Jake, I respect Biota Labs and what you guys are doing. These tiny Regals have special requirements and a time commitment that many Hobbyists may not be aware of. The .5-inch size makes grow out in a separate Tank a necessity and could take 6 months to a year before most might feel comfortable adding them to a DT. The success record based on Posts on this and other Forums is low for a Captive Bred Fish and flies in the face of Captive Bred sustainable fish. You say and I quote, "If customers did not have success then we wouldn't continue with the species." Yes, there are success stories, but what survival rate does Biota consider "success"? Customer feedback should be final word on whether Biota continues with this species.
I disagree. We don't know why the failures happen and it would appear that most failures are right or wrong attributed to the fish size rather than the hobbyist. I know that is a bit bluntly put but we can't just assume it is the size of the fish but rather focus on how the fish is handled post arrival.
Yes, they are small but let me ask a few questions:
- Are the fish purchased direct from Biota or from secondary supplier?
- Are the quarantined?
- If quarantined, what protocols, what medication(s) and/or chemicals?
- Isolation, observation?
- Food? Did we have the listed food Biota uses on-hand? Proper size? Quality, and sized, frozen?
- Introduction to display path?
- Acclimation box?
It is of both my opinion, and experience, that captive bred fish should be, depending on the type and size, placed in an isolation tank with corals, rock, and substrate. This gives the hobbyist time to manually feed, and observe, what they eat and how they behave. What corals they may nip on both in curiosity and destructive. Give small portions of food, frequently, to see what they consume, vs strike, vs in passing, vs aggressively and chasing (what they like, like ice cream for example). Flow is controlled due to the size. Rock and corals are to keep them occupied and focused. Some, on the other hand, need to go into a more mature system due to their foraging needs and need for protection from the reef structure. In this instance the hobbyist needs to see if that is acceptable to them or not (risk factor). I place both the multibar and regal in this category and more often than not this is what I see that makes the success from failures although I'm not keeping track.
In short - treat the captive bred, raised, fish as you would a kitten or a puppy. They need more tender loving care before they can accompany you on your daily walk.
90% percent of my fish are from Biota direct and each one arrived tiny or small. Smallest being the size of a US nickel. I prefer captive bred, raised, as it gives me an rough estimate of their age, I get to see color transition, and behavior changes. Only one has been through QT and that purchase was only because it was part of a larger order from members and needed a home.
Here is my list of course it does not have a regal or a multibar but maybe one day when I upgrade.
- Blue Tang
- Gold Lined Rabbit
- (4) Pink Square Anthias
- Matted Filefish
- Radial Filefish
- Milletseed Butterflyfish
- Links Goby
- Upside Down Goby
- (11) Lyretail Damsels
- Blue Neon Cleaner Goby
TL; DR - It is of my opinion that the size is not the issue but rather the hobbyist not having an environment that can support the size of the animal. We are, by default, uses to buying larger animals which have different requirements than those of a young fish. Thus the kitten, puppy, reference. There are plenty of success stories out there.
Hope your day is well. None of this was meant to be aggressive so if it comes across that way I apologize. I just disagree is all. No harm or foul.
