A little goby problem “spotted mandarins”

[Jacksfish2020]

So I have a little bit of a dilemma, I bought a male mandarin a few weeks ago he’s been great so far and been fun to watch, so someone recommend me buying a female and that’s exactly what I did. Now they’ve been fighting mostly the male fighting the female, and bullying her in my 45gallon tank. Now the females pretty small and she’s getting weaker everyday. Now I also have a 65 gallon aquarium with a pretty large pink spotted diamond watchmen goby I was thinking about moving the larger male mandarin into this tank and risking my goby getting swallowed by my pink diamond. Or should I just let them fight it out, and maybe the male will eventually leave her alone? Here’s some pictures of the pink diamond and the female mandarin I’ll post a picture of the tanks also... sorry for the bad footage btw I haven’t had a chance to clean the tanks yet

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I think some fighting is normal. For me it calmed down after a few days. How long have they been together? Are you positive they're male and female?

 

[PicassoClown04]

+1 on what’s above me. Small males can look like females but mandarins definitely know the difference. Maybe try a very large breeder box for a few days to see if that curbs the aggression? Make sure you keep the box on the bottom tho so the pods can get in

 

[dennis romano]

I had the exact same issue with my mandarins. They must be separated. Gradually, the harassed fish weakens and dies. I found the dominant fish grabbing the weaker by the face, shaking it like a dog shakes a toy.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I had the exact same issue with my mandarins. They must be separated. Gradually, the harassed fish weakens and dies. I found the dominant fish grabbing the weaker by the face, shaking it like a dog shakes a toy.

Yikes. Was the male or the female the aggressor?

 

[Jacksfish2020]

Yikes. Was the male or the female the aggressor?

The male

 

[Jacksfish2020]

+1 on what’s above me. Small males can look like females but mandarins definitely know the difference. Maybe try a very large breeder box for a few days to see if that curbs the aggression? Make sure you keep the box on the bottom tho so the pods can get in

I was told on my Instagram page it was a male, and the one being beaten up was a female, I also don’t have a breeder box, so I was wondering if my goby would swallow the male “the larger one” if I put him in my other tank “65 gallons”

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I was told on my Instagram page it was a male, and the one being beaten up was a female, I also don’t have a breeder box, so I was wondering if my goby would swallow the male “the larger one” if I put him in my other tank “65 gallons”

You can make a breeder box out of anything. Tupperware? Milk jug? Whatever. Just drill or poke a bunch of holes in it and make sure some flow is going through it.

Is that goby pretty aggressive??

 

[Jacksfish2020]

I think some fighting is normal. For me it calmed down after a few days. How long have they been together? Are you positive they're male and female?

I’m pretty sure they’re male and female, the one I bought a few days ago was for sure a female, and someone from my Instagram page told me that the other one was a male

 

[Jacksfish2020]

You can make a breeder box out of anything. Tupperware? Milk jug? Whatever. Just drill or poke a bunch of holes in it and make sure some flow is going through it.

Is that goby pretty aggressive??

He’s very agressive and the goby on the bottom looks like the male I’m sure the other one is female, the male does have that little hook on his fin, it’s thicker though

 

[dennis romano]

Yikes. Was the male or the female the aggressor?

The larger dominant was definitely a male. The loser was too small to tell.

 

[mattzang]

mandarins will fight if the tank is too small and there aren't enough pods to go around. so even if u do have a male and female, they might still fight in a tank that size. 45g is borderline large enough to sustain one mandarin long term let alone two

 

[najer]

I would move the male or the female will starve.