Biota Coral Beauty

[Areseebee]

Do you see them on there right now? I have looked a couple of times and couldn't find them.

Here's the first one I find when I look at my update emails:

Edit: not sure why picture is failing: http://www.liveaquaria.com/CFFileServlet/_cf_image/_cfimg-7466833345770563670.PNG

 

[sleeping]

Here you go, not the best pictures as he's hard to catch but you can see his pattern change over the weeks. He's still a bright purple color -the last picture was just when my lights were starting to dim.

He was the first bonsai I saw them list, I scooped him up because I thought they would go fast like the mandarins do and prayed to the fish gods he would color up with time. The ones they put up more recently I think they kept a little longer so they were more...appealing.

 

[KJoFan]

Haven't seen any at my LFS so I would count on DD almost exclusively right now. Wonder if there are any deformities or lifespan issues with these "bonsai" cb.

I'm going to give DD another shot, hopefully I'll have better luck the second time.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I have a Biota coral beauty in a IM 14g Fusion peninsula. The only reason it is in there, or that I even have that tank, is because it is just over 1" long. My female clownfish didn't agree with it in the 75g did I had to set up a nano fast. When it grows out I'll have a bigger tank for it. No way would I expect to be able to keep it in the 14g forever.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

See, those CBs look amazing. Will the DD ones turn into that? Or are they just bad pictures or what? I'm very confused about these. Maybe someone who grabbed a captive bred CB from DD can share pictures?

Hang on let me see if I can pull up a picture of how mine looked on DD... the blue was really horrible in the picture but it was bright when I revived the fish. Idk if is the lights of the filter but the blue just doesn't show up on DDs pictures.

Ok found pictures, here's the DD wysiwyg picture of my fish.

Here's my fish in a 2 liter home made acclimating cage the day I got it.

And here is my fish in the 14g peninsula

 

[sleeping]

I have a Biota coral beauty in a IM 14g Fusion peninsula. The only reason it is in there, or that I even have that tank, is because it is just over 1" long. My female clownfish didn't agree with it in the 75g did I had to set up a nano fast. When it grows out I'll have a bigger tank for it. No way would I expect to be able to keep it in the 14g forever.

You know....my female clown doesn't like mine either, but she just chases it out her corner.

Only the bonsai are meant to be in the smaller tanks I think. Don't quote me on that lol

I did some googling earlier and saw someone say the bonsai are small because they had a pair that produced small offspring and I guess they're from that couple/lineage ?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

My female clown bit almost the whole tail off of mine. Drip acclimated the CB for an hour then social acclimated her for a day. Let her loose and the clown chased her into the rock. I thought that was the end of it, went to work and came back that night to a very scared CB with 1/4 of it's tail left. I had to remove everything but the base rock to get the angel out. It lived in a 2 liter bottle in the tank for about a month until I set up the nano. I wish I knew about the bonsai when I bought mine. It would be awesome if she stayed that size. It is perfectly behaved with corals and doesn't nip any of my SPS or the duncan in the tank.

 

[sleeping]

My female clown bit almost the whole tail off of mine. Drip acclimated the CB for an hour then social acclimated her for a day. Let her loose and the clown chased her into the rock. I thought that was the end of it, went to work and came back that night to a very scared CB with 1/4 of it's tail left. I had to remove everything but the base rock to get the angel out. It lived in a 2 liter bottle in the tank for about a month until I set up the nano. I wish I knew about the bonsai when I bought mine. It would be awesome if she stayed that size. It is perfectly behaved with corals and doesn't nip any of my SPS or the duncan in the tank.

Oh wow! I wonder why they're not fond of them. My clown likes everyone in the tank but the CB.

Glad you were able to save yours though!

My CB doesn't nip at anything either. Really cute and keeps to itself. It also eats (and poops) like crazy.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Oh wow! I wonder why they're not fond of them. My clown likes everyone in the tank but the CB.

Glad you were able to save yours though!

My CB doesn't nip at anything either. Really cute and keeps to itself. It also eats (and poops) like crazy.

Here's the only picture I have of the tail damage. You can see the top 3/4 of the tail is missing. Luckily, the damage didn't go too far down and the tail grew back completely in about a month's time.

 

[CindyKz]

Now I am confused. I was under the impression that the Biota captive bred CB were normal sized. Are they selling 2 sizes?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Now I am confused. I was under the impression that the Biota captive bred CB were normal sized. Are they selling 2 sizes?

I think the consensus is that the bonsai don't grow as large as the normal CB. How small they stay is up for grabs because they are all under or right at a year old. Biota claims they can stay in line of their tanks tho.

"Luckily, our cultured Coral Beauties are raised in small aquariums and therefore are acclimated to this size aquarium.

They behave differently as a result of our conditioning process and they will do well in the Biota Aquarium."

The Biota aquarium is 13.5g. 13.5g seems really small for a 4" fish.

http://biotapalau.com/2016/11/08/captive-bred-coral-beauties-can-live-in-your-tank-soon/

 

[Warthur]

That was the exact reason why I started this thread. I don't see how this is possible. While the logic makes sense, even a captive fish will eventually feel crammed in there

 

[SashimiTurtle]

That was the exact reason why I started this thread. I don't see how this is possible. While the logic makes sense, even a captive fish will eventually feel crammed in there

Using the 1" per 10 gallon rule, even a 2" fish would be crammed.

 

[Warthur]

I'm just imagining a 4 inch fish as active as an angel swimming in a display only 18 inches long (evo)... would be sad to look at

 

[CindyKz]

I'm just imagining a 4 inch fish as active as an angel swimming in a display only 18 inches long (evo)... would be sad to look at

Agreed!

I didn't even realize Biota was claiming anything different regarding these fish' ability to live in smaller tanks or their overall size. I probably would have come across it in my own research prior to buying, but then again, maybe not. Grateful for this thread.

Not that I would put one in a 13 gal tank in any case.

 

[KJoFan]

Mine will go in an IM40 which is probably about as small as I'd want to go. If it seems too cramped in there, I will have the option of moving it to an SCA 66g. But, I can't imagine any fish bigger than something like a goby in a 13g.

 

[mattsreefadise]

So, I sell these guys. Been working with Biota for about 9 months now.
I've talked directly with Kevin (the owner of Biota Aquariums) about how big of a tank the regular sized CBs can stay in. He definitely hasn't ever recommended them for their Evo tanks. Maybe last year when they were beginning to breed, they thought they would be fine. Or maybe the actual breeder wrote that article linked? I'm not sure.
And to answer the question, Biota sells two different coral beauties.
Regular sized, and bonsai CBs.
The bonsai are even smaller pigmys and will work in the Evo 13.5.
Both are gorgeous fish.

 

[TX_Punisher]

So for those that have them, are these reef safe? Or will they nip at lps and zoas?

 

[brett_schn]

So could I put one in a 10g with 2 baby clowns the Bosnia version

 

[mattsreefadise]

So for those that have them, are these reef safe? Or will they nip at lps and zoas?

I've got one in my 169 (not trying to make a sell here) and haven't had Any issues.
My tank is SPS dominated.
I think if you're going to take a risk and get an angel, these are your best bet.