Mandarin experts opinion needed, see video

[galoot]

So I wanted to try and pair up my female(so I was told) spotted mandarin, with a new male(so I was told) In the video the larger fish is the female(?) and the smaller is the male(?) I didn't realize how fast mine grew since it was the size of the little one only a couple months ago! Anyways, would the behavior exhibited say they are sexed right or otherwise? Or tell me nothing at all?

Thanks!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mWkD1ApWl6Q?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Ambition]

It's hard to tell, but I think both are females. I'm not an expert on pairing mandarins, but the smaller one is lacking the dorsal spike that males have or should have in the video. Also, the larger female is acting aggressively to the new mandarin. If you pair I think that you should look into sexing mandarins and what to look for so you know what you are looking for in a male. I'd also suggest getting a male of a similar or slightly larger size.

 

[thunderjohnsonx]

If the big one continues to be aggressive like that then they r most likely both males. Spotted mandarins have very small extensions on the males dorsil fin. Any little point is probably a male. I personally tried getting three because I heard you could keep one male and two females. But when they arrived from an online vendor I had two males. Instantly the larger of the two attacked whenever he came across the other smaller male. This continued for about two days before I moved the smaller male. No problems since. My pair have been together for two years now and mate regularly. Every once and a while the Male will chase the female for just a couple seconds but I think this is just a misidentification on his part. Once he stops he realizes its his girl friend and they go back about their business. If the chasing is more then once a day then u should consider separating them or try to identify them better. Best of luck

 

[galoot]

Ya I know about the spiked dorsal, It's hard to tell on little spotted guys. My thought was the are both females too. But I took the word of the shop on the "male" I didn't think there would be such a size difference since my original mandarin still looks tiny in the big tank The new one looked really tiny!

Do females fight with each other the way males do? I guess I'll try to find a big fat male and try again

 

[SpartaReef]

Lol.... No idea, but liked the video. Looks like fighting to me. Both are males would be my guess.... The female is supposed to be more drab and shorter fins I think.

 

[SpartaReef]

BTW I'm not an expert

 

[galoot]

haha, thanks anyways!

 

[Paul B]

Hard to tell by the video but I would say they are both males and when the small one grows a little, the larger one will kill him. I have been keeping and spawning green mandarins since the 70s and males will kill each other.



Spawning

 

[galoot]

Guess I better make darn sure I find a female then!

 

[that guy]

If you try again to find a mate for whichever mandarin you are going to keep, you absolutely must make sure the male is larger than the female. I believe if this is no the case then the female actually attacks the male and can seriously injure the male. I believe those are females because when my spotted mandarin was young his spiked dorsal fin was clearly defined.

 

[that guy]

You can see it in my avatar pic. If anything the smaller one is most likely the male.

 

[galoot]

So, now I need to find a big male. Maybe I'll just be happy with the lone mandarin. But I was really hoping to have a spawning pair.

 

[small alien]

Interesting video. They both look female to me but its quite hard to tell. Also, if they were both males, my guess is the aggression would be worse. It's not easy to tell with spotteds but its not that hard either. Study pics online or find a better person to ask at a fish store. The spike on a male is small but unambiguous. Good luck.

 

[Lorna g]

Does the bigger one have a large dorsal spike an is the females rounded? The female (smaller one) has poor body shape so they may fight for that reason mine did to begin with but now spawn regularly! Also u want a small female

 

[Lorna g]

I got it right third time lucky the aggression in the video makes me think 2 males though or the female small one is in poor body shape

 

[Lorna g]

The female I have has no spike whatsoever not even a small one the shop told me the female did an that's why I got it wrong 2 times

 

[galoot]

Sadly the little one didn't make it, or I can't find it. Gone a couple days without seeing it. Guess I'll give it some fine, figure out exactly what I have now, and find a large healthy mate. I'll try and take a good pic of the dorsal for everyone's input.