Saltwater Fish
Mandarin Dragonet.
A living jewel of the reef — the mandarin dragonet hovers on tiny fins in psychedelic swirls of color. Peaceful and reef-safe, but an expert fish: it grazes copepods nonstop and needs a mature reef with lots of live rock, or patient training onto prepared foods. A stunning centerpiece for an established 30-gallon-plus reef, offered as the green or the spotted (target) mandarin.
We keep this species at our Erie store. Come and see it in the tanks, or call (814) 456-9445 and ask what we have in right now.
Sea Cave keeps this species. You will find these in the tanks at 660 East 14th Street in Erie. We never ship live animals.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
We never ship fish, coral, or invertebrates — every animal here is one you meet in person. Each one is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it goes out into the display tanks. This is a species we keep, and what is swimming on any given day changes with the deliveries, so please call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Expert
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Community
- Community safe
- Adult size
- 3"
- Min tank size
- 30 gallons
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Scientific name
- Synchiropus spp.
Good tank mates
The green mandarin is slow, peaceful, and fully reef-safe, suiting calm community reef tanks with gentle fish such as clownfish, firefish, and small gobies. Keep it away from aggressive or fast-eating fish like wrasses, damsels, and anthias that will starve it of the tiny prey it depends on, and never house two males together. It does not harm corals or invertebrates.
Good to know
The green mandarin's brilliant colors come with a defense — its skin lacks normal scales and instead secretes a thick, foul-tasting, toxic mucus that deters predators.
What is in the tanks and each animal's temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for advice on pairing.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Firefish Goby
Peaceful planktivore that occupies the upper water column and poses no threat to the slow-foraging mandarin. Feeds on suspended zooplankton above the substrate, leaving benthic copepod patches undisturbed. Multiple specialist sources (AquariumSource, algaebarn) explicitly list it as a compatible pairing; aggression, if any, runs the other direction — the Firefish is the timid one.
Ultra Black Ice
Reef-safe and peaceful; occupies a completely different tank zone near a host anemone or coral and does not compete for copepods. Multiple sources (nano-reef community, Reef2Reef) confirm mutual indifference — the mandarin stays near the substrate, the clownfish near its host, and neither encroaches on the other's space or food supply.
Pajama Cardinalfish
Peaceful, ranked among the most docile fish for reef tanks. Hovers in midwater and feeds primarily at night on zooplankton, creating no direct competition with the mandarin's daytime benthic copepod foraging. Explicitly listed as a great mandarin tankmate on fishkeepingworld, fishlaboratory, and algaebarn.
Royal Gramma
Generally compatible; reef-safe and small enough to pose no predation risk. Royal Grammas are territorial near their home cave (usually an open-mouth bluff charge, rarely contact), but the mandarin does not compete for cave real estate and carries toxic skin mucus that rapidly deters most would-be harassers. Best practice: add the mandarin first so it establishes foraging routes before the gramma claims its cave. Listed as a compatible tankmate on multiple published care guides.
Yellow Watchman Goby
Peaceful toward dissimilar fish; territorial aggression in this species is directed at similarly shaped watchman-type gobies, not at mandarins. Feeds primarily on larger amphipods sifted from sand substrate — a distinct niche from the mandarin's copepod hunting on rockwork surfaces. Real-world keepers on Reef Central and Reef2Reef confirm successful cohabitation, and the mandarin's chemical defense provides additional insurance.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.