Above: Shown in the picture just above is a premium quality Prehistoric Dragon Fish, swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us snapped this picture.

Comments: This is a Premium Quality Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like these in any of the live fish stores or in the online stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

Click here to learn more about Premium Pet Fish.

Origin: This Dragon Fish originally lived in the Caribbean somewhere near the shore between the US and Brazil, where it was captured by skillful collectors and shipped to us.

The adults swim from the ocean up into rivers in South or Central America to spawn.

A few of the young are trapped as they swim back down stream to the ocean and end up in aquariums throughout the world.

Maximum Size: In aquariums they can grow to be about 20" long, which is pretty large for most home aquariums.

So if you get one and take very good care of it with excellent water and premium foods, make sure you have an aquarium big enough for such a long gentle giant.

Behaviors: This fish is not an active swimmer and is not aggressive, but it will eat smallish fish that fit into its large mouth.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include, Larger Community Fish, Plecostomus Catfish, Clown Loaches, Larger Barbs, Larger Rainbowfish, and many other medium to large size aquarium fish.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: Dragon Fish can live pretty well from about 70 to 80-degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 75-degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: in their natural habitat they filter algae and detritus from the water.

In our aquariums we feed them Ghost Shrimp,Black Worms, plus Freeze Dried Bloodworms, and bits of Algae Wafers and Green Flake Food that is rich in Spirulina Algae.

We know it's sometimes difficult to get them started eating, but the shrimps and worms seem to disappear at night after a couple of days.

Then when we've got them eating the small shrimps and worms, we begin feeding them premium pellet food, when they're hungry.

They soon begin competing with each other for the small pellets.

Our premium pellet and flake foods are about 50% plant matter, which is essential for this and many other kinds of fish.

Water Conditions: Dragon Fish seem to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

Probably a pH of about 7.8 with moderate hardness is best, when they're young.

Most water in the US seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

As they get older they need proportionately more marine salts in their water.

Eventually they need to live in a mixture of freshwater and about one-quarter marine water, which should make a reading of about 1.006 on a hydrometer.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: When young and less than 6" long, it's probably best to house one in at least a 30-gallon tank, but bigger is better.

They'll soon need 50 to 60-gallon aquarium then an aquarium with 100-gallons, 150-gallons, and maybe bigger.

Decor: Dragon Fish do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel.

Live Plants are beautiful and help improve the water quality, but the plants will not do well when marine salts are added to the aquarium water.

Click here for more about live Aquarium Plants.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

A Penguin 200B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK, when they're small, but a Penguin 350B Filter is the right size for a 30 to 50-gallon aquarium.

The bigger aquariums will need proportionately more Penguin Filters.

It's best to have as many Penguin 350B Filters as will fit along the back of the aquarium.

Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range.

Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Dragon Fish live for many years with excellent water and premium food.

Gender: It's not easy to tell the males from the females, when they're young and sometimes even as they mature.

As females mature they often fill with eggs and become plumper, which is a clue to their gender.

Breeding: They've been known to be able to breed successfully in captivity, but it is rare.

Popularity: Dragon Fish have been popular for many years, even though they grow to a large size.

In fact they grow too big for us, but we like to let our customers make their own decisions about which fish to keep in their aquariums.

Names: The scientific name of the Dragon Fish is Gobioides broussonetti.

Variations: There are no variations that we know of now.

Click here for a lot more information about keeping and caring for Dragon Fish, including a picture gallery.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.

DrTom - 07/15/2015