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The Red Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus splendidus variant) is an extraordinarily beautiful, prized variation of the classic Green Mandarin. It is a bottom-dwelling dragonet featuring an intensely vivid red body base laced with intricate, psychedelic maze-like patterns of electric blue, neon green, and bright orange. Moving with an elegant, hummingbird-like hovering motion using its clear pectoral fins, it actively patrols rockwork for food. It serves as a spectacular, top-tier centerpiece species that requires an established, specialized aquarium layout to meet its highly restrictive dietary needs.
Tank Requirements
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons for a single specimen, though 55 to 75 gallons or larger is strongly recommended to maintain a self-reproducing live food supply over time.
Aquarium Decor: Massive structures of mature live rock providing extensive surface area for micro-fauna growth. Running a thriving, macroalgae-packed refugium is highly recommended to continuously seed the display tank with live prey.
Temperature: 72°F – 78°F (22°C – 26°C).
Salinity (Specific Gravity): 1.020 – 1.025.
pH Range: 8.1 – 8.4.
Care and Feeding
Diet: Strict Carnivore and Micro-predator; it feeds almost exclusively on live copepods and amphipods inhabiting live rock. Because it has a short, primitive digestive tract and hunts constantly during daylight hours, a single mandarin will consume thousands of pods daily and will quickly starve in young or overly clean tanks. Unless you purchase a verified captive-bred specimen trained on prepared foods, you must manually seed the tank with live copepod cultures if your natural population drops.
Reef Safe Rating: Reef safe; it is completely peaceful and harmless toward small polyp stony (SPS) corals, large polyp stony (LPS) corals, soft corals, polyps, and macroalgae.
Temperament: Peaceful; entirely docile and oblivious toward unrelated water-column tank mates. However, males can become highly aggressive and fight to the death against other male dragonets or similarly shaped species, so they should be kept singly or as a verified male-female pair.
The Red Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus splendidus variant) is an extraordinarily beautiful, prized variation of the classic Green Mandarin. It is a bottom-dwelling dragonet featuring an intensely vivid red body base laced with intricate, psychedelic maze-like patterns of electric blue, neon green, and bright orange. Moving with an elegant, hummingbird-like hovering motion using its clear pectoral fins, it actively patrols rockwork for food. It serves as a spectacular, top-tier centerpiece species that requires an established, specialized aquarium layout to meet its highly restrictive dietary needs.
Tank Requirements
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons for a single specimen, though 55 to 75 gallons or larger is strongly recommended to maintain a self-reproducing live food supply over time.
Aquarium Decor: Massive structures of mature live rock providing extensive surface area for micro-fauna growth. Running a thriving, macroalgae-packed refugium is highly recommended to continuously seed the display tank with live prey.
Temperature: 72°F – 78°F (22°C – 26°C).
Salinity (Specific Gravity): 1.020 – 1.025.
pH Range: 8.1 – 8.4.
Care and Feeding
Diet: Strict Carnivore and Micro-predator; it feeds almost exclusively on live copepods and amphipods inhabiting live rock. Because it has a short, primitive digestive tract and hunts constantly during daylight hours, a single mandarin will consume thousands of pods daily and will quickly starve in young or overly clean tanks. Unless you purchase a verified captive-bred specimen trained on prepared foods, you must manually seed the tank with live copepod cultures if your natural population drops.
Reef Safe Rating: Reef safe; it is completely peaceful and harmless toward small polyp stony (SPS) corals, large polyp stony (LPS) corals, soft corals, polyps, and macroalgae.
Temperament: Peaceful; entirely docile and oblivious toward unrelated water-column tank mates. However, males can become highly aggressive and fight to the death against other male dragonets or similarly shaped species, so they should be kept singly or as a verified male-female pair.