The Mandarin Goby (Dragonet) Care Sheet :

Description:

The Mandarin Dragonet or Goby has arguably the most attractive coloration and pattern of any commonly kept reef fish. The scale-less body of the fish is a blue or green color which has orange wavy lines across it. The tail is bright red with blue edging. Other colors can be found in the pattern as well. These fish are also sometimes called Psychedelic fish due to its rather bizarre coloration. The male Mandarin tends to be larger than the female and has a large pointed dorsal fin that is only rarely displayed. Although commonly called Mandarin Goby, they are in fact not gobies, but rather belong to the family known as dragonets. The fish pictured on the right is the Spotted or Green spotted Mandarin. The fish on the left is the most common of the Mandarins known as the Blue Mandarin or Psychedelic Fish.

Natural Environment:

Mandarins come from the entire western Pacific all the way westward to Australia. They are generally found in groups or pairs, often on sandy bottoms between reef crests.
Care:

Mandarins are actually very hardy and disease resistant. That being said, they are also the most likely to perish in the tank of an uninformed hobbyist, that is not aware of their special requirements. The reason for this is that they will most likely starve in your tank, unless special care is given to their feeding requirements. Now to add to the complications, very few Mandarins are alike. I say this because some will accept frozen shrimp, baby shrimp and even tiny pellets, and others won't eat anything other than copepods. I will use our 125 reef tank in our store as an example. This tank has housed a Mandarin for a year or more and has never even been fed. Why? A reef tank that is seasoned with plenty of live rock and also houses coral and some fish, generally will have plenty of nutrients within the live rock, including the natural colony of pods that a seasoned live rock tank sustains. This brings up the subject of competition for food. Mandarins are somewhat like hummingbirds, they hover over their feed and pick and choose carefully. Therefore if housed with more aggressive eaters, or not being given a proper place to dine, your Mandarin will probably perish in the first six months, even if you see it eating. A tank of 30 gallons or larger that is fully seasoned (one year) that is healthy, houses some corals that are fed properly, will probably support one Mandarin with little special care.

Okay, but I don't have that set-up, now what do I do?

A Mandarin can be successfully kept in a 10 gallon Nano tank, if properly fed and cared for, so the size of the tank is not the issue, it's how you observe and get to know your particular Mandarin. So here's some ideas on how to be successful.

1. Take your Mandarin home and acclimate it to your tank as you normally would any marine fish. Don't house with large aggressive fish. Let your fish become accustomed to the tank for at least 24 hours.

2. Target feed some live brine shrimp and see if your fish shows any interest, you may have to do this for a few days. If the fish eventually does eat the shrimp, you have yourself one of the "easy feeders". Congratulations you can move on to frozen and pellets at some point and the fish will eventually, probably accept those as well.

3. Difficult feeders will take a bit more work. Try ArctiPods, many Mandarins will accept this food.

4. If you fish will not seem to accept anything, then you must feed copepods. There are many ways of doing this. Live copepods (TiggerPods) are available in our store, but this eventually will become quite expensive. You will want to start your own colony. You can do this by buying a bottle of live specimens and pouring them into your refugium. An even better idea is to start a pod pile in your tank that houses the Mandarin. This can be accomplished by stacking up some small live rocks and rubble into a pile in a convenient place in your tank. The rocks must be piled tightly so as to house the pods and keep bigger fish out of the pile. Insert pods and other target foods into the pile about twice a week. This will eventually become a feeding station for your Mandarin.

Good luck in keeping one of the most attractive and interesting of Marine fish. Mandarins are one of the fish now being bred with some regularity and as this continues those fish will be available and will not carry with them the unusual feeding habits of their wild counterparts.

Dragonets :

Mandarin Fish | Care And Feeding :

courtesy to : www.saltaquariumhobby.com

Mandarin fish, namely the Spotted Psychedelic Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) and the Splendid Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus), are some of the most beautiful and exotic fish available in the marine aquarium hobby.

But sadly, Mandarin fish, or Mandarin dragonets as they are otherwise known, are difficult fish to keep alive in captivity.

In the wild, Mandarins are bottom-dwelling and feed exclusively on small live foods like copepods and small worms and crustaceans. It is this specific diet of live foods that makes them so difficult to maintain in our aquariums. Most die of malnutrition and starvation within 3 months, if not sooner.

If Mandarin fish are to be kept with any degree of success, they should be kept in mature, well-established reef aquariums with plenty of live rock and live sand on which they can forage for food. Because of their food requirements, the minimum size aquarium for keeping a single Mandarin fish should be about 75 to 90 gallons and with a sump or refugium. The aquarium should be mature and well-established with a healthy population of small worms and copepods. Aquariums with plenty of live rock and that are at least 2 years old are preferred. Mandarin fish can decimate the copepod population of a new, immature reef tank in a matter of days.

Training Mandarin Fish To Accept Frozen Foods :

I have trained two Splendid Mandarin fish to accept frozen mysis shrimp. A third Spotted Mandarin fish is a new addition as of this writing (March 2012), but it too is getting used to eating frozen mysis. My first Mandarin has been with me for almost three years thus far.

So how did I train my Mandarin fish to eat frozen foods?

Upon returning from the LFS, I acclimated my first Mandarin fish for one hour before placing it into a 10 gallon quarantine tank. The quarantine tank was filled with a very thin layer of live sand from my main tank, along with three small pieces of live rock, just to help the fish feel more comfortable. After a couple of hours, I noticed that the Mandarin was already starting to pick at ‘pods on the live rock.

‘Gut-Loading’ Brine Shrimp

I was told by my LFS that they were going to have a batch of live brine shrimp the following day. Returning home, I placed the brine shrimp in a plastic container along with the water they came in and fed them a whole cube of Hikari brand Rotifers. Hikari Rotifers are frozen rotifers and they are the ideal size for brine shrimp to feed on. The brine shrimp immediately began to swarm the still-frozen cube in a feeding frenzy!

Feeding brine shrimp with rotifers or even plankton makes them more nourishing — live brine shrimp by themselves are a poor diet for marine fish. In fact, some experts liken the nutritional value of live brine shrimp to a person eating a candy bar in place of a balanced meal. ‘Gut-loading’ brine shrimp with rotifers makes them much more nutritious.

Mandarins – secretive, but always amusing

After the brine shrimp had consumed all of the rotifers, I aerated the water they were in with an air pump and a wooden air stone. Aerating keeps live brine shrimp alive much longer than if the water wasn’t aerated. I’ve had batches stay alive in the same water they came in for up to 5 days when aerated. Using a wooden airstone creates very fine bubbles and in a way, acts very much like aprotein skimmer. The fine bubbles causes the waste matter from the brine shrimp to form a rim of scum just above the water-line! My guess is that the brine shrimp live longer if they are not swimming in several days worth of their own waste.

Using a fine mesh plastic sieve, I transferred some of the gut-loaded brine shrimp to the Mandarin’s quarantine tank. Mandarin fish prey on live food in the wild, so seeing brine shrimp swimming about the tank immediately engages their attention. And without exception, they will always pursue and eat live brine shrimp.

Enriched brine shrimp should be fed to Mandarins in quarantine a few times a day and we want to get them to eat as much as they can. Most Mandarins are malnourished by the time they reach the tanks in the LFS. Think of it as a reward for the fish for making it through alive, after being shipped a couple of thousand miles in a small plastic bag crammed into a styrofoam box.

Splendid Mandarin Fish

Benefits Of Quarantining A Mandarin Fish :

Mandarins are very cautious eaters. They will spend a few seconds staring at their food, deciding on if they are going to eat it. Now, if the brine shrimp were placed in the main display tank with several fast swimming, hungry fish, the brine shrimp would all be eaten before the Mandarin fish even got a bite.

Many people make the mistake of putting newly aquired Mandarins into their main display tank straight away. They are more concerned with the fish being able to feed on the naturally occurring copepods on the live rock.

Quarantining the Mandarin for a couple of weeks ensures that the fish recuperates from shipping and gets to bulk up on gut-loaded brine shrimp before being put into the main display. And you are quarantining all new fish to prevent the possibility of bringing in diseases like ich into your healthy display tank, right?

Introducing Frozen Mysis Shrimp To Mandarin Fish

Here comes the part where we will try to get our Mandarin to eat frozen mysis. Thawing the frozen mysis first, of course..

Thaw a cube of frozen mysis in a cup of aquarium water — this is an important step. Thawing mysis in tapwater will make them smell like chlorine which will cause wild-caught Mandarins to avoid them.

Put a few pieces of thawed mysis shrimp along with live brine shrimp into the tank. Do this for a few days and the Mandarin will inadvertently eat some mysis along with the brine shrimp.

Soon, the Mandarin will start to associate thawed mysis with live brine shrimp. After about two weeks, you can reduce the amount of live food and feed mostly mysis. Gradually, you can replace the live food entirely with thawed mysis.

Placing The Mandarin Fish Into The Main Display Tank:

After 2 weeks, and if our Mandarin fish has not shown any signs of disease, we can place it into the main display tank. Proper acclimatisation to the water in the main display tank is important.

Release the Mandarin into a corner of the aquarium, away from the territory of other fish. Most Mandarins will begin to swim amongst the live rock of a tank almost immediately. It is almost like they are confident that their bright coloration will serve as enough of a warning to other fish that they have a poisonous mucus on their skin. Indeed, not many fish will harrass a Mandarin!

Feeding A Mandarin Fish In The Main Display Tank:

When feeding the general fish population in the main display tank, deposit some mysis into a quiet corner of the tank. Since most fish actively pursue food in the middle of the water column, depositing mysis into a corner will allow the Mandarin to find them and eat in peace. After some time, it will start to explore that particular corner of the tank every time it smells food, which is good as it will not have to compete for food with other fish.

My first Mandarin fish has even taken to eating pellets which I pre-soak in aquarium water. I always make sure to put some pellets in his quiet corner of the tank whenever I feed the other fish.

But it should be noted that only a few Mandarin fish in captivity will take to eating pellets.

Increasing The Copepod Population In Your Tank:

Mandarin fish keepers are often concerned about increasing the copepod population of the tank for the Mandarin to graze on. Many purchase expensive bottles of live ‘pods from their LFS in the hope that they will multiply in the tank. Most bottled live copepods sold commercially are of a species found in lower salinity water and will not survive for long, let alone reproduce, in the full salinity of a reef aquarium.

Your best bet to increasing the copepod population in your tank is to have several pieces of live rock in your sump or refugium along with some macroalgae like chaetomorpha. You will usually find copepods intermingled in clumps of chaetomorpha algae. Some copepods will eventually make it to the main display through the return pump.

I like to make sure that more ‘pods get into my main display by taking a handful of chaetomorpha (gloves on) from the refugium and swirling it around in the water of main display tank before putting it back in the sump. I do this once or twice a week. Don’t worry about the bits of sediment from the chaeto — they will settle after a few hours.

Mandarin Fish Compatibility :

Mandarins are best kept with other docile fish, although they seem to do fine in FOWLR tanks with more aggressive species. Just ensure that the Mandarin has a quiet corner in which to eat and lots of live rock for it to forage in. Most other fish will usually leave Mandarins alone — in the wild, bright coloration is an indicator that the animal has some sort of toxin. In the case of the Mandarin fish, it is a poisonous slime coating excreted from their scale-less skin.

Male Mandarins have a characteristic long spine on their dorsal fin. Avoid putting two male Mandarins into the same aquarium as they will fight to the death — surprising behaviour from an otherwise extremely docile fish!

Female Mandarin fish lack the long spine and have a somewhat rounded dorsal fin. From my experience, it is perfectly fine to introduce a female Mandarin into a male Mandarin’s tank, or vice versa. Occasionally, you will find mated pairs of male and female Mandarins on sale but these are best left to expert aquarists with very large tanks of 200 gallons or more.

The docile nature of Mandarin fish also make them good tankmates for seahorses.

Captive-Bred Mandarin Fish

Mandarin fish have recently been successfully captive-bred and made available commercially. Like captive-bred seahorses, captive-bred Mandarin fish have been raised on frozen mysis and are much easier for beginning or intermediate hobbyists to maintain unlike their wild-caught cousins.

Spotted Psychedelic Mandarin

Dragonets species :

Colorful, slow-moving Dragonets are some of the most interesting fish for the marine aquarium. Dragonets have special feeding requirements and should be housed in an established aquarium with large amounts of live rock and sand. An aquarium with an attached refugium is also very beneficial, since the refugium helps provide proper nutrition.

1-Green Mandarin

Synchiropus splendidus

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Max. Size: 4"

Color Form: Blue, Green, Orange

Diet: Carnivore

Compatibility: View Chart

Origin: Indonesia

Family: Callionymidae

The head and body of the Green Mandarin, also known as the Striped Mandarinfish or Green Mandarinfish, are a mazelike combination of blue, orange, and green. Males may be distinguished from females by their more-elongated first dorsal spine. It is extremely popular with aquarists because of its unusual beauty.

It should be kept in a well-established 30 gallon or larger aquarium with live rock, live sand, and plenty of hiding places. It is moderately hardy in reef aquariums if given special care. It is not overly aggressive towards other fish, except for conspecifics.

The Green Mandarin has been known to spawn successfully in an aquarium.

It feeds on a variety of vitamin-enriched live brine shrimp, live black worms, and natural prey on live rock and live sand.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 1" to 1-1/2"; Medium: 1-1/2" to 2-1/2"; Large: 2-1/2" to 4"

Courtesy to : www.reefcorner.com

The Mandarin Dragonet can simply not be confused with any other fish. It has arguably the most attractive coloration and pattern of any commonly kept reef fish. The scale-less body of the fish is a blue or green color which has orange wavy lines across it. The tail is bright red with blue edging. Other colors can be found in the pattern as well. These fish are also sometimes called Psychedelic fish due to its rather bizarre coloration. The male Mandarin tends to be larger than the female and has a large pointed dorsal fin that is only occasionally displayed. Although commonly called Mandarin Goby, they are in fact not a Goby, but rather belong to the family known as Dragonets.

Natural Environment:

Comes from the Philippine area and westward to Australia. Found in groups or pairs, often on sandy bottoms between reef crests.

Reef Tank Suitability:

Mandarin Dragonets are one of the more commonly sold fish, yet they are unfortunately one of the most likely to perish in the average reef tank. The reason for this is their very finicky feeding habits. Many Mandarin Dragonets will only eat live amphipods and copepods (pods) which are found in sufficient numbers only in larger and well established reef tanks. The minimum tank requirement is generally stated as 55 gallon with 50lbs or more of live rock. This is based on feeding requirements and not space requirements as the Mandarin is a very slow, docile fish. Perhaps more important than tank size is how heavily fed and nutrient rich a tank is, since this type of tank will generally support a higher pod population than tanks run under more lean conditions.

If you are able to get a Mandarin Dragonet that is feeding on frozen food, they can be an excellent candidate for a small tank since they are small, slow moving fish.

Be cautious that many Mandarin Dragonets are kept in conditions in pet stores where there is little to no opportunity for them to feed if they will only eat live food and therefore are under starvation conditions. If you get one of these fish, look for it to have a nice rounded belly. If it looks shrunken in, the fish has not been feeding for some time and it seems that they are often unable to recover even when placed in a tank with an adequate food supply.

Disposition:

Completely non-aggressive to other fish and other fish seem to pay them little attention. . Mandarins spend their days carefully checking over the live rock and sand looking for tasty tidbits to eat. 2 males will fight unless in a very large tank, so they should typically only be kept singly or in a male/female pair.

Feeding:

As noted above, feeding can be a major issue with Mandarin Dragonets. Some will take foods such as frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms and a few will even take pellet food. Others will refuse to take anything but small live foods such as copopods and amphipods. Mandarins are extremely slow and methodical and hover much like a hummingbird using their front fins while looking for food. Even Mandarins that take prepared foods have a hard time competing with faster fish for the morsels.

One suggestion I have heard that makes good sense, especially in smaller tanks that don’t support a large pod population is to build something called a ‘pod pile’. This is a few small rocks stacked into a pile into which small pieces of shrimp or similar food can be inserted every couple of days. This pile of rocks provides shelter and a food supply for the pods which allows them to rapidly breed and provide food for the Mandarin. Similarly a large refugium hooked to the tank will help supply pods. Small wrasses in the tank will tend to compete for the same food sources and being much faster, the Mandarin Dragonet will have a hard time competing.

You can also buy pods on-line, though this gets expensive over time or you can culture them in a separate tank.

Hardiness:

Mandarin Dragonets are actually very hardy under the right conditions when starting with a healthy specimen which is feeding. They seem to be very resistant to parasitic diseases such as Ick, apparently due to their thick slime coating. As noted above, getting a healthy specimen to begin with is key. If possible, select a specimen that you know is eating frozen or pellet food.

Temperature:

Does well within normal reef tank temperature ranges of approximately 74-84°F.

Size:

Mandarin Dragonets can get up to about 3″ in length.

Breeding:

Mandarin Dragonets in the hobby are all wild caught at this time. If there is a male and female in the tank, they may pair up and go through the courting ritual which is fun to see. Any eggs that may be produced are dispersed into the water column. There is a link below to the only successful breeding and rearing that I am aware of. Some of the other dragonets such as the Green Dragonet are more commonly bred in captivity.

Acknowledgements:

2-Spotted Mandarin

Synchiropus picturatus

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Max. Size: 4"

Color Form: Black, Blue, Green, Orange

Diet: Carnivore

Compatibility: View Chart

Origin: Indo-Pacific

Family: Callionymidae

The Spotted Mandarin, also referred to as the Spotted Mandarinfish, Psychedelic Mandarinfish, Psychedelic Fish, or Picture Dragonet, was first found in the Western Pacific Ocean in 1976 by Peters. The head, fins, and body are a psychedelic combination of blue, orange, and black spots on a green base. Males may be distinguished from females by their more-elongated first dorsal spine.

It requires a 30 gallon or larger aquarium with live substrate and plenty of hiding places. It is moderately hardy in reef aquariums if given special care. It is not overly aggressive towards other fish, except for conspecifics.

The Spotted Mandarin has been known to spawn successfully in an aquarium.

The diet should consist of a variety of live vitamin-enriched brine shrimp and live black worms. It will eat natural prey off live rock and live sand.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 1" to 1-1/2"; Medium: 1-1/2" to 2-1/2"; Large: 2-1/2" to 4"

Spotted Mandarin Dragonet Care, Guide and Information

Information, guide and tips about choosing and selecting saltwater fishes.

About Spotted Mandarin Dragonet and its care

The uniqueness and beautiful dragonet is one reason why saltwater fish will always be an attraction and lure to hobbyist. The Spotted Mandarin fish body color and pattern is an unconventional combination of blue, orange and black circle on a light green background which is very hard to describe. You have to see the picture to appreciate the uniqueness of its color and pattern. In the wild, they are found on the shallow reefs and oceans regions with lots of coral rubble or sandy areas. In a saltwater reef tank, provide them with a soft sand substrate so that they can bury itself in the sand at night or when threatened to prevent them from injuring themselves as they have no scale on their body. You should also create a lot of hiding places such as caves, crevices or hole-like structures for them to hide in the tank.

The bizarre colors and patterns of the Spotted Mandarin have made them a much sought after fish for the saltwater reef aquarium. However, this fish is considered as one of the difficult fish to care for due to its feeding difficulty. Unless you are successful in teaching them to eat prepared foods, they will most likely die of starvation. This is because dragonets have high metabolisms rate and need to eat a lot. They will consume all of the copepods or the tiny benthic invertebrates in the reef system in a short period especially if you have a reef system which is under established or under develop with live substrate to support a large colony of the copepods. This feeding difficulty is especially true for the wild-caught fish. Luckily, this is no longer a concern with the recent success in tank bred dragonets. The tank bred species have been raised on a variety of prepared foods and can be easily fed and is much easier to care for successfully by the beginners.

Spotted Mandarin Dragonet - a bizarre looking fish

Facts Sheet

Common Name: Spotted Mandarin, Target Mandarin, Picturesque dragonet, Green Spot Mandarin Goby
Scientific Name/binomial name: Synchiropus picturatus
Family: Callionymidae
Group: Dragonets
Adult Size: 3"

Temperament: Generally a peaceful fish towards other species. However, avoid keeping two males of the same species together as they will fight with each other.
Distribution: Western Pacific
pH: 8.1-8.4
Specific Gravity: 1.021-1.025
Temperature: 74-83°F (23-29° C)

Compatible with: Other peaceful fish or species. They are seldom harassed by other fish, maybe because they are poisonous if eaten. Dragonets are reef safe and will mostly ignore other tank occupants except for the tiny pods which are their food. They can be kept together as trios with one male and two females.

Incompatible with: Males from their own species. They will fight with each other until one is killed. The male can be differentiated from the female by its greatly elongated first spine of the dorsal fin, by its larger size and more vibrant color. The females will have a smaller and less vibrant dorsal fin. Avoid putting the dragonet with large stinging anemones or stinging corals.

Diet and Feeding : The Spotted Mandarin Dragonet is a carnivore and will feed only on tiny, living crustaceans or pods. They fare best in a well established reef aquarium with a lot of live rock which can support the natural growth of the tiny pods which is their food source. Having a refugium will help to increase the number of copepods that can be produced so that you can keep a bigger group. Without this, you will need to provide them with additional external pods unless you are successful in training them to eat small meaty seafood or prepared foods.

3-Scooter Blenny

Synchiropus ocellatus

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Max. Size: 5"

Color Form: Red, Tan, White

Diet: Carnivore

Compatibility: View Chart

Origin: Fiji, Indonesia, Solomon Islands

Family: Callionymidae

The Scooter Blenny is also known as Scooter Dragonet or Ocellated Dragonet. It has a mottled brown and white body with red highlights. The male usually has brighter colors and a larger first dorsal fin.

A 30 gallon or larger reef aquarium that has live sand substrate, docile inhabitants, and lots of live rock makes the ideal aquarium for the Scooter Blenny. More than one of its species may be kept; if so, it is best to introduce them all to the tank at the same time. The ratio should be 2 or 3 females per male.

The Scooter Blenny may be a difficult fish to keep due to its feeding habits. The Scooter Blenny will sift through the sand for food. Finely cut meaty foods and vitamin-enriched brine shrimp may be acceptable substitutes.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 1" to 2"; Medium: 2" to 3"; Large: 3" to 5"

4-Red Scooter Dragonet

Synchiropus stellatus

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Max. Size: 3"

Color Form: Red

Diet: Carnivore

Compatibility: View Chart

Origin: Maldives, Sri Lanka

Family: Callionymidae

The Red Scooter Dragonet is also referred to as the Starry Dragonet or Stellate Dragonet. Its body is a mottling of red and white with large dark spots. The male usually has brighter colors and a larger dorsal fin.

It prefers a reef aquarium of 30 gallons or larger with lots of live rock to hide in and graze from. The substrate should be live sand and the aquarium should have docile inhabitants. More than one of its species may be kept, and it is best to introduce them all to the tank at the same time. The ratio should be 2 or 3 females per male. A 55 gallon or larger aquarium is required if more than one male is to be kept.

The Red Scooter Dragonet diet should consist of brine shrimp, bloodworms and glassworms, and small invertebrates. They are slow-moving, deliberate feeders and should not have to compete for their food.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small; 3/4" to 1-1/4" Medium; 1-1/4" to 2-1/4" Large; 2-1/4" to 3-1/4"

5-Red Mandarin

Synchiropus cf. splendidus

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Max. Size: 4"

Diet: Carnivore

Compatibility: View Chart

The head and body of the Red Mandarin Dragonet are a mazelike combination of blue, orange, and red. Males may be distinguished from females by their extra-elongated first dorsal spine. The red variation of the Mandarin fish is a rare find in the industry and is extremely popular with aquarists because of its unusual beauty. Unlike the green mandarin, this red variant has much wider and more pronounced red stripes and red pectoral fins.

It should be kept in a well-established, 30-gallon or larger aquarium with plenty of live rock, live sand, and hiding places. It is moderately hardy in mature reef aquariums if given special care. It is not overly aggressive towards other fish, except for conspecifics.

It feeds on a variety of vitamin-enriched live brine shrimp, live black worms, and natural prey on tiny crustaceans found in live rock and live sand.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small 1-1/2" to 2", Medium 2" - 3" Large, 3" - 4"

Dragonets Special food :

AlgaGen ReefPods™ (Assorted species)

Care Level: Easy

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025

Color Form: Brown, Clear

Origin: Aquacultured

You've mastered reef lighting, perfected your water quality, now realize the amazing potential of adding a diverse live plankton community to your ecosystem! Copepods are a major component of marine zooplankton, and play a significant role in the oceanic food chain. Establishing active zooplankton populations in the home aquarium is the final key to ultimate aquarium success, and now it's easier than ever.

We're pleased to offer six new zooplankton starter cultures for use in marine aquariums and ornamental fish breeding. Experiment with different combinations of pods for different types of feeders. Mandarins and Seahorses, Anthias and Gobies, NPS Corals and Gorgonians, Acropora, Crinoids, Basket Stars, and more.

Tisbe biminiensis is an excellent all-purpose aquarium copepod owing to its role in the natural environment as a detritivore. An opportunist feeder, Tisbe can be used as a tank cleaner consuming uneaten food and wastes as well as phytoplankton in the tank and refugium. Tisbe is capable of producing many eggs during its adult life span that hatch into nauplii which will enter the water column as food for your filter feeding reef inhabitants and replenish the adult population vital to tank hygiene. Tisbe adults and juveniles may also enter the water column and be tasty and nutritious treats for your reef fish!

Great food for:

Dragonettes
Pipefish
Seahorses (fry)

Acartia tonsa is very useful in ornamental aquaculture for feeding larval fish and crustaceans, seahorses and invertebrates such as corals. It is recommended that a separate culture be maintained from which to collect nauplii for adding directly to aquariums or to tanks of larval fish or crustaceans. Acartia's nutritional profile makes it ideal for feeding both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic corals. It has wide ranging potential in developing techniques for breeding many ornamental species that cannot be raised with rotifers.

Great food for:

Scallops
Fan Worms/Feather Dusters
Sponges
Tridacna Clams

Pseudodiaptomus pelagicus is an excellent live food for all smaller aquarium inhabitants and filter feeders. An interesting habit of the adults is their ability to cling to tank surfaces. Try adding Pseudodiaptomus to your aquarium refugium where the adults can continue to produce nauplii that will enter the water column and be nutritious live prey for all your sessile invertebrates such as corals and feather dusters. Nauplii that escape predation can help replenish the adult population when adequate levels of microalgae are provided as food to support growth and reproduction. Pseudodiaptomus can also be added directly to aquariums or to larval tanks as an excellent live food. It has been successfully used as a larval fish feed where rotifers have proven to be ineffective.

Great food for:

Scallops
Fan Worms/Feather Dusters
Sponges
Tridacna Clams

Parvocalanus crassirostris is recognized by top aquaculturists and aquarium breeders as one of the best live foods for the smallest and most difficult of the marine fish larvae due to the small size of the nauplii. This small pelagic copepod is rich in essential fatty acids and provides good nutrition for developing larval fish. In aquariums, the small size is optimum for capture by the finest filter feeders such as feather dusters and Christmas tree worms, SPS corals and sponges.

Great food for:

Scallops
Fan Worms/Feather Dusters
Sponges
Tridacna Clams

Tangerine Pod is an excellent species for directly feeding to hungry fish and seahorses to observe a feeding frenzy. The nauplii of Tangerines are excellent food for filter feeding invertebrates and for juvenile seahorses and for larger sized or staged fish larvae and invertebrate nauplii. Juvenile and adult Tangerines are an excellent replacement for less nutritious brine shrimp.

Great food for:

Scallops
Fan Worms/Feather Dusters
Sponges
Tridacna Clams

Moina salina is an excellent species for direct feeding to plankton-eating fish and seahorses and can cause a feeding frenzy triggered by their hopping swimming motion. The juvenile Moina are the perfect size for feeding young seahorses. Moina are an excellent replacement for brine shrimp or as a transitional live food before introducing flakes or frozen foods. Moina can be enriched and gut-loaded with microalgae or formulated enrichments prior to feeding. The swimming motion of Moina triggers feeding responses from almost any predator. It will entice even the most finicky eaters and is a good choice to encourage species that refuse to eat at first.

Great food for:
Scallops
Fan Worms/Feather Dusters
Sponges
Tridacna Clams

Copepod cultures can be introduced and maintained in aquariums several ways. Harpacticoids can be added to a sump or refugium preferably with a suitable substrate such as rock, sand or algae. It is suggested that the protein skimmer be turned off when adding the culture. Calanoids can be added to the main tank, most effectively at night when they won't be quickly predated by fish. Populations can be periodically enhanced by adding more culture as needed, typically about once a month. ReefPods can live together so multiple species may be added at the same time. Pod populations can be fed in culture or in tanks withPhycoPure Copepod Blend, a specially prepared microalgae feed. All of the AlgaGen ReefPods are herbivorous species of copepods that prefer the tropical temperatures of reef tanks.

Copepods can also be grown outside of the aquarium system in a culture vessel and then harvested to feed the aquarium. Pod culture can be tricky, some are easier than others, but with some simple equipment and a little dedication pod cultures are achievable.

Copepods are maintained at 78°F and at S.G. 1.020 with low light and very low aeration. We strongly recommend acclimating your copepods into your culture vessel or tank.

Adult size: Acartia 1.0 - 1.2 mm, Moina salina 2.5 mm,Parvocalanus 0.8 - 0.9 mm, Pseudodiaptomus 1.2 - 1.5 mm, Tangerine 2.5 mm, Tisbe 0.7 - 1 mm.

All above is available at : www.liveaquaria.com

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