Breeding Mandarins

[Gabridge83]

Anyone know how to collect Green Mandarian eggs from a reef tank? They’ve done their mating dance twice now

 

[Whatskillz]

they should float to the surface i think

 

[gtrttopher]

They give live birth, I’ve seen the fry in my filter shocks before.

 

[Gabridge83]

They give live birth, I’ve seen the fry in my filter shocks before.

No actually they swim to the top of the tank and release their eggs and sperm in the water column to be carried out into the “ocean” We’ve been reading and researching breeding them but the collecting eggs part keeps being left out of scientific and research papers.

 

[90gDreams]

They give live birth, I’ve seen the fry in my filter shocks before.

This is a species that took a years of work to crack the code on and even with multiple breeders and competition vs wild caught specimens the price is around $100 and you are by happenstance getting them to a size where you can identify the fry as such and then tossing them out in a filter sock?

No actually they swim to the top of the tank and release their eggs and sperm in the water column to be carried out into the “ocean” We’ve been reading and researching breeding them but the collecting eggs part keeps being left out of scientific and research papers.

Museum of Monaco *appears* to be straining by hand.

 

[Rainblood]

No actually they swim to the top of the tank and release their eggs and sperm in the water column to be carried out into the “ocean” We’ve been reading and researching breeding them but the collecting eggs part keeps being left out of scientific and research papers.

Sounds like you have to catch them in the act and scoop the eggs out

Breeding the Green Mandarin

Matthew L. Wittenrich documents the successful captive breeding and rearing of the Psychedelic or Green Mandarin Dragonet, Synchiropus splendidus.

www.reef2rainforest.com

The actual release of eggs occurs at a steady pace and I was excited to see them being released. Only after all the eggs were expelled did the pair make a mad dash toward the bottom sending the eggs in a chaotic spiral to the top.

I grabbed a small water bottle and slowly gathered the eggs from the surface of the water. Using a small flashlight from below, I could see the eggs as tiny translucscent spheres. Some were clumped together in long chains while others were spread singly. After about 15 minutes I was confident that I had gathered every last egg. I plugged the filters back in and immediately rushed the eggs off to my lab at Florida Tech. I was excited. I had waited 14 years to buy another mandarin and instead of watching it slowly wither away I had just observed my new pair spawn in a tiny glass box thousands of miles from the reef. What a feeling

 

[Grey.E]

Tell me when there ready to take home !!

 

[Gabridge83]

Tell me when there ready to take home !!

We haven’t hatched any out yet but we hope to in the future.

 

[Grey.E]

Okay awesome

 

[sharis100]

Our paid live happily in our frag tank and have no idea whether they are breeding or not. How did you figure that out?

 

[Gabridge83]

Our paid live happily in our frag tank and have no idea whether they are breeding or not. How did you figure that out?

You have to simulate dusk and Dawn with your lighting. That’s when they will come together and do their mating swim to the surface and when they quickly separate at the water surface they release their eggs and sperms for the current to take. We are going to have a separate system for mandarins to breed in eventually but if we can collect eggs from the main display we will give it a go. This is what my husband wants to do when he retires.

 

[sharis100]

You have to simulate dusk and Dawn with your lighting. That’s when they will come together and do their mating swim to the surface and when they quickly separate at the water surface they release their eggs and sperms for the current to take. We are going to have a separate system for mandarins to breed in eventually but if we can collect eggs from the main display we will give it a go. This is what my husband wants to do when he retires.

Hope he is very successful! Would love to see photos of baby mandarins on the site!

 

[Gabridge83]

Hope he is very successful! Would love to see photos of baby mandarins on the site!

He’s been doing a lot of reading and planning. We know it’s going to take sometime to figure it out but he wants to do it. His idea is to see more captive bred mandarins available so the wild ones don’t keep dying in captivity with owners who aren’t aware of their dietary needs.