Dragonets are peaceful, shy bottom-dwellers best suited to calm community and reef aquariums with non-aggressive tank mates. Most species, like mandarins, are considered reef-safe as they leave corals and inverts alone, but they have very specialised diets and typically rely on a constant supply of live copepods and other microfauna. Because of this, they should only be added to mature, well-established systems with plenty of live rock, usually a minimum of around 100–150 litres for a single fish, with larger tanks offering greater long-term stability. Dragonets thrive in tanks with gentle flow, lots of rockwork to graze and hide in, and should never be housed with boisterous or fast-feeding fish that will outcompete them for food.
