Mandarin male and female

[Troender]

I just want to share my experience. It's said that you can't keep mandarins together, where the male is smaller than the female. I didn't know that when I bought a new male for my female. In the beginning it seemed like the theory was right. She both chased him and nipped his fins. I decided to keep an eye on the situation, but not to remove the male. And slowly the situation changed! The female got less aggressive. It's been about two months now, and today I saw them together without any aggression from the female. They were less than an inch apart, and the female didn't seem to care. The male, on the other hand, seemed to try to impress her. It seems that you can get far with a little patience. But of course you need to keep an eye on the situation if you try it. And I will continue to monitor the relationship between them.

 

[davocean]

It's just a better idea to get a larger male.
The female is the one that seems fussy IME, and I would swear she is actually badgering him to mate.
Males of course will hate and fight other males.
We just give general advice for best outcome, sounds like yours worked out, but came w/ some fighting and fin tearing, I personally would rather see people avoid that if they can, as it could end not so well.