Tiny Biota mandarin or bigger wild one?

Max93 · Dec 2, 2023

I am being given the option for my first mandarin to be either wild and medium sized, or biota and tiny.

I have a 220g that’s 3 years old. I have various tangs, one wrasse, a Copperband, and a foxface. This is a sps dominant tank with high flow.

Should I opt for the bigger wild one, or the tiny biota that’s less than an inch? My gut says get the bigger one… but not sure.

Thoughts?

DrkNMighty · Dec 2, 2023

Assuming you have plenty of pods, the wild one. The biota ones are really really tiny. I had two and lost one of them when some of the other tank inhabitants went after it. The other I still have about 2 years later. It is still fairly small and I would be concerned it might get picked on. I also had a hard time finding it in a 40 gallon. I can't imagine trying to locate it in a 220g lol. The plus side of the biota is they eat frozen/pellets as well as pods.

RJT · Dec 2, 2023

Wild. I had a pair from biota. Incredible fish, ate day one and truly were a pair. Kept them in a 40g qt tank with 2 rabbits from biota until they got some size to them-about 4 months. They are very tiny when they first arrived, not sure if they would be seen very much in a 220.

dwest · Dec 2, 2023

I went with biota. I like the idea of preventing wild caught when I can. There are some negatives as mentioned above though. They are tiny. I do have to hunt to see one in my 180. But he’ll grow. Hopefully.

I do also like knowing the age of my fish. I don’t know if a full size wild fish is one year or ten years old.

I put mine in isolation/observation for a couple months before introducing into my tank this summer. No meds.

i cant think · Dec 2, 2023

Max93 said:
I am being given the option for my first mandarin to be either wild and medium sized, or biota and tiny.

I have a 220g that’s 3 years old. I have various tangs, one wrasse, a Copperband, and a foxface. This is a sps dominant tank with high flow.

Should I opt for the bigger wild one, or the tiny biota that’s less than an inch? My gut says get the bigger one… but not sure.

Thoughts?

I’d go wild as they’re just as hard as eachother IME. Both will wean onto frozen eventually - my target (Wild) loves frozen food that lands infront of him. And the biotas seem to be the same in which they only eat the food infront of them and not floating around.

dwest said:
I do also like knowing the age of my fish. I don’t know if a full size wild fish is one year or ten years old.

I personally take educated guesses on their age depending on how mature they are (generally shown via the size). And then look at their estimated life span in the wild.