Captive-Bred Biota Mandarins

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Everyone knows us for our captive-bred mandarins and for great reason! Our mandarins are fed a diet of pellet and frozen foods so when they get into your tank they're already acclimated and ready to thrive.

Check out this video of a group of them chowing down on some TDO B2 and PE hatchery diet pellets. We also feed them frozen PE Calanus and frozen Hikari baby brine shrimp.



https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/cultured-fish/products/blue-mandarinhttps://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/cultured-fish/products/blue-mandarin-pair
Post any questions you might have about them below!

 

[kml505]

How big are they? Interested in a pair but the smaller they are, the more nervous I am as shipping can really stress them out from my experience.

 

[raultsu]

Very nice. I also would like to know how big they are. Also is it necessary to QT them?

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

They're roughly 1"+ so they are tiny guys but grow up quick in home tanks. Shipping doesn't stress them out much in our experience but they are sensitive to colder temperatures so we usually ship them with heat packs.

Generally, I recommend all hobbyists QT livestock from any vendor, but these guys actually have a specialized system just for mandarins so they aren't mixed with any scaled fish or non-conspecifics.

 

[MattR]

@Biota_Marine so youre saying that the mandarins from you are guaranteed to eat pellets? Would hate to buy one then have it starve from knocking out the copepod population

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

@Biota_Marine so youre saying that the mandarins from you are guaranteed to eat pellets? Would hate to buy one then have it starve from knocking out the copepod population

So at our facility we're already only feeding them pellets and frozen foods, no copepods or anything added. That being said they're still mandarins so they'll probably eat a ton of pods in your tank and other microlife between feedings.

We also feed all of our fish 3-4 times a day so it helps there is food available for them throughout the day. I've had tons of customers add them to large tanks and lose them for 2-3 months only to come out front and center 4x the size from eating a ton of pods and coming to grab some frozen or pellet that's falling towards the substrate.

So basically, a long winded way to say yes, either frozen or pellet foods because once they leave our Palau facility to our Florida facility they're not eating anything live.

 

[jesspal]

Are you open for local pick up, I live in Miami?

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Are you open for local pick up, I live in Miami?

We are not, we try to keep our facility Bio-secure so we do not allow any non-employees on the premises.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

@Biota_Marine I seeded my tank with pods yesterday, with the intention of getting a ruby red dragonet, but thats only because of the controversy that comes with adding a green mandaein to a small tank like my 20g. If i seeded the tank, fed phyto almost daily, and left the pods to grow for a month or more do you think one of your mandarins would work well, and not starve? I would hope that, as you say, it eats pellets and frozen, it could work. Or should I just stick with a ruby red? Red dragonets stay much smaller, plus im getting a female, so its even smaller.

 

[raultsu]

How come the fish cheaper on algae barn?

 

[kml505]

So at our facility we're already only feeding them pellets and frozen foods, no copepods or anything added. That being said they're still mandarins so they'll probably eat a ton of pods in your tank and other microlife between feedings.

We also feed all of our fish 3-4 times a day so it helps there is food available for them throughout the day. I've had tons of customers add them to large tanks and lose them for 2-3 months only to come out front and center 4x the size from eating a ton of pods and coming to grab some frozen or pellet that's falling towards the substrate.

So basically, a long winded way to say yes, either frozen or pellet foods because once they leave our Palau facility to our Florida facility they're not eating anything live.

Great! I'll give a pair a go. Just made my purchase. Can you make sure you send me the fattest couple lol. Thanks!

 

[jazzfisher]

I have a female (for several years) that eats frozen readily. I would like to get a male but can’t add a smaller male - I don’t think she will accept him. Do you ever have more of a medium size (2 inches)? Or can you specify a sex when ordering?

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

I have a female (for several years) that eats frozen readily. I would like to get a male but can’t add a smaller male - I don’t think she will accept him. Do you ever have more of a medium size (2 inches)? Or can you specify a sex when ordering?

If you shoot me an email after you place the order with the sex you want I can make sure to get you what you need. [email protected]

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

How come the fish cheaper on algae barn?

We have agreements with our vendors to allow them to have the lowest or same pricing as us. The downside might be more limited availability like not having new fish immediately available or items we have in super limited quantities (goldflake, aurora anthias, ect.) Plus as seen above with requesting sexes or extra questions I'm always here to help out.

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

@Biota_Marine I seeded my tank with pods yesterday, with the intention of getting a ruby red dragonet, but thats only because of the controversy that comes with adding a green mandaein to a small tank like my 20g. If i seeded the tank, fed phyto almost daily, and left the pods to grow for a month or more do you think one of your mandarins would work well, and not starve? I would hope that, as you say, it eats pellets and frozen, it could work. Or should I just stick with a ruby red? Red dragonets stay much smaller, plus im getting a female, so its even smaller.

So we had a pair of mandarins in our 12G evo in the office for upwards of 9 months before upgrading their tank and they did fine only feeding pellet and frozen foods.

That being said I noticed you're in Canada and we haven't exported to there yet but we are hopefully working on that soon.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

So we had a pair of mandarins in our 12G evo in the office for upwards of 9 months before upgrading their tank and they did fine only feeding pellet and frozen foods.

That being said I noticed you're in Canada and we haven't exported to there yet but we are hopefully working on that soon.

So if I wanted to order one you guys wouldnt be able to ship it? If I order off of AlgaeBarn it ships right from your facility, right?

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

So if I wanted to order one you guys wouldnt be able to ship it? If I order off of AlgaeBarn it ships right from your facility, right?

In the past we've had to cancel AB and our own orders because it isn't currently feasible to ship individual orders over the border. But if what we're planning pans out we'll have a wholesaler in Canada that will distribute to LFS stores around the country.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

In the past we've had to cancel AB and our own orders because it isn't currently feasible to ship individual orders over the border. But if what we're planning pans out we'll have a wholesaler in Canada that will distribute to LFS stores around the country.

Are you guys simply not shipping to Canada because of COVID-19 or has there never been any shippements to Canada? Also a wholesaler in Canada would be awesome, please and thank you :)

 

[jazzfisher]

If you shoot me an email after you place the order with the sex you want I can make sure to get you what you need. [email protected]

Hi Jake,
I ordered and sent you an email yesterday! Thank you!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Awesome!! I'm excited to see these guys!