BIOTA Mandarin (Share your Stories!)

[Slocke]

I've got a biota pair. They eat both live and dead and are very easy in my case. My male has grown a lot and is very colorful, my female less but still seems quite healthy. My tank is a fairly young 110gal with a halichores wrasse and they still seem to find enough food.Very fun and worth it.

Also nothing ever bothers them even large fish that bully everything else completely ignore them. Mandarins produce a mucus from their skin that is odorous and toxic so nothing should mess with them. https://www.australiangeographic.co...-of-the-beautiful-but-poisonous-mandarinfish/
I don't know if captive bred ones are capable of producing this as it may require elements form natural prey but it certainly works for mine. (as in nothing messes with them)

 

[areefer01]

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

Just as an aside any chance of an isolation tank while they grow out? If that is an option? I know in many cases that isn't always possible.

I've ordered a few different fish from Biota and while small the only ones I've run into emergencies with are the Matted Filefish and the Forktail blenny. In both cases I've closed off my refugium and placed them in there for a month or so. That usually helps.

I say usually because one of my Forktails managed to go through the refugiums overflow, through a Cor 20 return pump, and greeted me with their ever loving goth eyeliner stern look in the morning begging for food. No idea how it survived that loop but it did.

In any case some of the fish are on the smaller side so was just wondering if there is an option available. Hope your evening is going well!

 

[Habachi_Grill]

Quick Update Everyone!
So quick update!
July 6: Rehome (2) Wild Mandarin Dragonet
July 16: Rehome Tanaka Pygmy Wrasse

Mandarins:
Aggressively eating cultured baby brine shrimp, cultured white worms, cultured copepods, live + frozen brine with no issues!

August 10 can confirm they are a pair as I witnessed spawning event! Probably not able to happen as my tank is a Innovative 14 Peninsula so too small but cool to know they are a pair!

Tanaka:
Aggressively goes after live brine
Frozen brine and white worms it picks at but still needs some adjustment time. Still very shy, very interesting personality!

Love my fish!

 

[las]

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.

How has your mandarin grown in this year? How are the colors on the biotas compared to wild?

 

[jrill]

How has your mandarin grown in this year? How are the colors on the biotas compared to wild?

He has probably tripled in size. Color is good but I've never kept a wild one so I can't really compare. His color is not as vivid as some I've seen in stores but I don't know if they were they same variation.

 

[Pseudoskill]

How often are you feeding the mandarins? Debating getting a capture bred one today from my LFS, not sure how many times per day I'll have to feed it though

 

[Bpfor3]

I bought a pair November, 2021. Very small. Did not get a pair, got two mails. When that small the extended dorsal of the male is hard to see or broken easily. What i got looked like a pair but was not. Threw them in my 150 mixed reef with lots of tangs, dwarf angels, wrasses etc. One eventually killed the other, but the one that survived is a fat pig. easily 2" plus now. All i do is dump or squirt TDO pellets in the same spot once a day. mandarin eats it up. Never done anything else. I also have a pair of Biota Marine Bettas and they are equally easy. if i knew i could get a female, id get another one without question.