Very pregnant mandarin

[Paul B]

Every few weeks my pair of mandarins spawn and every time they do, I say to myself, Self, I don't think a fish could get any more pregnant than her. But every month, just when I think she is going to explode, she spawns.
I used to think she was egg bound but she always pulls through and has her babies. I am not sure if she gets stretch marks or not.

 

[alan.reef]

Looking good ballon belly mandarin.

 

[clownfitch]

Wow. That's incredible. She's huge!

 

[Paul B]

Yes, but I don't tell her that, she is sensitive.

 

[wrasseluver]

It looks like she swallowed a marble.

 

[Getyourpods]

She is BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[footballdude2k3]

Very nice, how many fish do you have that are spawning on a regular basis in your tank, and how long have you had them?

 

[vic67]

She does look like she is about to explode...my wife looked like that at once. ;)

Have you tried to catch and raise the fry?

 

[Eienna]

Holy moly O.o Fishie gonna pop!

 

[NanaReefer]

Omg! She's gotta wobble when she swims-lol. Are you going to try and rear them Paul? Keep us posted please, especially on her welfare :)

 

[prsnlty]

Yes, but I don't tell her that, she is sensitive.

Hahaha, you're so nice!

 

[Paul B]

I don't raise the fry. All my paired fish are spawning and do it every month or two including, pipefish, clown gobies, fireclowns, bangai cardinals, watchman gobies, threadfin cardinals and striped cardinals. Fish are supposed to spawn and all healthy fish spawn. It would be odd if they did not spawn.
Spawning


You can see the eggs just above the clown gobi. (her mate was in OTB while I took this)


These guys spawn all the time.


These guys spawned all the time in the 70s


Blue devil eggs (circa 1972)


Here is the dad over his nest.


Watchman with her eggs.


Female seahorse transfering eggs to male in my reef maybe 20 years ago


Pregnant bluestripe pipefish

 

[colorfan45]

Very nice.

 

[Shep]

I have a female mandarin and was thinking of getting a male and trying to breed them, do you have any tips or advice? Is it possible to catch the fry or move the eggs to help them survive?

 

[MrDJeep123]

Makes me wonder if my parrotfish would've spawned. They were doing really well together and started to dance a bit. Then the male decided he couldn't take fatherhood and jumped the tank. I guess. *shrugs*

 

[fishroomlady]

that is one pregnant fish! I'm curious as well whether you've ever tried to raise any fry with all of your spawns

 

[Paul B]

I used to raise fish maybe 20 years ago, now I just don't have the time. They are not hard to raise but they require a lot of time as you need to feed them continousely, not once a day like adults and you need to change their water every day because you can't really put a filter in there as many of the fry are this big -----------> . <------------- (cute isn't she?

As for tips on breeding mandarins it is the same with all fish, you need to feed them and feed them a lot. I invented a mandarin feeder and it is on here someplace. I put new born brine shrimp in there every day to supplement the many pods in my tank. I also give them some live worms every day. They especially love white worms because they remain alive for hours in salt water. It is difficult to collect the eggs as they spawn early in the morning and you need to be there exactly when it happens and they do it in the back of the tank. I would keep them in a separate tank and try it or at least try to put them in a separate tank when they are ready but that may get them out of the mood. Mandarins are not easy to convince to spawn when you want them to spawn. You can do that with clownfish but mandarins are stubborn

 

[Shep]

Thank for the advice I'll try soon and just see how it goes

 

[reefwiser]

Paul,did the mandarin release her egg's

 

[Paul B]

Let me go and look for her...................
I can't find her right now but she spends a lot of time in maternity shops in the back of the rocks or in a bottle so that is not unusual. The male, Chooch that he is, is on the feeder sucking up all the baby brine shrimp along with the blue stripe pipefish. But what I did notice is that about 8 of my LEDs are out. That is a pain because the solder joints are exposed to salt spray and to re-solder in new LEDs require me to cut the wires back and make double solder splices. I really need some time to re design and build a new fixture that is more conducive to changing lamps.