Spotted Mandarin Advice

Mandarin Keeper

Reefing newb
I have one male spotted mandarin, in a tank full of algae plants and live rock (no coral) hes the only fish in the tank and I tried introducing a spotted female into the tank over the weekend,

I thought it would be nice to have a pair as its just a mandarin tank without other fish.
(I have another larger tank with much faster tangs clownfish and corals in it)

They fought a bit at first but then ignored each other for two days, but on day 3 I woke up one to the dead female in the tank.

I Just wondered if anyone has any advice about how to introduce a male to a female, I wanted to try again but am nervous about trying and losing another fish.

I could always move it over into the larger tank if they don t get on this time but its not ideal as a long term solution as the other fish I have in there compete for the food so it doesn't get enough nutrients.

I would like some advice on the mating habits of the male and female spotted mandarin too if possible.
 
he was quite skinny when I bought him but I have gradually been feeding him up with live pods every week putting in live food and I can see him eating them from the glass. When i put the 2 fish in together I also put loads of pods in there in order to help get them settled in. I also feed him frozen food, sometimes cyclops sometimes brinesbrimp and sometime mysis. (He will only eat it if it is plain not with garlic added etc) I have tried bloodworm too but he is picky and won't eat the bloodworm from this packet I have bought but would eat the last one. (It's the same brand as before and everything) He just keeps spitting it out! I think that the bits could be too big for his mouth? Sometimes he won't eat the frozen but he is getting slowly fatter. He is the only fish in the tank so no competition for food at the moment. Perhaps I should wait until he is fatter before I introduce a female. I was wondering if I should have got a smaller female as they were the same size really.
 
Definitely different sizes is better. They figure out who's the boss easier. Somebody has to be Tony Danza.
 
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