Mandarinfish
Overview
A small, vibrantly colored reef fish known for its psychedelic blue, green, and orange patterns. It has a specialized diet and requires mature reef aquarium conditions to thrive. It is peaceful but has very specific care requirements.
Origin: Pacific Ocean, including the Indo-Pacific reefs
Family: Callionymidae
Physical Characteristics
Habitat Requirements
Care and Feeding
Specialized diet consisting mainly of live copepods, amphipods, and other small crustaceans found within live rock microfauna. May accept some frozen foods but generally won't thrive on prepared diets.
Breeding
Breeding Difficulty: Very Difficult
Breeding in captivity is extremely rare and challenging due to specific larval feeding requirements and complex mating behaviors. No routine captive breeding protocols are established; mostly wild-caught specimens populate the aquarium trade.
Compatibility
Peaceful
Best kept with peaceful reef species; incompatible with aggressive or predatory fish that may outcompete or harass it. Avoid tanks without sufficient live rock microfauna.