How Biota captive bred Mandarins are made

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

At Biota, we get questions all the time like “How do you breed that species?” or “Who’s behind the scenes at your facilities?”
We love sharing the incredible work our teams do and the breakthroughs we've made in marine aquaculture over the years.
Here’s a look behind the scenes at our Biota Palau mandarin breeding program, a glimpse into the dedication, care, and expertise that goes into making these stunning captive bred mandarins possible.

Meet the fish. Meet the team. Witness the future of sustainable reefkeeping.

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[W31Olds]

Cool video, I have considered getting one but am concerned about the size in my DT with all my other fish. Do you know how long they take to reach say 2"?

 

[lior1]

Is it a guarantee?

 

[I never finish anythi]

Amazing work .

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Cool video, I have considered getting one but am concerned about the size in my DT with all my other fish. Do you know how long they take to reach say 2"?

It depends a bit on the tank and aquarist. When they're in large groups they're super slow growers but once separated they grow fairly quickly up to ~1"/year. Feeding small amounts often and making sure they're in a peaceful tank is key.

Because of their poisonous mucus they can be added to a tank with larger fish but it's always good to introduce them with an acclimation box

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Is it a guarantee?

We feed them only prepared diets (TDO B2, Hikari baby brine, Masstick, ect. ) while at our Florida facility so all of them are 100% eating prepared diets when they are shipped to you.

That being said we've had customers with booming pod populations see them hunting and grazing on them and not super interested in prepared diets because it's a much more enticing food source. They will always recognize prepared diets though.

 

[Buckster]

I bought a pair about two years ago. They were the size of my thumbnail. They are now approximately two inches. They do eat the food when I feed the rest of the tank but they do also search all day long eating amphipods and copepods. They are definitely my favorite.

 

[Harpo]

Hopefully Some day

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Wow!! Love this!! Those babies are the cutest!!

 

[Biota_Marine Verified Sponsor]

Wow!! Love this!! Those babies are the cutest!!

Thank you, we think so too!

 

[Mac8128]

I am building a 13.5g Fluval Evo nano tank. It's stocked with Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock and live sand. Plus I have a small refugium setup in the 2nd chamber of the AIO tank. I seeded the tank with Tiger pods as they were all I could get locally and am feeding them Phytoplankton every other day. My pod population looks great. It's been 3 weeks and I can see hundreds of pods swimming and crawling around the tank and refugium. In the next week or so I will be adding in two other types of copepods from Florida Reef Labs. I currently have a very small CUC of snails and a Peppermint Shrimp. In the next month or so I am planning on adding a Mandarin and a Neon Blue Goby, both from you guys. Any thoughts on these two fish getting along? They will be the only fish added to the tank.

 

[RobynR]

Definitely getting one of these dudes for my tank in a year or so. I miss having a mandarin so much; one of my favourite fish, stoked to be able to get captive bred ones now! Ours happily ate, and was fine, but I hate the idea of fish like these (or any) being taken in mass quantities from the ocean for most to perish.