BIOTA Mandarin (Share your Stories!)

Habachi_Grill

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Hey Everyone,

I wanted to hear some stories on your experience with a captive bred Mandarin Dragonet! I currently have a nuvo 14g Peninsula and am determined to eventually rehome a pair :).

I am currently cultivating phytoplankton to seed my tank and white worms for my Purple Firefish. Down the road, once I can consistently get good cultures of phytoplankton, will then move toward Copepods and add into the tank. After 6 months, my plan is to then culture baby brine and begin my search of a captive bred pair.

Other than that, please share what worked for you and what didn't. Experience on feeding frozen bloodworms or cyclopods? Baby brine? Pellets? Any weird behaviors to keep an eye out for? Pictures of lovely mandarins are always welcomed as a blessing!
 

jrill

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It sounds like you going to get a mandarin raised and eating prepared food. You then going to break him from that by only feed live food. Why would you do that.
My Boita mandarin is a little over a year with me and eats whatever I feed.
 
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Habachi_Grill

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Bloodworms and calanus workes for my wild caught mandarins. I have another I'm trying calanus with but it's slow progress.
Nice! How long did it take for you to train your mandarins? What size tank if you don't mind me asking? Also, do you feed copepods or strictly those two stated?
 
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Habachi_Grill

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It sounds like you going to get a mandarin raised and eating prepared food. You then going to break him from that by only feed live food. Why would you do that.
My Boita mandarin is a little over a year with me and eats whatever I feed.
I see, my thought behind it was to provide a ecosystem where I know they would be in good hands because of it being a small tank but sounds like it might be a bit overkill? What size tank are you holding the mandarin in? Also do you consistently add pods or just whatever food goes in the tank is what the fish will get? Thanks!
 

areefer01

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It sounds like you going to get a mandarin raised and eating prepared food. You then going to break him from that by only feed live food. Why would you do that.
My Boita mandarin is a little over a year with me and eats whatever I feed.

If I was to order a Mandarin it would only be from Biota for the reason you stated. Prepared foods.

As to why would they do that I don't know but in a larger tank it would forage. So having a healthy pod population would help to give it busy. I do that now with my Copperband. I'll resupply pods since I know it is constantly doing what it does.
 

blaxsun

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Nice! How long did it take for you to train your mandarins? What size tank if you don't mind me asking? Also, do you feed copepods or strictly those two stated?
A month or so before I was able to get them onto larger stuff. It was a 25-gallon at the time. Pods as well as the frozen.
 

ZombieEngineer

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Please remember that Mandarins are like hummingbirds and require food nearly continuously. Even if you are able to get the mandarin on prepared foods, you will never be able to feed it often enough for it to not slowly starve to death in a 14 gallon tank. The mandarin will eat every pod in that tank in like an hour.

In a tank that size, your only possible route to success is if you can train it to eat pellets and set an autofeeder to feed a couple pellets like 8+ times per day. You would also need an attached refugium

I don't anticipate this working out well.
 

Rick's Reviews

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I have had this mandarin in my 200litre aquarium I think over six months now, when I first introduced it had a bump/growth on its body (will be in my earlier message/posts) still today I have found no answers in any forum, recently it has grown another bump and hopefully video shows its right side/ two dots from tail... If anyone can help.
However in regards to this post my Mandarin, I introduced into new aquarium that was cycling for nearly a year, I had various pods and live critters running around before I introduced any live stock. My mandarin has ate All as much as I can see as no critters running around , I have copepod and artemia culture active which I feed as much live as possible, I tried live blood worms but mandarin was not interested so I tried frozen.. this he actually sees and eats without spot feeding and he is now bulky
I think maybe look into copepods either delivered or culture before you purchase mandarin as your aquarium is very small, 2/ pair maybe too much in 14g
My aquarium is 44g and I thought alot and researched before deciding however it is your aquarium.

You have to think about growth/long term also varied diet, sit and watch what it may or may not eat, as mentioned mandarin like to eat small but continuously

If you know what bubble/growth is on my mandarin please share, even just a thought, I am more relaxed as first one disappeared, now this one but mandarin healthy


IMG20220513163835.jpg

 

jrill

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I see, my thought behind it was to provide a ecosystem where I know they would be in good hands because of it being a small tank but sounds like it might be a bit overkill? What size tank are you holding the mandarin in? Also do you consistently add pods or just whatever food goes in the tank is what the fish will get? Thanks!
I have mine in a 20. I will occasionally toss in some pods or baby brine but not very often. I want to make sure he stays on prepared food.
 

Rick's Reviews

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My mandarin is in a 44g (200litre) as I previously mentioned I especially sit and watch at feeding times to see who eats what and adjust accordingly, my mandarin does not eat live blood worms however frozen bloodworms he eats ( I do not target feed mandarin, I let the worms settle to my Sand bed and it picks and eats)
I also have recently added a Flame red/ Scarlett scooter blenny (synchiropous sycorax) tiny little guy (female) so I'm looking to see what she eats, I add live copepods and artemia, I just sit and observe what inhabitants eat daily and adjust, reef2reef offers so much in mandarin care but limited, look around and research as much as possible as mandarin are classed as difficult to keep for a reason, knowledge is power
 

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Habachi_Grill

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My mandarin is in a 44g (200litre) as I previously mentioned I especially sit and watch at feeding times to see who eats what and adjust accordingly, my mandarin does not eat live blood worms however frozen bloodworms he eats ( I do not target feed mandarin, I let the worms settle to my Sand bed and it picks and eats)
I also have recently added a Flame red/ Scarlett scooter blenny (synchiropous sycorax) tiny little guy (female) so I'm looking to see what she eats, I add live copepods and artemia, I just sit and observe what inhabitants eat daily and adjust, reef2reef offers so much in mandarin care but limited, look around and research as much as possible as mandarin are classed as difficult to keep for a reason, knowledge is power
Love that! I appreciate the support but also your experience! Not really too worried about the pods as we have multiple back up tanks 180g mixed reef, 150g mixed reef, and a 90g lps dominated tank. And just like before I will be culturing white worms, phytoplankton, and copepods, potentially even baby brine
 

Rick's Reviews

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I'm still a novice compared to others.
just try and test, sit and watch is the main thing and adjust, last thing I tried for my Mandarin was frozen blood worms but he decides what to eat

reef2reef members have provided me with so much information and help it's invaluable.

Good luck with your mandarin and really hope it's successful
 
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Habachi_Grill

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I'm still a novice compared to others.
just try and test, sit and watch is the main thing and adjust, last thing I tried for my Mandarin was frozen blood worms but he decides what to eat

reef2reef members have provided me with so much information and help it's invaluable.

Good luck with your mandarin and really hope it's successful
I like to believe that we are all novice in some aspect but thanks! It sounds like you are doing pretty well, please keep me updated on how it does if there is more progress made! But yes, just doing the research now, tank is fairly new and still looking to build up my population while learning how to culture everything on the side.
 
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Habachi_Grill

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My Biota mandarin via TSM. I have a heavily stocked xl300 w pods tank was 18 months before adding her. Has grown always on the look out and hunt. Enjoying the lounge via derasa.
3CFBF584-D96C-4B52-9283-DA61AC9D4936.jpeg
12CD3D04-E4B5-4CC9-B691-9006BBC3F2C3.jpeg
Love the photos! Please keep ‘em coming. Amazing pic with it just hanging out on the clam!
 

Janet Belanger

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Ordered a pair of Biota Mandarins, and apparently, they're edible.

I plopped them into an acclimation box, both so unexpectedly teeny tiny. They were pecking at frozen pods and seemingly filling their bellies, but I can't be certain if it would have sustained them because within 48 hrs both have been eaten by my 2-inch orange strip prawn goby. Day 1 the male escaped and was eaten, so I shored up the acclimation box to try to save the female. She somehow made it out too, and now has also been eaten.

So ... in my experience it's way easier to feed them, than to keep them from being food.
 

GoVols

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within 48 hrs both have been eaten by my 2-inch orange strip prawn goby. Day 1 the male escaped and was eaten, so I shored up the acclimation box to try to save the female. She somehow made it out too, and now has also been eaten.

Thanks for the heads up, your post, just took those Biota’s off my want list.
 

john92708

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I got a pair back in Dec 21 when my 14 AIO finish cycling. I seed it with EcoPod from Algaebarn but they mostly live on TDO B2 pellets. They come super tiny but eat pellets the next morning. They are more than double in size now. I'll put pellets in a feeding dish at a low flow corner in the morning for them to eat and I'll feed them again at night. I don't recommend getting a pair for a nano since mine female started getting aggressive toward the larger male after 8 months of living peacefully. Aggression seem to be due to territorial
 

shootingstar_reef

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Here's my lil guy (from biota). They arrive REALLY small, and I was worried when he wasn't eating dry food. I have a lot of copepods, so he was fine until the TDO chromaboost arrived - turns out my other food was too big. I have watched him eat the prepared foods every time I feed. He's been growing and I'm quite happy with him.
IMG_8067.PNG
 

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