Will my mandarins kill each other

[mrblanco396]

I have had a mandarin goby for six months that I trained to eat pellets and frozen foods right now it’s probably around an inch and it is female. I recently bought another mandarin online where I asked if they could send me a male but when I got it it turns out it may be a female since it too does not have the spiked dorsal fin and it is an inch bigger than my current mandarin. Since I couldn’t really return it or do anything I got it to eat pellets and frozen foods as well and then put it into my 50 gallon tank. For the first day they did seem to fight a good amount but now they seem to sleep in the same place at night. I hope this continues and they happen to get along but I’m wondering if it’s possible that they fight again and end up killing on another. If so I’ll have to get rid of the bigger one

 

[Sailfin11]

I wonder if your new mandarin is just a younger male without the high fin yet. Do you think that's a possibly? I know some fish have pairing dances that can look like fighting. Either way, great job training them to pellets!

 

[jsvand5]

If it’s a male than it being bigger than your current female is perfect for pairing. If it’s a female you’ll have trouble. Can you post some pics?

 

[jayala12]

Maybe the bigger one is a male. I’ve heard of the male dorsal fin being damaged during transport and taking time to grow back.

 

[mrblanco396]

This is the best picture I could get of it with it dorsal fin showing that smaller one was sleeping behind it. I know the sampler one is a female for sure but I can’t be certain about this one

 

[McDam]

I had the same issue and ended up with two females. They have both been in my 90gal for 8-9 months and are both still alive although the bigger one does chase the smaller one around a lot they usually stick o their own side of the tank. i did witness the other night the worst battle I have seen yet and the smaller one got a nip out of its tail. Other than that they are both healthy and fat. Time will tell. It might be a bigger issue as they get larger.

 

[MERKEY]

View attachment 1367500 This is the best picture I could get of it with it dorsal fin showing that smaller one was sleeping behind it. I know the sampler one is a female for sure but I can’t be certain about this one

It's a female

Eventually they will want their own sleeping spots. Depending on how well your pod population is and how much other room you have they could end up ok.

It's all a crap shoot at this point. Maturity will hit and they will change.

 

[AC1211]

They will figure it out but if one gets picked on for the long term do not hesitate to pull a fish out.

 

[mrblanco396]

I have a good amount of copepods in my refegium and have I see the both picking at the rocks as well as eat when I feed the entire tank. In two years I will be upgrading to a 120 in 1-2 years so if I can keep them without fighting for that long they may be ok once I move them over. I only have those two fish and a pair of clownfish in my 50g.

 

[mrblanco396]

So I went to my LFS and the owner was cool with exchanging the bigger female I had for a male. Now the only concern I have is that the male is like 2 inches bigger than the female I have will there be any problems between them. He was more than worthy of exchanging it because I told him that I trained it to eat pellets and frozen food

 

[jsvand5]

So I went to my LFS and the owner was cool with exchanging the bigger female I had for a male. Now the only concern I have is that the male is like 2 inches bigger than the female I have will there be any problems between them. He was more than worthy of exchanging it because I told him that I trained it to eat pellets and frozen food

No, that is perfect. You want a big male with a small female.