The Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus Splendidus) is quite simply one of the most breathtaking marine fishes ever to hit the hobby. Blue, green and orange lines and patches are intricately painted onto this spectacular fish. They commonly go by the name, mandarin goby, despite not being a true goby at all. The mandarin dragonet is its true name.
The mandarin dragonet is heavily collected from the Indo-Pacific. Despite its common appearance at marine pet stores all over the world, it has an abysmal survival rate in our aquariums. We will see why later on.
The mandarin dragonet is one of the most unaggressive fishes available in the trade. They are aggressive only towards other members of the genus such as the scooter dragonets. If you're interested in a pair of mandarin dragonets, look for a mandarin with an elongated first spine (a male) and look for one without (a female) and put them together.
Mandarins can grow as long as 4 inches. Technically, they require a tank no smaller than 30 gallons, only if you can get them to eat. Getting them to eat prepared foods is a real challenge. This is because they only feed on live copepods. Therefore, they need a tank full of live copepods, something like a 75 gallon established aquarium. This way, you'd never have to feed them. The tank will feed it so to speak, with its copepod populations.
With some time and a lot of effort, mandarin fish can be trained to accept prepared foods, even pellets.First, you need adult live brine shrimp. They are receptive to live brine shrimp so getting them to eat it is a task that will take care of itself. Next, introduce some frozen artemia with the live ones during your next feeding. Once they begin eating frozen brine shrimp you can breathe a sigh of relief, but its not over yet. We need to slowly get them to accept a more nutritious food like mysis shrimp.
As before, mix in some mysis shrimp with the frozen artemia. The deed is done once they start taking mysis shrimp. You should try and get them other foods such as a good pellet and krill.
But wait, you've just solved one problem. They are painfully slow feeders. Their tank mates will finish everything before it gets a chance to grab a single mysis. This problem can be solved in three simple ways. You could feed a lot more, thereby ensuring some food will be left for the mandarin and in the process, foul up your tank. Or, you can use a pipette to spot feed your mandarin dragonet. Lastly, you can find a bottle with an entrance only big enough for the mandarin and stuff some food in there.
All of these methods will work.
Roman Veaila is a hobbyist that has kept numerous reef aquariums. In his spare time he writes guides on marine fishes. Visit his hubpage for more detailed guides on Synchiropus Splendidus as well as the always popular Flame Angelfish.
Related posts:
- The Mandarin Goby : A Guide On This Difficult Dragonet
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- Mandarin Goby : Care And Requirements Of The Breathtaking Mandarin Dragonet
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