Surfzone
Well-Known Member
Spotted Mandarin or Synchiropus picturatus is a very common aquarium fish which will spawn in the aquarium with very little effort. They are native to the western pacific along with many of our marine aquarium species. Their natural diet is copepods and other small crustations found in live rock and live sand. Even aquaculture specimens will benefit form copepod feedings.
Sexing and paring
Spotted mandarins are rather easy to sex. The males have an elongated first dorsal spine where the females do not. Care should be taken when selecting males and females due to the fact that this spine can be damaged, and a male may appear to be a female. Two males will not tolerate each other and will fight constantly in the aquarium. Paring must also be taken with great care. Females should be smaller than males but not by too much. If the female is larger than the male she may chase off the smaller male. If the female is too small the male will reject or ignore the female.
( Notice the round belly. This is a gravid female)
Spawning
In my experience getting them to spawn is not a problem with appropriately sized specimens. The male will court the female by displaying his fins in front of her. If the female accepts him she will rise to the surface of the tank with their anile fish aligned. They will do this a few times with it culminating in a spawn. If successful the eggs will have been fertilized and float to the surface of the aquarium for collection.
Egg Collection.
I’ve always collected the eggs with a small bottle with all flow turned off. That means return pump, powerheads, and anything that will ripple the surface. I often turn it all off once I notice courtship behavior. I usually collect a 100 to 150 eggs. If there are other fish in the tank they will begin to eat the eggs during collection.
Collected eggs
Larval rearing
The larval stage of this species is anywhere from a week to 12 days. A rather quick species in the larval rearing stage. I highly recommend this species to get your feet wet when it comes to pelagic spawning. It is recommended to feed them the nauplii of Parvocalanus crassirostris but I have been successful with the more easily cultured Apocycyclops panimensis. Food densities should be around 10 food items per ml, I have also added rotifers to supplement feeding, but not the sole food, and daily water changes to keep the bottom clean. I have also found that keeping adult copepods in the larval tank a good way to keep food in the tank, however, it will not keep the density to the desired levels.
(3 day old larvae)
(6 day old )
Settlement
The larva have settled once you see the golden young hopping on the bottom. They will return to the water column to feed on the free swimming copepods. At this time it is recommended to begin feeding Tisbe copepods. Tisbe is a benthic copepod that the young will feed on using little energy. It is also advised to feed small pellets. I started off with TDO A by Reed Mariculture. at this time, it is even more important to keep the bottom as clean as possible. Within a few weeks they will begin to change from hopping golden nuggets to their adult coloration. At this stage it is a good idea to add a seasoned sponge filter. Once settled they are slow to grow.
Conclusion
This species along with the green/ red Mandarin (remarkably similar in rearing and behavior) are great species to start with when it comes to pelagic spawners.
I've surched for pictures, but most are not being accepted to the site. The only one I can upload is the three day old larvae pic.
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