subject: Mandarin Fish Care And Requirements [print this page] Only a small number of popular Dragonet species are brought into the marine aquarium trade, the Mandarin fish is arguably the most popular one. Most species of dragonet that are brought will almost never surpass five inches in length, such as the scooter blenny. The mandarin fish is considered a smaller species with lengths topping out at four inches. The mandarin fish is quite abundant throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are slow moving creatures that are found near the bottom where they graze constantly throughout the day.
They are also known as the mandarin goby. Depsite their common names, they are not a goby fish, they are in fact a type of dragonet. Their scientific name is synchiropus splendidus. These fish have a oddly shaped head and mouth which allows them to excel at picking at their prey. Their diet is made up of smaller curstaceans such as copepods, amphipods, worms and isopods. Because of this, they are difficult to care for in captivity. While they can be trained on prepared foods, it can be a difficult task and it may not provide enough nutrition for them on a day to day basis.
Because of this, only those with larger, more established marine aquariums that have plenty of live rock have a decent chance at keeping the beautiful mandarin fish. Larger aquariums have enough natural foods (copepods) to sustain one and sometimes two specimens. A good rule of thumb to follow would be one specimen per seventy five gallons. To be on the safe side, it should be one for every hundred gallons.
The mandarin fish is not aggressive at all and is considered a very peaceful fish. Other species of fish tend not to bother with them as well. Be aware that large predatory fish such as basslets, groupers and eels will consider it an easy target so be wary. But nobody keeps them in a predator tank anyway. Angelfish, tangs, clownfish and other regularly kept species will ignore it completely.
