Does this Mandarin look well fed?

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

@Biota_Marine if you are the actual company - ya'll are a godsend. Last year I decided to start only purchasing tank raised fish. It has been tough, but emotionally incredibly rewarding.

We need more people and companies like you to help change the hobby and world.

Thank you! We appreciate the kind words. Thank you for taking such great care of one of our babies we love seeing where they end up and that customers are doing so well with them.

And I have heard from multiple reports and seen from experience the tank raised ones stay smaller. Pretty sure that is common among all tank raised fish species - they stay smaller. Could it be anecdotal im seeing far more younger ones? Possibly

They do get the same size as the wild ones. When we send them out they are already 6-8 months old but stunt in growth a bit at higher densities, which is why we don't usually sell them at a larger size. We usually see some pretty "rapid" growth in the first 2-3 years in new tanks then stabilize slow growth after that.

 

[SauceyReef]

Thank you! We appreciate the kind words. Thank you for taking such great care of one of our babies we love seeing where they end up and that customers are doing so well with them.


They do get the same size as the wild ones. When we send them out they are already 6-8 months old but stunt in growth a bit at higher densities, which is why we don't usually sell them at a larger size. We usually see some pretty "rapid" growth in the first 2-3 years in new tanks then stabilize slow growth after that.

Of course! Nice to hear it straight from othe source! Now if any store or vendor tells me the tank raised ones stay smaller I can correct them and show them this thread :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

I am still under the belief fish in aquariums grow smaller than wild fish. If you take two juvenile fish (wild caught / tank raised ) and put them in the same environment than yes genetically speaking they should physically be the same size if both healthy. Makes sense evolution works long term! But with this idea wild caught fish that are past juveniles could have different growth rates when moved around. It is clearly not something studied enough, but definitely worth the conversations and research IMO.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

Nice to hear it straight from othe source! Now if any store or vendor tells me the tank raised ones stay smaller I can correct them and show them this thread :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

I am still under the belief fish in aquariums grow smaller than wild fish. If you take two juvenile fish (wild caught / tank raised ) and put them in the same environment than yes genetically speaking they should physically be the same size. Evolution works long term! But with this idea wild caught fish that are past juveniles could have different growth rates when moved around. It is clearly not something studied enough, but definitely worth the conversations and research IMO.

It seems like you are conflating two things:

1. Fish in aquariums may not grow to their full potential if not provided with the proper environment.
2. Captive bred fish will not grow to their full potential.

The limit would be on the environment rather than the where the fish grew up. Put a biota yellow tang in a little 4' tank for 5 years and don't provide it with clean water or a good diet, then ya sure, it's going to be smaller than it's wild counterpart.

Put it in a huge tank with lots of flow, clean water, etc no reason for it to be any smaller.

 

[SauceyReef]

@Biota_Marine not sure if you saw this also - my firefish tried to eat the mandarin when I first added it in. Yes, a firefish! It carried it around like a little shark for about 30 seconds while I went crazy trying to figure out what do.

Luckily no harm was done but I feel like any bigger fish could have easily made that little mandarin a meal.

 

[SauceyReef]

It seems like you are conflating two things:

1. Fish in aquariums may not grow to their full potential if not provided with the proper environment.
2. Captive bred fish will not grow to their full potential.

The limit would be on the environment rather than the where the fish grew up. Put a biota yellow tang in a little 4' tank for 5 years and don't provide it with clean water or a good diet, then ya sure, it's going to be smaller than it's wild counterpart.

Put it in a huge tank with lots of flow, clean water, etc no reason for it to be any smaller.

You can see in the video it is still around the size of a zoa polyp :)

I guess many fish just may to a certain degree fit to the surroundings and that can be from a multitude of factors.

 

[Jmp998]

These types of threads usually feature a terribly emaciated mandarin. I think yours looks pretty good. Mine also came from Biota and was tiny when I got him. I kept him in a 10 gallon quarantine tank for a few months to put on some size, feeding TDO pellets as suggested. Now he has been in my display for 2-3 years and munches on pellets, pods, and small pieces of miscellaneous frozen foods.

I agree Biota and other breeders have been a great advance for the hobby. I would much rather pay more for a healthy, tank adapted fish that eats pellets rather than cheap wild caught ones that often just starve when the pods run out. A mandarin that only eats pods needs a big tank and little competition for food i.e. no wrasses etc.

 

[SauceyReef]

These types of threads usually feature a terribly emaciated mandarin. I think yours looks pretty good. Mine also came from Biota and was tiny when I got him. I kept him in a 10 gallon quarantine tank for a few months to put on some size, feeding TDO pellets as suggested. Now he has been in my display for 2-3 years and munches on pellets, pods, and small pieces of miscellaneous frozen foods.

I agree Biota and other breeders have been a great advance for the hobby. I would much rather pay more for a healthy, tank adapted fish that eats pellets rather than cheap wild caught ones that often just starve when the pods run out. A mandarin that only eats pods needs a big tank and little competition for food i.e. no wrasses etc.

Agreed with everything here.

 

[Dani_13563]

13.5 Evo is too small for a mandarin, in my opinion, unless you're supplementing weekly with live copepods.

IF you can find one that is eating frozen foods, then it should be fine but mandarins really require a mature tank with lots of live food.

For OP - Mandarin looks happy to me!

Yeah for a full grown mandarin it probably is :grinning-face-with-sweat:. Honestly, I'd culture copepods if I were to ever get one, and I'd definitely get one from Biota (ya'll are awesome btw!)

A quick question for @Biota_Marine . How long would you say it takes for your mandarins to reach full adult size on average? Thank you!

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Yeah for a full grown mandarin it probably is :grinning-face-with-sweat:. Honestly, I'd culture copepods if I were to ever get one, and I'd definitely get one from Biota (ya'll are awesome btw!)

A quick question for @Biota_Marine . How long would you say it takes for your mandarins to reach full adult size on average? Thank you!

They actually become sexually mature after only like 8-12 months but usually it takes 3-4 years to get full grown but I've seen some take as long as 6 years. We keep a few in our coral systems to clean up some pests on maricultured corals and those are the ones we sometimes "retire" and have as mediums on the website.

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

I'm not an expert on mandarins, but it looks beautiful and healthy to me!

 

[kaifish]

Does this Mandarin look well fed?



Keep in mind the fish is still about 2 cms. It is really hard to see it's belly but there are some shots here you can definitely see it.

I must have gotten my mandarin about the same time as yours. When I got mine from Biota he was around half an inch. I have him in a 40 gallon tank that I stocked with 6 bottles of tigger pods a few months prior. He looks a lot like yours, constantly hunting and pecking on pods all day. When the lights go out the tank is covered from top to bottom with pods

 

[code4]

I have two from Biota. I supplement daily with baby brine shrimp in a feeder. Got the male in May. 1/2 inch at most. He has doubled at least in size. In a 20 gallon tank I prepared 6 months earlier just for a nursery. The female didn't grow and after 2 months died. New female is doing well. Personally I would want them in at least a 40 if you are supplementing with newly hatched brine. These fish eat all day. Which is part of my attraction to them. Here he is when I first received him.

 

[code4]

I wonder if the rapid growth of mine is from the baby brine shrimp I feed daily. Will try and photograph him tomorrow. Date on photo is June 28th

 

[SauceyReef]

I must have gotten my mandarin about the same time as yours. When I got mine from Biota he was around half an inch. I have him in a 40 gallon tank that I stocked with 6 bottles of tigger pods a few months prior. He looks a lot like yours, constantly hunting and pecking on pods all day. When the lights go out the tank is covered from top to bottom with pods

I am getting worried as my tank was like that before I got the mandarin, but now it is starting to becoming difficult to find pods. Crazy how fast they can wipe out a tank even one under 1". I am going to cycle it in my other nano filled with pods, and than going to sell it in 3-6 months.

 

[SauceyReef]

I wonder if the rapid growth of mine is from the baby brine shrimp I feed daily. Will try and photograph him tomorrow. Date on photo is June 28th

I would say mine doubled in size around 6-8 months also. At first it wouldnt eat much or any frozen.

 

[kaifish]

I am getting worried as my tank was like that before I got the mandarin, but now it is starting to becoming difficult to find pods. Crazy how fast they can wipe out a tank even one under 1". I am going to cycle it in my other nano filled with pods, and than going to sell it in 3-6 months.

I feed phyto every other day and I feel that’s been helping my pod population keep up

 

[SauceyReef]

I feed phyto every other day and I feel that’s been helping my pod population keep up

I do the same!

 

[code4]

 

[code4]

I can't take good photos with my camera. But the above show he has doubled in size since I received him. I feed frozen, ground pellets and brine shrimp daily.

 

[code4]

I would say mine doubled in size around 6-8 months also. At first it wouldnt eat much or any frozen.

This guy doubled in size in under 3 months. He is in a 20 gallon nursery with a few other fish all Biota and tiny. Even the baby angel has grown a lot, and eats brine shrimp and anything small I put in.

I am happy that yours is doing well.