| Care: |
Moderate
|
| Temperament: |
Peaceful |
| Reef Safe: |
Yes |
Max Size:
|
3" |
| Tank Size: |
30gal |
The green mandarin dragonet, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mandarin goby, is arguably one of the most beautiful and flashy species commonly available in the marine aquarium trade. It features swirling patters of reds, greens, blues, and yellows that are sure to catch the eye. They are easily sexed as adults, with the male displaying a taller pointed dorsal fin.
Care
The green mandarin is usually a difficult fish to keep due to their highly specialize diet. Wild caught specimens feed almost exclusively on copepods, a tiny arthropod that occurs naturally in most marine aquariums, and will usually reject all other foods to the point of starvation as they usually wipe out the pod population of smaller tanks. Captive bred Mandarins, however, have been raised on a diet of various live and frozen foods, making their long term care much easier.
Diet
Captive bred Mandarins should be offered a diet of small particle meaty frozen foods such as finely chopped mysis or cyclops and live foods such as copepods.
