speg
Active Member
*** Fish Of The Month - Mandarin Dragonet & Psychedelic Dragonet
Synchiropus splendidus & Synchiropus picturatus
Common names - Mandarin Dragonet, Mandarinfish, Mandarin goby, Target goby, Psychedelic dragonet/goby, Spotted/Picture goby, etc.
First I will start by clearing up the first mistake most people make when refering to these wonderful fish. They are not in the 'goby' family but are closely related to them and to blennies. They are actually better known to be 'dragonets' and belong to the family of 'Callionymidae'. Now the next time you go to your LFS or talk to your aquarium buddies.. please.. call these little fellows 'dragonets' and argue with anyone who will tell you they are gobies. =c)
As with any fish the secret to keeping a Mandarin is understanding what makes them tick. The mistake a lot of people make with these fish is that they treat them like any other fish out there.. not knowing enough about their diets is usually what ends in a thin malnurished animal... and ultimately leads to their deaths.
Thought to most aquarists to be a 'difficult to keep' species.. this can really be a completely false statement! The Mandarin Dragonets are actually VERY hardy and quite resistant to diseases. You may have a outbreak of ich in your tank.. and the only fish that seem to completely ignore the parasites are your mandarinfish (and usually anemonefish!). This is because of the dragonets thick slime coating. It is actually advised to NOT treat with copper when dealing with this scaleless fish, treating with copper will increase the secretion of slime coat of the fish, to the possibility of smothering the fish in its very own slime coating. Please click here for more information on treating fish illness.
Is it a boy or a girl? Often people do consider having two mandarins in the same tank.. and as long as they cater to their needs... its very possible to do this. Be careful if adding more than one as two males may tend to fight. If you're looking for a male or a female.. here is what to look for. Firstly males are usually larger of the two sexes, will have a larger head and more orange on its head. The REAL ticket to knowing if you're dealing with a male or a female is the dorsal fin or spike on the fish. The males dorsal spike will be considerably longer than on a female. Usually long enough if laid down to reach close to the fishes tail fin.
Are the fish reef safe? Certainly ! Absolutely great fish to have in a reef tank.
Now on to the good stuff.. mandarinfish diets. While it IS possible to get a mandarinfish to eat some prepaired foods.. you should NEVER buy a mandarin with the simple hope of them eating those foods. When buying one assume that it will NOT eat prepaired foods, and if it does then only consider yourself lucky. Even if the fish do eat the prepaired foods the fish may still not end up living a long full life. Their main diet is most likely what YOU do not see. The tiny 'pods' (copepods, isopods, amphipods) living in your tank that you may not even know about is what their main diet consists of and they are required for long-term success in keeping these fish. Many of you may be saying.. "hey, I have these in my tank.. i'll go buy a mandarin!".. Sure you have these 'pods' in your tank.. but when you add a mandarin the pod population will very quickly decline.. eventually starving the mandarin to death. Even though these pods reproduce rather quickly, it is still usually not quick enough to keep up with the constantly feeding mandarinfish. More info on pods click here .
Synchiropus splendidus & Synchiropus picturatus
Common names - Mandarin Dragonet, Mandarinfish, Mandarin goby, Target goby, Psychedelic dragonet/goby, Spotted/Picture goby, etc.
First I will start by clearing up the first mistake most people make when refering to these wonderful fish. They are not in the 'goby' family but are closely related to them and to blennies. They are actually better known to be 'dragonets' and belong to the family of 'Callionymidae'. Now the next time you go to your LFS or talk to your aquarium buddies.. please.. call these little fellows 'dragonets' and argue with anyone who will tell you they are gobies. =c)
As with any fish the secret to keeping a Mandarin is understanding what makes them tick. The mistake a lot of people make with these fish is that they treat them like any other fish out there.. not knowing enough about their diets is usually what ends in a thin malnurished animal... and ultimately leads to their deaths.
Thought to most aquarists to be a 'difficult to keep' species.. this can really be a completely false statement! The Mandarin Dragonets are actually VERY hardy and quite resistant to diseases. You may have a outbreak of ich in your tank.. and the only fish that seem to completely ignore the parasites are your mandarinfish (and usually anemonefish!). This is because of the dragonets thick slime coating. It is actually advised to NOT treat with copper when dealing with this scaleless fish, treating with copper will increase the secretion of slime coat of the fish, to the possibility of smothering the fish in its very own slime coating. Please click here for more information on treating fish illness.
Is it a boy or a girl? Often people do consider having two mandarins in the same tank.. and as long as they cater to their needs... its very possible to do this. Be careful if adding more than one as two males may tend to fight. If you're looking for a male or a female.. here is what to look for. Firstly males are usually larger of the two sexes, will have a larger head and more orange on its head. The REAL ticket to knowing if you're dealing with a male or a female is the dorsal fin or spike on the fish. The males dorsal spike will be considerably longer than on a female. Usually long enough if laid down to reach close to the fishes tail fin.
Are the fish reef safe? Certainly ! Absolutely great fish to have in a reef tank.
Now on to the good stuff.. mandarinfish diets. While it IS possible to get a mandarinfish to eat some prepaired foods.. you should NEVER buy a mandarin with the simple hope of them eating those foods. When buying one assume that it will NOT eat prepaired foods, and if it does then only consider yourself lucky. Even if the fish do eat the prepaired foods the fish may still not end up living a long full life. Their main diet is most likely what YOU do not see. The tiny 'pods' (copepods, isopods, amphipods) living in your tank that you may not even know about is what their main diet consists of and they are required for long-term success in keeping these fish. Many of you may be saying.. "hey, I have these in my tank.. i'll go buy a mandarin!".. Sure you have these 'pods' in your tank.. but when you add a mandarin the pod population will very quickly decline.. eventually starving the mandarin to death. Even though these pods reproduce rather quickly, it is still usually not quick enough to keep up with the constantly feeding mandarinfish. More info on pods click here .
Even so 10 gallons is really not sufficient swimming room for these guys.
