Captive-Bred Biota Mandarins

[Huskymaniac]

Hey Huskymaniac, I'm glad you found him! I've had customers put pairs in large tanks only to lose them for a few months until one day they confidently come out of the rockwork 3x the size to grab some frozen or pellet food.

@Biota_Marine So I can pretty much find the fish everyday now. It basically follows the same pattern everyday. Eats mostly pods but I do feed it some TDO pellets every couple of days. It's definitly doubled in size. Was thinking about scooping up a female buddy for him. I know you had said previously they are in their own quarantined systems so really no need to quarantine. Any other fish in the same situation. Was specifically looking at the Seales cardinal.

 

[homer1475]

I know I have a biota male.... Wondering if @Biota_Marine can guarantee I'll get a female at such a young age?

I had learned you can sex them when they get a little bigger(then you guys ship them out) by the dorsal fin. Can you guys can sex them differently at a younger age, and guarantee I can order a female?

 

[Biota_Marine]

@Biota_Marine So I can pretty much find the fish everyday now. It basically follows the same pattern everyday. Eats mostly pods but I do feed it some TDO pellets every couple of days. It's definitly doubled in size. Was thinking about scooping up a female buddy for him. I know you had said previously they are in their own quarantined systems so really no need to quarantine. Any other fish in the same situation. Was specifically looking at the Seales cardinal.

The mandarins are in their own system with only mandarins so they should be good to go any any system because of their lack of traditional scales and their mucus that keeps them safe from external pests/parasites.

As for the rest of our fish I do have a QT answer on our site but I suggest just a holding tank for a week or so to make sure they're all good. Our facility is biosecure and we don't have any wild livestock coming in so it's only what comes from our labs or facilities around the globe. Each facility also has their own system. We just ran out of our last batch of seal's cardinalfish but I know we'll be getting more in soon.

One thing with the seal's cardinalfish is they do ship poorly like a few other cardinalfish families. So when they do arrive I would suggest continuing to acclimate them even if they look DOA because of their stress response. Once in the aquarium they're basically bullet proof though and form an awesome shoal.

 

[Biota_Marine]

I know I have a biota male.... Wondering if @Biota_Marine can guarantee I'll get a female at such a young age?

I had learned you can sex them when they get a little bigger(then you guys ship them out) by the dorsal fin. Can you guys can sex them differently at a younger age, and guarantee I can order a female?

The dorsal shape shows the sex pretty clearly regardless of sizing. I think most people always look for the clear distinct spike to signify its a male but after seeing tens if not hundreds of thousands of these guys over the years its the shaping of the dorsal either being truly round and connecting or almost trapezoidal.

We needed to be sure about their sexing because in densities it's pretty often that the alpha or larger males in population will go after that spike so there are few that showcase that true large spike shape.

 

[HKmongoose77]

How much shipped to California ?

 

[jazzfisher]

How much shipped to California ?

It was very reasonable to me in San Diego area.

 

[Biota_Marine]

How much shipped to California ?

Our shipping is usually between 20-30 pending on the location and weight of the package. But if your order is over $150 it ships free.

 

[Tchung23]

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.

I have a pair of your mandarines and they look really healthy. I’ve been trying to feed them PE pellets but have really yet to see them take one. I put enough that there will be some on the substrate. Do you think they will eat when I’m not looking or even at night?? I’ll they eat pellets just sitting on racks and substrate??
Thx

 

[jazzfisher]

My Biota mandarin is doing great, he loves the TDO Chroma Boost B2 which Biota feeds. He also eats the different varieties of frozen I feed. Do you feed frozen too? I use the turkey baster to send some of the pellets to the substrate. Do you put your return pump & powerheads in feed mode or off when you are feeding? I do. Good luck!

 

[Tchung23]

My Biota mandarin is doing great, he loves the TDO Chroma Boost B2 which Biota feeds. He also eats the different varieties of frozen I feed. Do you feed frozen too? I use the turkey baster to send some of the pellets to the substrate. Do you put your return pump & powerheads in feed mode or off when you are feeding? I do. Good luck!

Yes. I turn off my wave maker and return pump when feeding. I presoak my pellets so they sink faster
I try anything to keep my little guy and girl alive.
The mandarine fish was the main reason I fell in love with saltwater tanks!!
Here’s some pics. So cute!!
Please don’t die

 

[Tchung23]

Yes. I turn off my wave maker and return pump when feeding. I presoak my pellets so they sink faster
I try anything to keep my little guy and girl alive.
The mandarine fish was the main reason I fell in love with saltwater tanks!!
Here’s some pics. So cute!!
Please don’t die

I bought from my lfs. The staffer was able to get me a pair. And the male is quite large. Much larger than all the other ones they had. I guess I got lucky. Also if any of you are canadian order from Candy Corals as the deliver too.

 

[jazzfisher]

I bought from my lfs. The staffer was able to get me a pair. And the male is quite large. Much larger than all the other ones they had. I guess I got lucky. Also if any of you are canadian order from Candy Corals as the deliver too.

They look good how long have you had them?

 

[Tchung23]

They look good how long have you had them?

Just a couple of days. But they are swimming around happily.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

@Biota_Marine if needed can you get larger males? 2inches ?

 

[Biota_Marine]

I have a pair of your mandarines and they look really healthy. I’ve been trying to feed them PE pellets but have really yet to see them take one. I put enough that there will be some on the substrate. Do you think they will eat when I’m not looking or even at night?? I’ll they eat pellets just sitting on racks and substrate??
Thx

It depends on the sizing of the PE pellets, if they're the full size they might not be able to feed on them. We buy a hatchery PE sizing that's around 400 µm but if you just crush them up to a "chunky powder" they should be able to go after them. Or as suggested above small frozen foods are a good option like Hikari's frozen baby brine shrimp.

 

[Biota_Marine]

@Biota_Marine if needed can you get larger males? 2inches ?

We aren't normally able to keep them in stock long enough to get to that larger 2"+ sizing. Occasionally we'll throw some in our quarantine coral systems (they're great at eating some pests) and those will grow to a pretty huge sizing but we'll only end up selling them once or twice a year.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Has anyone had one of their mandarins turn neurotic. My guy is pretty large now and just last week started to constantly pace up and down the side glass. I covered the side of the glass with purple construction paper which hasn't done anything to stop the behavior.

 

[jazzfisher]

Has anyone had one of their mandarins turn neurotic. My guy is pretty large now and just last week started to constantly pace up and down the side glass. I covered the side of the glass with purple construction paper which hasn't done anything to stop the behavior.

My male does it sometimes but its not an ongoing thing. I hope someone else has an answer. I'm of no help.

 

[Dabcrusher]

I love mine I got it from Algaebarn 3 years ago and he ate pellets . Now he dont but now I work there and I put about a grand worth of pods in my tank every week so I think he forgot about pellets. Also live the seales cardinalfish I got very cool.. but yes he grabbed the pellets for the first year I had him

 

[Cbones1979]

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.

Mandarin Fish

Synchiropus splendidus-Biota’s captive-bred mandarins are incredibly beautiful in coloration and readily feed on prepared diets. Wild caught mandarins are poor aquarium inhabitants and an overwhelming number die in the aquarium trade each year even in ideal conditions. Since mandarins are a...

shop.thebiotagroup.com

Mandarin Fish Pair

Synchiropus splendidus-Biota’s captive-bred mandarins are incredibly beautiful in coloration and readily feed on prepared diets. Wild caught mandarins are poor aquarium inhabitants and an overwhelming number die in the aquarium trade each year even in ideal conditions. Since mandarins are a...

shop.thebiotagroup.com

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