The Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus Splendidus) are one of the most breathtaking fishes found in the hobby. Its entire body is made up of blue, orange and green alternating line. 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. I will address this problem later in the article.
They are a very peaceful fish. 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, buy a female and a male (elongated first dorsal spine) and introduce them together in the tank.
Mandarins can grow as long as 4 inches. Technically, they require a tank no smaller than 30 gallons, that is, if they're feeding. Getting them to eat prepared foods is a real challenge. This is because they only feed on live copepods. Therefore, it is my recommendation that the minimum sized tank for these beautiful fish be no less than a well established 75 gallon tank with plenty of copepods. You'll never have to feed them in an established tank that large. The tank will feed it so to speak, with its copepod populations.
You can also train them to eat prepared foods.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 start taking frozen artemia the task is half done. Since brine shrimp is nutritionally poor, we need to get to feed on something like mysis shrimp or krill.
As before, introduce some mysis shrimp with the frozen brine shrimp when you feed them. 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, there's another problem you will likely face with mandarin dragonets. They are among the slowest eaters you will ever have. It cannot compete with other tank mates for food, its that slow. This problem can be solved in three simple ways. You could blast food into the tank to ensure the mandarin gets some. Or, you can spot feed it with the use of a pipette. Lastly, you can find a plastic soft drink bottle that has a hole only the mandarin can fit through and put some foods there.
Its up to you to choose one or all of these methods.
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