Biota Mandarins?
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Rick.45cal
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jaws789832
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I have a male and a female pair from algae barn. They arrived healthy and so far are doing great. I got them about 3 weeks ago. They are small so be forewarned about that. They arrived about 3/4 to an inch long. I had a 30 gallon tank set up just for them for now. which was fully cycled and filled with pods for about 3 months before their arrival.I feed them frozen nutramar Ova which they readily gobble up plus I have a brine shrimp feeder made from PaulB's design and I feed them brine shrimp daily. I still add Pods to the tank through a little HOB refugium that I made. I squirt the frozen food into a clamshell and the male eats it like a piggy out of the shell. The female waits until the pumps turn back on and the food scatters then she eats it off the sandbed. As far as giving the go ahead to just feed frozen the verdict is not in. Since they are so small I want to give them time to adjust to my feeding schedule and make sure they are big and strong enough to survive in my DT when there will be a lot more competition for food. They are cute and healthy little guys and are fatening up nicely. Anyways if you have anymore questions let me know. Algaebarn did a great job packaging them and shipping them and they both looked and acted great out of the bag.
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Baby Ray
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Thank you so much!! This is very helpful.
I have one question. Do you think these fish would eat Masstick? It is a type of food that you can stick to the rocks or glass and let your fish peck at it. If you have never heard of the food, don't worry about it. I just think it seems like a really good way to to feed mandarins over a long period of time.
jaws789832
Active Member
Given time they probably would. They are a little skittish still I took them about 2 weeks to go anywhere near my clamshell but now they are use to it and cant wait until the pumps go off. As a matter of fact I just fed them so here are a couple of shots from right now. Sorry about the crappy photos I have to leave the lights off in the room and use a flash on my iPhone because I am not set up right now for the good camera.
that's the tank they are in you can see the clamshell with the frozen down under the rocks and the fuge and brine shrimp feeder.
Both of them pecking around the clamshell
The male going to town. He has already grown quite a bit, and is a little porker.
That's the female coming out of hiding. She took a little longer to get used to the frozen and still wont really go into the clamshell like the male will. She will peck all around the outside of it and waits till the pumps go on and then gets the stuff that lands around
that's the tank they are in you can see the clamshell with the frozen down under the rocks and the fuge and brine shrimp feeder.
Both of them pecking around the clamshell
The male going to town. He has already grown quite a bit, and is a little porker.
That's the female coming out of hiding. She took a little longer to get used to the frozen and still wont really go into the clamshell like the male will. She will peck all around the outside of it and waits till the pumps go on and then gets the stuff that lands around
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Baby Ray
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Thank you!!!Given time they probably would. They are a little skittish still I took them about 2 weeks to go anywhere near my clamshell but now they are use to it and cant wait until the pumps go off. As a matter of fact I just fed them so here are a couple of shots from right now. Sorry about the crappy photos I have to leave the lights off in the room and use a flash on my iPhone because I am not set up right now for the good camera.
that's the tank they are in you can see the clamshell with the frozen down under the rocks and the fuge and brine shrimp feeder.
Both of them pecking around the clamshell
The male going to town. He has already grown quite a bit, and is a little porker.
That's the female coming out of hiding. She took a little longer to get used to the frozen and still wont really go into the clamshell like the male will. She will peck all around the outside of it and waits till the pumps go on and then gets the stuff that lands around
Rick.45cal
2500 Club Member
Very cool! I've been wondering about these guys. If I didn't have a big monster of a mandarin in my tank I would definitely be getting the captive bred guys. They are too cool.
jaws789832
Active Member
Yeah I am very happy with them. These are the first ones I have attempted and I wanted to make sure I had everything in place. Both live and frozen food to keep them fat and happy. They are such a cool fish. The way they swim just blows me away. I call them the hummingbirds of the sea. The way they just dart, stop on a dime. swim to the right an inch. stop and seem perfectly still even in the flow. They are amazing to watch. That Masstick food might work great. I am tempted to get some and try mixing the Ova with it so the eggs stick to the clamshell a little better.
Rick.45cal
2500 Club Member
All my fish love the masstick food, I haven't put it down where my mandarin can get to it, I do have a clam shell and a good place to put it where he hangs out. I'll stick the clam shell down there and see if I can get him to eat from it. I definitely wouldn't think twice about buying more of it, it's really great stuff.
I have a ruby red dragonette that readily eats LRS reef frenzy when I feed the tank (he's a fatty now).
I definitely wouldn't think twice about buying more of it, it's really great stuff. I have a ruby red dragonette that readily eats LRS reef frenzy when I feed the tank (he's a fatty now).
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Baby Ray
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That seems like a great idea!! A lot of people I have seen say that masstick is really good for finicky eaters as well and you don't have to add other foods to it if you don't want but you can.
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
Never heard of them, any other photos of them?
Or is this just a captive raised version of the red or green mandarin?
Or is this just a captive raised version of the red or green mandarin?
jaws789832
Active Member
They are captive bred green mandarins. A few years back ORA stopped breeding them because it wasn't a moneymaker I guess (at least that is what I have read). It took too long to raise them to selling size so they couldn't get what they had put into them out of them price wise. Biota started breeding them (which once again I read is a kind of offshoot of ORA). They are still way more expensive then a wild caught mandarin but I think the culture is changing where reefers want to be more responsible so hopefully they take off and continue to sell. They are supposed to be way hardier then their wild caught counterparts and take to frozen food easier, which in my case seems true so far.
706Reef
Community Member
lol true i was surprise on how active they wereI'm ok with that. That just means I would have less mandarin to feed
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
Thanks for the update, I remember ORA target mandarins, and heard they tried red or green but never could find any available. This must be why!
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