QUICK STATS

Care Level: Expert / Advanced
Diet: Carnivore / Microcrustacean Grazer
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef-Safe: Yes
Venomous: No
Approximate Purchase Size: 1.5-2.5"
Approximate Max Size: Around 3"
Recommended Tank Size: 30 Gallons Minimum, 50+ Gallons Strongly Preferred

RED MANDARIN

The Red Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) is a stunning dragonet known for its intense red, blue, green, and orange patterning. It is a color morph of the classic Mandarin Dragonet, with the same peaceful nature, slow hovering movement, and constant grazing behavior that makes mandarins so fascinating in mature reef aquariums.

Red Mandarins are peaceful, reef-safe fish that spend most of their day hunting tiny foods across live rock and sand. They will not bother corals or common invertebrates, but their feeding needs are very specific. A mature aquarium with a strong copepod population is extremely important for long-term success. Mandarin dragonets require an established aquarium and a steady supply of live copepods, though some individuals may adapt to frozen or prepared foods.

While some captive-bred or trained mandarins may accept prepared foods, this should be treated as a bonus, not the full feeding plan. Wild or untrained mandarins can be especially dependent on live foods and may slowly starve in tanks without enough pods. So yes, it is beautiful. It is also a tiny, jeweled dietary hostage situation.

Note: Image is a representation of what to expect. The fish you receive may vary slightly in size, color, pattern, and overall appearance.

AQUARIUM REQUIREMENTS

AQUARIUM SIZE

A 30-gallon aquarium is often listed as the minimum for a single Red Mandarin, but 50 gallons or larger is strongly preferred for better long-term success. The real issue is not just swimming space, it is food production. Larger, mature aquariums with plenty of live rock can support stronger copepod populations and offer more natural grazing surfaces. Recent care guidance lists 30-50 gallons as an absolute minimum with heavy pod supplementation, while 50-75 gallons is more realistic for long-term success with one mandarin.

HABITAT RECOMMENDATIONS

Red Mandarins do best in mature reef aquariums with plenty of live rock, natural pod populations, and peaceful tank mates.

Aquascaping: Provide generous live rock with caves, ledges, and open grazing surfaces. Mandarins spend much of the day picking through rockwork for tiny crustaceans.

Substrate: Sand, fine aragonite, crushed coral, or bare-bottom systems can work, but live rock and natural grazing surfaces are especially important.

Tank Maturity: A mature aquarium is strongly recommended. New tanks usually cannot support mandarins well, even if the water tests look acceptable. The problem is food availability, not just chemistry, because biology enjoys adding extra homework.

Refugium / Pod Support: A refugium, pod-safe rockwork, regular copepod additions, or separate pod culture can greatly improve long-term success.

Tank Cover: A tight-fitting lid is recommended. Mandarins are not the most dramatic jumpers, but fish still occasionally treat open air like a career path.

WATER PARAMETERS

Red Mandarins are generally hardy when their feeding needs are met, but they still require stable saltwater conditions. A mandarin can be in perfect water and still fail if it is not eating enough, because apparently beauty comes with a maintenance contract.

Temperature: 72-78°F
pH Level: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.020-1.026 specific gravity
Alkalinity: 8-12 dKH
Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate: Ammonia and nitrite should remain undetectable. Nitrate should be kept as low as reasonably possible, ideally below 20 ppm.
Water Flow: Low to moderate flow is ideal. Mandarins are slow, deliberate swimmers and should have calmer areas where they can hunt and rest comfortably.

DIET

Red Mandarins are specialized microcrustacean feeders. Their natural diet is made up of tiny live foods such as copepods, amphipods, and other small organisms found on live rock and sand. Feeding is the main challenge with mandarin dragonets, as they constantly forage for small crustaceans hidden in rockwork.

PRIMARY DIET

Live Copepods: This should be the foundation of their diet. A healthy, renewable pod population is one of the most important parts of mandarin care.

Live or Frozen Small Foods: Some individuals may accept live baby brine shrimp, enriched brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, fish eggs, or very small frozen foods.

Prepared Foods: Captive-bred or trained individuals may accept small pellets or frozen prepared foods. This is helpful, but it should not replace a mature pod population.

Shop Note: Even if a Red Mandarin eats prepared foods at the store, we still recommend a mature aquarium with live copepods. Prepared food is useful. Pods are the safety net. Ignoring that is how a beautiful fish becomes a very expensive lesson with fins.

FEEDING FREQUENCY

Red Mandarins graze throughout the day. In tanks without a strong natural pod supply, they may need frequent target feeding and regular copepod additions. Smaller tanks can work only with heavy supplementation and careful feeding, but the margin for error gets thin fast.

COMPATIBILITY

Red Mandarins are peaceful and work best with calm tank mates that will not harass them or outcompete them for food.

COMMON TANK MATES

Fish: Clownfish, cardinalfish, firefish, peaceful gobies, peaceful blennies, smaller wrasses with caution, dwarf angelfish with caution, and other calm community reef fish.

Avoid: Aggressive damsels, large predatory fish, aggressive wrasses, dottybacks that may harass them, and fast pod-hunting fish in smaller systems.

Pod Competition: Use caution with other heavy pod-eaters such as leopard wrasses, scooter dragonets, other mandarins, and some small wrasses. The mandarin may be peaceful, but the food math still matters. Annoying, yet survival-relevant.

Invertebrates: Safe with cleaner shrimp, hermit crabs, snails, urchins, and most common reef invertebrates.

Coral: Red Mandarins are reef-safe and should not bother soft corals, LPS, SPS, zoanthids, mushrooms, clams, or anemones.

BEHAVIORAL NOTES

Temperament: Peaceful and shy to moderately visible once established.

Activity Level: Constant grazer. They spend most of the day slowly moving across rockwork and substrate searching for tiny foods.

Feeding Risk: This is the main challenge. A Red Mandarin can look fine while slowly losing weight, so body condition should be monitored closely.

Tank Maturity: Best added to mature aquariums with established live rock and a strong pod population. New tanks are not ideal.

Captive-Bred Advantage: Captive-bred specimens may accept prepared foods more readily, but they still benefit greatly from live copepods.

Same-Species Aggression: Avoid keeping multiple mandarins together unless they are a confirmed male-female pair in a large, mature aquarium with plenty of food. Males may fight.

Color Morph: Red Mandarins are generally considered a red color morph of Synchiropus splendidus, with similar care needs to the classic green mandarin. One captive-bred seller lists Red Mandarin / Scarlet Mandarin as Synchiropus splendidus with adult size commonly around 2.5-3 inches in aquariums and a 30-gallon minimum, though 55+ gallons is strongly recommended.

Jumping: A tight-fitting lid is recommended. Even slow fish can make fast mistakes.

ACCLIMATION PROCESS

This acclimation method helps reduce stress by gradually introducing the fish to your aquarium’s temperature and water chemistry.

1. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS & ATO

Turn off aquarium lights to reduce stress. If you have an Auto Top Off system, switch it off before starting acclimation.

2. FLOAT THE BAG

Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 15-20 minutes to allow the temperature in the bag to equalize with the tank.

3. OPEN BAG, ADD FISH TO CONTAINER

Carefully open the bag and transfer the fish and shipping water into a clean bucket or container.

4. ACCLIMATE USING TANK WATER

Add 1/4 cup of tank water to the container every 5 minutes for 40 minutes.

5. TRANSFER FISH TO AQUARIUM

Once acclimation is complete, use a specimen container when possible to gently transfer the fish into the aquarium. Discard the shipping water. Do not pour shipping water into your aquarium.

6. REFILL THE AQUARIUM WITH SALTWATER

You may need to replace the saltwater removed during acclimation with fresh mixed saltwater.