
Red Scooter Dragonet
Synchiropus stellatus
Reef Safe
Reef Safe
Care Summary
The Red Scooter Dragonet is every bit as demanding as the Mandarin Dragonet; it requires a mature tank with a thriving live copepod population or it will slowly starve regardless of what prepared foods you try to offer. A large, well-seeded refugium is not optional; without a constant copepod supply replenishing the display tank, this fish exhausts available prey within weeks and begins to waste. Some specimens can be conditioned to accept frozen copepods and baby brine over time, but this transition requires patient daily target feeding and the fish must be healthy enough to have appetite for it. Keep it in a species-compatible system away from fast-feeding wrasses and anthias that will outcompete it at every feeding; even with good intentions your other fish will eat the pods first.
