Biota mandarins

[Redbird5]

I had a wild caught mandarin goby last year, but it starved to death or velvet may have got it. In December I got a red scooter blenny and I quarantined it because I'm still in fallow until 1/24/2026.

I fed the scooter blenny pods, frozen cyclopods, frozen and live baby brine soaked in selcon and he died on Christmas.

I really like mandarins, they're my favorite fish and I would keep them if I can be successful at it.

My next step is researching captive bred mandarins. I've steered clear of them because of the price, but I believe captive bred maybe the only way to go successfully.

What's everyone's opinion on this? Is captive bred the way to go? I know that even captive bred mandarins eat hundreds of pods in a day. I've seeded my aquarium with them and I feed them plankton everyday.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I had one from Biota for over a year until it jumped. It would eat both very small pellets/reef jerky as well as pods. No issues with them eating prepared food.

 

[Boehmtown]

I've had 4 wild between me and my friend. All ate tdo chroma boost pellets extra small. Gotta put them on an auto feeder multiple times a day

 

[beesnreefs]

I have a @Biota_Marine mandarin and he's absolutely wonderful. Got him a year ago and he was eating TDO pellets right out of th bag.

Readily eats pellets, various frozen food, live pods....seems happy and healthy.

Definitely recommend Biota mandarins over wild caught every day of the week

 

[Redbird5]

I have a @Biota_Marine mandarin and he's absolutely wonderful. Got him a year ago and he was eating TDO pellets right out of th bag.

Readily eats pellets, various frozen food, live pods....seems happy and healthy.

Definitely recommend Biota mandarins over wild caught every day of the week

What about ORA mandarins are they as healthy as Biota?

 

[Indiana Reefin]

Highly recommend a biota mandrin. I have one and it’s doing great! It eats brine and LRS nano frozen. I highly recommend keeping in an acclimation box for the first week or so and get the eating prepared foods. They are pricey from biota but they are worth it.

 

[Redbird5]

Highly recommend a biota mandrin. I have one and it’s doing great! It eats brine and LRS nano frozen. I highly recommend keeping in an acclimation box for the first week or so and get the eating prepared foods. They are pricey from biota but they are worth it.

From my research I think they're worth the extra money.

 

[Indiana Reefin]

From my research I think they're worth the extra money.

Yes I also bought some clowns from there and they are the highest grade clowns I have ever purchased. They were priced well at $45.

 

[Redbird5]

Yes I also bought some clowns from there and they are the highest grade clowns I have ever purchased. They were priced well at $45.

I'm wondering what the difference is between ora and biota. ORA has a canary blenny I really like.

 

[TheNative192]

What about ORA mandarins are they as healthy as Biota?

Get a Biota Mandarin. The key is you have to feed it small portions multiple times a day and you want the flow off since the food needs to settle on the bottom.

I like to use a pipette and I feed it shaved mysis, blood worms, frozen pods, frozen baby brine. TDO B2 Pellets (B2 is the size) and he eats them all no problem. ORA Mandarins are not raised exclusively on prepared foods where as Biota Mandarins only raise the young on prepared foods so they are not pod reliant.

The main thing is feeding multiple times a day 3-4x at least when they are young as they will starve without consistent feedings. Also if you use a fish feeder if the food does not reach the bottom then it is not helping as they only eat food from the bottom or off rocks usually.

 

[TheNative192]

I'm wondering what the difference is between ora and biota. ORA has a canary blenny I really like.

ORA captive breeds but also keeps pods in their system. Biota does not so if you get a Biota Mandarin it can survive only on prepared foods. Its a big difference if your system is not 55 gallons+

 

[Redbird5]

ORA captive breeds but also keeps pods in their system. Biota does not so if you get a Biota Mandarin it can survive only on prepared foods. Its a big difference if your system is not 55 gallons+

I already have pods in my system.

 

[Indiana Reefin]

How big is your tank?

 

[Redbird5]

How big is your tank?

45g

 

[TheNative192]

45g

The point is usually people say you need 75G+ for a Dragonette/Scooter Blenny/Mandarin (all are Dragonettes) as they exclusively eat pods from the Wild and are hard to train. You also need a fuge/sump with macroalgae like Chaeto as pods live and reproduce on it, to dose phyto to keep the pod population up as that's their food source, can't have any pod competitors like many wrasses in a small tank, etc. They eat 5k pods a day and in your system you may have 100k-200k so within 20-40 days they may kill off the population. An ORA one may only eat pods and will starve in your system. A good trick is if you want an ORA fish and you do not want to pay shipping you actually can go to a Petco and order one and ask to get it before they introduce it into their system. You don't have to pay for shipping as they order ORA fish all the time and you can go pick it up in person in the ORA bag water & get it at a cheaper price.

If your goal is to keep it alive go with Biota as they basically teach the fish to eat prepared foods. ORA the benefit of captive bred is that its captive bred, not that it will eat prepared foods. Dragonettes do not have a true stomach and have a fast metabolism which is why they need to eat 3-4x a day.

I still culture two gallon cultures of Tisbee pods as well and add them to this system as they will still eat pods. They just do not exclusively eat pods.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I've had a mandarin for over 5 years in a 180g tank. It's never eaten anything but pods.... which i only added a few times in the first year or two. I have a fuge and i guess a healthy pod ecosystem which keeps him happy and healthy.... that is the key whether biota or not

 

[Indiana Reefin]

I already have pods in my system.

I would still add some pods from time to time. They will need pods still to supplement the prepared foods.

 

[Redbird5]

I have a nano where I raise pods. They're all over the glass in it. My display tank has them as well.

 

[TheNative192]

I have a nano where I raise pods. They're all over the glass in it. My display tank has them as well.

Seems like you are trying to convince yourself to get an ORA one. If you do try and train it to eat prepared foods, it may take weeks or months to get it to eat prepared foods. The key is it will wipe out the pod population in a 45 gallon within a few months and it will starve even with adding pods in once a week. Some people cant even keep them in 120 gallon systems, Fuges loaded with pods since they eat so many so quickly.

You can feed it live baby brine shrimp sometimes too.

Good luck though.

 

[Redbird5]

Seems like you are trying to convince yourself to get an ORA one. If you do try and train it to eat prepared foods, it may take weeks or months to get it to eat prepared foods. The key is it will wipe out the pod population in a 45 gallon within a few months and it will starve even with adding pods in once a week. Some people cant even keep them in 120 gallon systems, Fuges loaded with pods since they eat so many so quickly.

Good luck though.

No, actually I'm leaning towards a biota.