Mandarin Fish

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Please follow our specific acclimation guide when your fish arrive. 

Biota’s captive bred Mandarin Dragonets do NOT require live foods. Ours readily feed on pellet and frozen foods, making them an easier to keep and ethical alternative to difficult wild caught Mandarins! Please read the full page and linked articles for important care information.

Synchiropus splendidus - Mandarin Dragonets are inarguably one of the most beautiful species on earth, which makes them very popular aquarium fish. Our mandarins have a mix of blue-green and red coloration on the body and deep blue accents on the fins. The coloration may appear different in varying lighting spectrums.  These photos show what our mandarins typically look like.

Unfortunately, the natural diet of wild caught mandarins is live food, which can be tedious and costly for many new hobbyists to provide, especially in immature or small tanks. Even if provided the best captive conditions, wild caught mandarins often succumb to wounds inflicted by spear guns or toxic cyanide used during the wild collection process. An overwhelming number of wild caught Mandarin Dragonets die in captivity for these reasons.

FEEDING

Our Biota captive bred Mandarins are sustainably and ethically raised on prepared commercial diets that are easily accessible and inexpensive to aquarium hobbyists. Biota Mandarins arrive to you already familiar with foods like tiny pellets such as DKI 0.6mm pellets, TDO B2 pellet, and PE Hatchery pellet 400 μm, Hikari frozen baby brine shrimp, Piscine Energetics frozen Calanus, Easy Reefs Masstick. We've had so many happy customers report that after acclimation, their Biota captive bred Mandarins will eat just about any small, meaty food that lands in front of them and is small enough to fit in their tiny mouths. Young mandarins should be fed 3 - 4+ x a day while they're still growing. Read more about feeding:

ANSWER ALL YOUR FEEDING QUESTIONS HERE: 

https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/blogs/news/how-to-feed-biota-captive-bred-mandarin-fish

Video of 5 different Biota captive bred Mandarin fish eating pellets (submitted by Bob's Tropical Fish): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iYgJMlteSQ8

Mandarins are small, peaceful, and completely reef safe. Mandarins employ a toxic, unpalatable mucous coat to help them stave off predatory fish and parasites. The ideal minimum tank size is 30 gallons or more. They can be kept in male/female pairs in larger tanks, as they may fight with conspecifics and similar species. We strongly recommend introducing these new fish with an acclimation box designed for tiny fish during the 7 day acclimation period. Mandarins are territorial. If introducing a new mandarin to a single, established mandarin, put one in the acclimation box so they can get to know each other in safety. 

Please be sure to acclimate your mandarin on arrival even if they appear to not be moving. It's common for this species to enter a near-dormant state in the darkness of the shipping box.

small - approximately 3/4" [about the length of a dime's diameter] please allow for slight variations in size. Captive bred mandarins tend to be smaller at sale size, but this does not affect their survival in proper environments. 

Mandarin fish can be cryptic, especially on arrival. This is why we recommend an acclimation box to keep an eye on your mandarin when they first arrive. Some customers note that when adding juveniles directly to a large aquarium, they may hide until they're comfortable in their new territory, then appear much larger at a later time.

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