I special ordered him for someone and they no showed. I don't want him to starve to death. Plenty fat, shows NO interest in frozen so keep that in mind if you want him. You need a well established large tank to support him.
*fat* Mandarin 19.99 He's Big! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Merkurfan
- Start date
cj_doede
Senior Member
do you know if its male or female?
Not a clue
it's a male.
Just so I know. how'd you figure that out?
the dorsal fin on males is really long. Females do not have this. Sometimes males with a damaged/midding dorsal fin can be confused for females, but not vice versa.
cj_doede
Senior Member
:biggthumpup:
Would enriched live brine shrimp be a possible way to feed it?
redeclipse6049
Senior Member
the best way to tell (i couldn't see it from that photo) is usually when they swim around, they (or at least mine) tend to put the dorsal fin up, and it looks like a spike, something the females don't have. Basically what kate said, but here's an example
male-
female-
(or in the case of mine, the dorsal isn't as spiky looking, but you can still tell because of its characteristic shape-
Edit- on a related note... Its always nice seeing a healthy mandarin.. Before I bought mine, they all kind of looked the same (If i went out in public wearing colors like that, people wouldn't notice my weight either) ,but after comparing mine to the ones in fish stores lately, it seems to be a pretty rare thing seeing a healthy looking mandarin. I always feel bad that I don't have a bigger tank when I see such skinny looking fish... I just wanna rescue them
male-
female-
(or in the case of mine, the dorsal isn't as spiky looking, but you can still tell because of its characteristic shape-
Edit- on a related note... Its always nice seeing a healthy mandarin.. Before I bought mine, they all kind of looked the same (If i went out in public wearing colors like that, people wouldn't notice my weight either) ,but after comparing mine to the ones in fish stores lately, it seems to be a pretty rare thing seeing a healthy looking mandarin. I always feel bad that I don't have a bigger tank when I see such skinny looking fish... I just wanna rescue them
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maybe.. IF he'll eat them.
redeclipse6049
Senior Member
I might be preaching to the choir here, but from what I read when I was looking into buying mine, generally they'll accept live brine if put right in front of them. Once they start eating it regularily, switch over to frozen brine, continue, switch to frozen mysis, etc.
I've never had an issue with live ADULT brine as a first food. Throw it in a breeder net, offer plenty of enriched live brine, and once that is well accepted you can start with enriched frozen brine and hikari mysis. Works reasonably well to get them onto frozen foods, but takes TIME and several feedings per day.
Good to know, I just started a culture a day ago, they likely won't be large enough by the time this guy sells. My current mandarin should be happy though.
You know 2 male mandarins can't go together...just throwing that out there since you said you already have 1. 2 males of different species (i.e. 1 spotted and 1 green) I've seen work as I've personally done it. But 2 males of the same..in a small tank, no way.
I have two tanks set up, yes I am aware
thank you form making sure though, I know you always have the best interest of the fish in mind.The one I currently have is a small male spotted and he's getting fat on frozen enriched brine 5x daily.
Thle009
Senior Member
It seems they don't like to work for their food, so it's best if you have a feeding station. I cut out the bottom of a 2L soda bottle and an entry big enough for the mandarins, but not so big that other fishes can get in and added frozen brine in the bottle. I also notice mine didn't like mysis shrimp, not sure if mysis are too crunchy for them.
That techique is used to catch fish, the mandrin might not be able to get back out once he is in the bottle, unless you release him/her everything which can be a headache.
Thle009
Senior Member
I made the hole large enough, but not big enough for the yellow tang to get in. Beside mine were smart mandarins