Biota Livestock Guarantee

Strad12 · Dec 3, 2020

I ordered a mandarin dragonet from Biota about a month ago, and unfortunately, the fish died less than 48 hours after adding him to my system. He was the sole inhabitant and was eating live and dry foods for the first day, and was dead on the next. I've been trying to contact biota over email for the past month with no success. I had previously heard from Jake, who helped me order a male fish, but since the fish arrived, I haven't heard from him. I would like to know what Biota's guarantee is, and how best to contact them, as I can't seem to reach Jake at Biota by email.

radiata · Dec 4, 2020

Following along...

CrackCorals · Dec 5, 2020

@Biota_Marine

Strad12 · Dec 7, 2020

They replied to my query via PM.

FYI for all who are interested: Biota guarantees their livestock for 24 hours after delivery, but if you order through Algae Barn (at a lower cost to boot) the fish are covered for 7 days.

I was disappointed, to say the least, when I found this out.

Blue Spot Octopus · Feb 1, 2021

Wow I bought 5 quarter size yellow tangs, yeah it was expensive, and they died within the week, all 5. First 3 then two.

Wildreefs · Feb 4, 2021

Me thinking biota isn’t quite what there cracked up to be

Strad12 · Feb 5, 2021

*They're

Biota is doing a lot for the planet and the reef hobby. I am happy to support sustainable aquaculture and local economies in Palau and Hawaii. Reefers wanting a longer guarantee on their fish should order their Biota fish through LFS or larger retail outlet (LiveAquaria or Algae Barn for example). It's probably pretty hard for Biota to juggle a wholesale and retail operation on top of the entire aquaculture facility. My issue was that they didn't have a guarantee posted on their website and stopped replying to my emails. I believe they have since updated the website to include their guarantee.

Wildreefs · Feb 5, 2021

Strad12 said:
*They're

Biota is doing a lot for the planet and the reef hobby. I am happy to support sustainable aquaculture and local economies in Palau and Hawaii. Reefers wanting a longer guarantee on their fish should order their Biota fish through LFS or larger retail outlet (LiveAquaria or Algae Barn for example). It's probably pretty hard for Biota to juggle a wholesale and retail operation on top of the entire aquaculture facility. My issue was that they didn't have a guarantee posted on their website and stopped replying to my emails. I believe they have since updated the website to include their guarantee.

Ah the grammar police. I don’t think kissing butt on a forum in their (correct spelling here?) is going to funnel any energy towards your cause. Plus, what do you actually know about what they do planet wise other than what’s stated in website?

Their communication sucks , which is paramount , and I know a slew of retailers who won’t bring in their stuff because it either dies or is microscopic. Their mandarins dont eat, but hey, their site says it does so it must be true, right?

Bpfor3 · Feb 5, 2021

I bought two mandarins and a filefish in early December. The Mandarins were under an inch and the file fish was just over an inch. The mandarins are pushing 2” and eating pellets and the filefish has doubled. They are in a reef with lots of other established large and small fish. They even come up to the pipette is use to feed them now. No issues here.

Blue Spot Octopus · Feb 6, 2021

I did my Biota baby yellow tangs from LFS, I reached out to the LFS , only crickets now, I was going to suggest that they give me one fish a month for 5 months. Less painful for him and less painful for me, Yeah my wife was not pleased. It will be a long time before I do that again.

radiata · Feb 6, 2021

Hmmm... I guess I won't be ordering my DeJong gramma directly from Biota...

Corgigirl · Feb 28, 2021

I ordered a pair of mandarins and a fork tail blenny last week from Biota. They all arrived on Thursday in good shape. I reached out to Biota via email just to confirm I got them and to mention how dang cute they are at that size

. Jake sent me back a note in less than an hour.
According to their website, they have a 7 day guarantee on their fish as well... But it looks like I won’t need it. They all settled in ok, appear to be eating and happy. Couldn’t be more pleased with the whole transaction. Seeing a mandarin blenny for the first time 20 years ago is what got me in this hobby, but I’ve never wanted to kill one because I couldn’t get it to eat. So these captive bred are perfect.

benapilot · Mar 17, 2021

Corgigirl said:
I ordered a pair of mandarins and a fork tail blenny last week from Biota. They all arrived on Thursday in good shape. I reached out to Biota via email just to confirm I got them and to mention how dang cute they are at that size . Jake sent me back a note in less than an hour.
According to their website, they have a 7 day guarantee on their fish as well... But it looks like I won’t need it. They all settled in ok, appear to be eating and happy. Couldn’t be more pleased with the whole transaction. Seeing a mandarin blenny for the first time 20 years ago is what got me in this hobby, but I’ve never wanted to kill one because I couldn’t get it to eat. So these captive bred are perfect.

I just received my Mandarin pair, a fork tail Blenny, as well as a majestic Angel. I’ve got them in an acclimation box in my display tank right now, but I’m not sure if I need to. Did you release your right into the tank, and what are you feeding them? I want to make sure mine don’t starve. I’ve dropped flake food, pellets, as well as some frozen tid bits and they don’t seem to notice.

Corgigirl · Mar 17, 2021

benapilot said:
I just received my Mandarin pair, a fork tail Blenny, as well as a majestic Angel. I’ve got them in an acclimation box in my display tank right now, but I’m not sure if I need to. Did you release your right into the tank, and what are you feeding them? I want to make sure mine don’t starve. I’ve dropped flake food, pellets, as well as some frozen tid bits and they don’t seem to notice.

I dropped them right into my display. It had plenty of copepods, and I will restock periodically, but I believe they are nibbling on prepared foods as well. I tend to feed heavily to make sure some gets to them. A few times a week I broadcast feed cyclops in a can, they seem to like that. The forktail took a day to start eating well. Took a few more days to expand his palate, now the little guy eats pretty much anything. And the mandarins are growing and out and about more. All in all, I really pleased with all of them and with Biota

Tchung23 · Mar 21, 2021

Bpfor3 said:
I bought two mandarins and a filefish in early December. The Mandarins were under an inch and the file fish was just over an inch. The mandarins are pushing 2” and eating pellets and the filefish has doubled. They are in a reef with lots of other established large and small fish. They even come up to the pipette is use to feed them now. No issues here.

Did it take some time to train them to eat? I have two. Both are swinging around and fins are out and seem happy buy I really haven’t seen them eat a pellet yet.