question about mating mandarin?

[reefer0924]

alright first off its my friends tank 75 gallon with plenty of lr,the've been in there for a while, last night we were watching them hovering against each other near top of tank, definately looked like they were mating, we kinda spooked them and they shot off to the cover of the rocks,as they took off we noticed a bunch of what appeared to be tiny eggs,they were clear looking and kinda just floated away. were they infact mating? were those eggs? and if so will and when will they hatch? any info will be greatly appreciated

[kevinpo]

Hello,
I own a couple of pairs of mated Mandarin dragonets which spawn monthly. The eggs do not survive in the home aquarium. The feeding requirements for almost all fish fry are difficult to meet even without any fish in the tank.

Regards,
Kevin
PS: The best place to get information on raising marine fish is on the marine breeders forum:
Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders Association • Index page

[reefer0924]

thank you ,so theres not much i can or should do,just let it be for the most part. so have you breeded any live fry?

[kevinpo]

The simplest of the marine fish IMO are the Pterapogon kauderni (Banggai Cardinal). I have raised several batches to adulthood after being inspired Frank Marini in the late 90's.
The clown fish were just too much work for me after reading Joyce Wilkerson's book "Clownfish" (A wonderful book BTW). They can lay a new batch every few weeks once they get started.
The eggs and fry make good coral and fish food.

Regards,
Kevin

[reefer0924]

thanks for info, im most likely gonna leave it alone, but im sure it would be awesome to do but to much work,maybe in the future ill try the bangai cardinals,after some more resaerch, but thanks for your help

[Ninong]

Check out this article on breeding mandarinfish: here.

[reefer0924]

great stuff! thanks!