Captive bred Mandarins by Biota

[Keepswiming]

Unfortunately one of the mandarins my girlfriend won wasn't eating as well. It died but we didn't take any pictures of it or know about the 15 day guarantee, it probably doesn't apply to use any ways. She is very bummed about not having a "pair" anymore. Luckily the other is very fat, so it must be eating.

 

[Ross]

I reintroduced mine to display yesterday. He is doing better this time, although he is still very small. He is having a hard time swimming much due to the flow in the tank. I have seen him picking around so that is a good sign.

 

[NanaReefer]

Unfortunately it takes longer than 15 days for these fish to starve to death [emoji17]

 

[locito277]

How much would a pair come out too?

 

[FDAWG]

Any one got pics?

 

[Baby Ray]

Does anyone have updates on there Biota mandarins? I would love to know how they're doing.

 

[Ross]

Mine is still doing great! He is eating frozen cyclops now. The other one I got for a buddy is doing great also. His is eating frozen brine shrimp and has doubled in size.

 

[Baby Ray]

Mine is still doing great! He is eating frozen cyclops now. The other one I got for a buddy is doing great also. His is eating frozen brine shrimp and has doubled in size.

Awesome!!!
How big are the tank they are in?

 

[MCooper]

Sadly both of mine didn't make it. One passed away after 3 months the other after another 2 months.

 

[NanaReefer]

Sadly both of mine didn't make it. One passed away after 3 months the other after another 2 months.

Sorry for your loss [emoji17]

 

[Baby Ray]

Sadly both of mine didn't make it. One passed away after 3 months the other after another 2 months.

I'm so sorry

 

[Annahra]

So it seems like even the captive-bred ones are tough to keep. I need to scratch this fish off my bucket list. :-(

 

[NanaReefer]

So it seems like even the captive-bred ones are tough to keep. I need to scratch this fish off my bucket list. :-(

Very wise and humane decision. Kudos to you [emoji4]

 

[code4]

If I ever need to replace my two pairs I will try purchasing captive bred. I have had my green and spotted pair for several years now. Wish I had bought captive bred though. They eat pods, live baby brine shrimp. As time went by they started to eat live black worms and anything else I put in their tanks. I still feed newly hatched baby brine shrimp daily though.

Shelley

 

[leahfiish]

Biota has more captive bred mandarin pairs on their website right now.
Anyone have any updates on theirs?

 

[DSC reef]

I applaud kevin at biota for captive breeding and he's a really nice guy. Got the pleasure to talk to him at reefapalooza. I think people are misunderstanding that captive bred and eating prepared foods is all the animal needs. It's still a mandarin, they need more than prepared foods to sustain them and more often than most people feed there tanks. It's great that they eat prepared foods but that alone won't sustain them. We've kept our mandarin going on 3 years now, or just over, and he will eat pellets, shred chunks of LRS like a pitbull but pods still have to be added every few months. I can literally see him all the time picking at rocks. I think it's a good idea to understand a healthy pod population is needed even if buying captive bred mandarins and successfully keeping them thriving long term. Ours was not purchased captive bred and to be honest I don't think I'd purchase another but that's just me. He's one of my favorite fish though.

 

[Katrina71]

So it seems like even the captive-bred ones are tough to keep. I need to scratch this fish off my bucket list. :-(

Us too.

 

[Ross]

Nothing new for me, he's still doing well. He is eating frozen cyclops which I feed a couple times a week. Like others have said though they still need plenty of pods.

 

[jerrod]

I bought a pair from them about 4 months ago and they are still going strong. They will eat frozen as it floats by but I have a lot of pods in my tank. I placed them in my 20 gallon frag tank thats plumbed into the main 240 gal display and 60 gal sump. I also feed them once a day with all the pumps off the Zoo med Can O Cyclops due to how small there current tank is and they feast on that. Now I just want them to grow faster so I can put them in the display they're only a little over an inch.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Captive bred mandarins still need a copepod population. Any mandarin really needs copepods. But, they need significantly less copepods than a wild caught. Mandarins are like humming birds, they need to eat all day. Supplemental feedings that occur 1-2x a day that are large enough to allow them to eat their fill drastically reduces demand on the copepod population. We have customers that succesfully keep mandarins in a 13 gallon tank. We have customers that still have their mandarins from some of the original batches that Biota released.

One of the big things we drone on, is that we likely know more about the captive breds than most of our customers. We have food picked out that captive bred mandarins do accept much more readily. We aren't getting kickbacks from the food manufactures here, we simply tested most frozen foods, most canned food, found what the mandarins need the least amount of training with, and then we sell that. ( I'm glad the Can O Cyclops is working for you @jerrod.) We still get the occasional customers that complains their mandarin won't accept PE mysis (when its the size of the mandarin, and we do not recommend that specifically). Accepting prepared food is a bit of a loaded term that is filled with much minuta.