Ordered a "pair" of Mandarins, got 2 males...

J

Jay Fortay

Uber Member
I didn't realize the "pair" of green Mandarins I ordered was, in fact, 2 males until I added them to the display. They were fine together in the bucket while acclimating. I put them in the tank together and they hung out in the same end of the tank and hunted the same area of rocks all afternoon and evening, frequently passing by each other. No aggression from either so far except when they first went in the display they showed each other their dorsal spines. That was all though. While I am upset that I didn't receive a "pair" I am happy to have received 2 healthy looking (hiring and pecking) fish. I think it definitely works in their favor that they are in a 88" long 30" wide 240 gallon tank.

I am wondering if they will always show aggression towards other males right away or if it can develop over time? Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence of 2 males thriving in a tank the size of mine?

I hope it will work out as my options are limited. I know the mandarin is usually pretty easy to get out, but getting it out won't be my problem. Re-homing one of them, if need be, may be the problem. I live in Montana, I don't know any local reefers who are capable of caring for a mandarin, and the LFS here is not an option.
 
Hard to mistake the long dorsal spine of a male for the female's lack of one. I'm not going to say where I ordered them from just yet as I haven't gotten to communicate the issue with them fully yet. I just wrote them a long email. We will see how they respond.
 
I got a larger female and a smaller male in a 120X36X30 and it did not go well. The female beat up the male so bad that I have to remove him. Many people do not realize that the female need to be smaller than the male. This was not the case of spike broken off either. The female was in my tank for a while and the male was the new fish
 
I had experiences with keeping 2 male in my 450 gal tank. One of the male got his spike broke off so I though that he was a female. It did not last for more than a few days and I have to remove the weaker one, all torn up. Sorry.
Once they get comfortable, they will go at each other.
 
Ronald L. Shimek is in Montana some where. If he is close to you he likely can help.
Just look it up. He is in Wilsall about 40 miles from you. Dr. Shimek was really nice when he was younger 20 years ago. He seem to be much more of a curmudgeon lately.
 
Day 2 report they have been a little more to themselves today. Sometimes passing by each other seemingly ignorant of each other. They have yet to display dorsal spikes to one another. So far so good.

As far as the seller goes, what would you expect from the seller of these fish? I got an email today, in return of my email last night, that said they apologize for the error, would "look into this matter", and get back to
me as soon as possible. What do you all think the resolution should be? I obviously paid more for the bonded pair than I would have for even a separate male and female. Now I have to deal with having two males...
 
I would want at least a refund of the difference in cost between two males and the cost of a pair. I would also want them to ship a smaller female, though that would surely impact any refund amount. I doubt that they would want one shipped back.
 
I was originally thinking that exactly, but then after doing the math, realized the difference in price is only $5.05 because the males are more expensive than the females. So, then I got to thinking that a refund for the difference between the pair and one male ($36.00) would be more appropriate. Then I would feel better about giving the 2nd male away to a suitable home. If it came to that.
 
I think they should ship you a new smaller female and you deal with the extra male yourself. Likely that is the most they can do
 
Yes. I am not saying they will. However that would be the most that any reasonable vendor would do. You can always flush one of the male :(
 
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