as people want to say copepods are the only way to go, having them eat the appropriate frozen food is a better trade off for them IMO. Less work chasing, more nutrient intake.

 

[Apotack]

Like most fish variety is always a good thing

 

[ironTexas]

If you can get your hands on the female and know for sure you have a male, should be okay. No guarantees on any pairing though. Good luck! I have been looking for a male spotted for over two years now. Can only seem to find females.

Your the opposite of me. I can only find males. Been looking for a pair myself.

 

[davocean]

Yes, as long as you are providing plenty of food for all of them and hopefully most are trained on frozen foods, it shouldn't be a problem. They do require more feeding through out the day, say 4 times instead of your regular 2, but it works better with their metabolism.
.

Regardless of whether they eat prep'd foods or not, 1-3 pods per minute, all day, every day, that is what they need, a feeding 2 or even 4 times a day will not sustain them long term.

 

[Paul B]

Is it possible to keep multiple dragonet species together?? I’m assuming they will attack each other. I was thinking of doing scooter blennies or a finger dragonet in a larger tank with a pair of mandarins.

You can see in my video above all of those fish you mention all living together. I think 2 male mandarins would fight if one was a green and one a blue one but they get along in my tank with the ruby reds and ignore each other and the scooter.

 

[SourAngelfish]

What type of pipefish are those?

 

[Paul B]

In my video they are bluestripes.
Here are the dragonface, Janss and bluestripes.