ORA aquacultured spotted Mandarin Goby

[mikel]

Have you tried also using a fish breeder container, the kind that hangs or floats in the tank? Or the fish container that petshops use to place the fish on transit from the tank to the bag? You might try placing your fish in that and feeding it there....the advantage of this is that in such a small container, the Ova and the cyclopeeze can "accidentally" get swallowed, and he will remember that they are-were food....Sorry to hear of him getting so skinny. If he is still alert, then it's still not too late. You dont have anything to lose.

 

I find it really strange that some green spotted mandarins are so difficult to get going....from what I have read and heard, they are the easier one of the two...spotted and the blues...to acclimate and get going in the hobbyist tank. I know several friends who had a much difficult time with the blues, and their spotted were not a problem at all. Mine even get acclimated in the face of a spawning pair of marroon clowns in tight quarters...talk about getting intimidated! It goes to show that these fish are very individualistic, and still very very difficult to maintain. Best of luck to you and your fish and keep us posted please. mike

[Wence]

After work, I went around to the PetSmart and Petco stores locally to try and find some brine shrimp eggs to hatch, but had no luck. The Target and Walmart stores I stopped by didn't have any sort of "Sea Monkey" kits either. I did pick up a floating breeder container and will try puttng the fish in there in a little bit to see if I can observe him eating something (hopefully it doesn't upset him too much, but I doubt he'll be hard to catch... he usually swims right up to my hand). The fish is still very alert and active, and doesn't seem at all shy or disturbed by my presence, which is why I have my doubts about whether he eats while I'm not watching.

 

Compared to the red and blue Mandarins they had at the Petco stores, my fish is practically obese (he's still lost some weight since I got him and looked a little thin from the start). While it's a bit of relief to see he's nowhere near as bad off yet as he could be, it was sad to see the ones that were for sale.

 

Anyway, wish me luck and I'll try and remember to take a picture this evening to post.

[Wence]

Just an update on how things went. The fish still won't touch anything. He was not happy about being put inside the breeder and has not stopped swimming around looking for a way out even 2 hours later. I started by having the container directly between my MP10s so the food was moving around in the container in a gentle flow (much of it eventually got out between the bars, but much is still stuck on them and in the bottom). I now have it so everything is pretty still in there with most of the flow blocked, but all he does is swim around and look for a way out. The fish seems stressed and is breathing a bit hard (has been since getting captured). I'm going to give it a little bit longer and then let him out.

 

The brine shrimp looked pretty lively getting blown around, but he still just swam by it, and he seems to have zero interest in the OVA and cyclops, and was even pressing his face against them on the sides trying to get out a few times. It's a little exasperating, and I am not sure what else to do. The stress of putting him in the breeding container seems to outweigh the visual confirmation that he's not eating anything. I think I will go back to the glass jars in the morning.

 

Anyway, I appreciate all the advice, help and links to information. Unfortunately, this fish doesn't seem to want any sort of prepared foods no matter how hard I try and convince him otherwise.

[mikel]

Let's take a few good pics and post them here and we can see exactly how "skinny" he really is. You may very have enough live pods for him to being living off, and once these populations decline, his hunger will make him look for alternatives. Having him in the container is a good time for a pic, then maybe a few pics after he is released and swimming around near your hands. The fact that he swims right up to your hands means he is very accimated to humans, and this can work to your advantage. mike

[Wence]

Here's the best picture I could get of his skinny midsection while he was in the breeding container:

 

 

And this is of him swimming up to my hand after his release before I cleaned the tank this morning (hard to get a shot one-handed with my camera and far enough back that I can see the screen):

 

 

Since he had calmed down with the daylights off, I decided to leave him in with his food overnight. This morning, I was excited because there were only a few pieces of food left in the center of the container, which were both mysis shrimp. So, I put some more OVA, cyclops, brine shrimp and pellets in and discovered the new trick my cleaner shrimp learned... they reach in and drag the food they can reach over to the bars and devour it there. Needless to say, the Mandarin made no attempt to try and grab a bite of anything.

[mikel]

Actually, the indented mid-section is not a sign of being skinny. My fish has that, but he is really fat and round, much like a stuffed ssausage. You need to look closely at the ridge section and make sure you DO NOT see the edge of the "chest bone" on the side of his body. Also, the area immediately in front of his tail is important...it needs to be full and bluntly end with the tail, indicating a full body. So, there should be no sign of protruding bone on the side of his body, with a thick tail end, and alert swimming, alert eyes. I cannot tell from your pics to be definite, but your second pic does not show him to be very skinning at all. Make sure you just keep providing small size food, with water movement off, and a good hour for him to eat. That's all you can do at this point. Do a google search on what a starved mandarin looks liek...look for the bone ride on the side of the body for indication of starvation, then compare that to your fish. mike

[Rehype]

Just a quick update on my ORA mandarin i recently have been able to get my mandarin to accept pellets regularly(in addition to mysis and brine) and ive even gotten him to take flakes.

[Jacobnano]

So are they getting better now? There was a lot of writing up there but it seems some people are having luck! I have always wanted one.

[mikel]

Here are my two ORA mandarins in the 20 L. I had the spotted for more since early summer, and the blue since late summer. They gorge on Cyclopeeze and OVA Nutrimar...and whatever else they find in the tank. They are really cute to have, but they do take lots of work. Notice in the 2nd pic with the spotted...he is in a cave like setting where I shoot the mix cyclopeeze and Ova onto the barebottom spot (I push all the gravel away to expose a glass surface for them to see the food easily). They both go to the cave and wait to be fed each time they see me coming. They get an hour each time to feed undisturbed with the filter off so they can eat slowly and fully. mike

[Wence]

Mine is still alive after more than 30 days, so he must be eating something (I still have yet to see him take a bite of anything). On the advice of LiveAquaria staff when discussing the extended "arrive alive" guarantee, I stopped putting him in the breeding container and took out the glass jars. The fish is still very social and curious, always coming out of his favorite little area when I'm feeding or messing around in the tank (I spray stuff in his little alcove as well hoping he eats it later), but keeps looking thinner and thinner, at least to me.

 

If and when he dies, I'll let you guys know.

[matt frizz]

My LFS has ORA spotted mandarins and the guy told me that they still won't eat very well.

[mikel]

These little guys may surprise you....dont give up hope. Keep the water clean, feed regularly at the same lace over and over again. He will get it! I have a lot of faith in the spotted mandarins...they are very very smart fish. Consistency wins the day. mike

[Drew220]

I have one of the ORA Blue Mandarins. He did not eat for the first week and then she started eating. Right now she is eating frozen brine, mysis, prawn eggs, blood worms, and cyclops. Mine was huge when I bought her so maybe that helped.

[DK_Reef]

I can buy an ORA Mandarin Dragonett for around $50-60 but they are hard to get but an LFS can order them for me.

 

So do they or don't they eat prepared foods?

And does eating the prepared foods sustain them indefinitely?

[jbfrompa]

I can buy an ORA Mandarin Dragonett for around $50-60 but they are hard to get but an LFS can order them for me.

 

So do they or don't they eat prepared foods?

And does eating the prepared foods sustain them indefinitely?

 

The prepared foods will keep them untill they are very old but I dont think that it will make them immortal.

[blibo]

Consistency wins the day

 

+1000 IMHO, the best method to teach any animal

[fmfa0801]

I didnt have a ORA Mandarin but got mine to feed on frozen foods. I would turn all my pumps off and feed in the same spot every time. This helped alot. even when I was doing water changes and clean the tank with the pumps off the Mandarin would go to the same spot

[DK_Reef]

The prepared foods will keep them untill they are very old but I dont think that it will make them immortal.

 

Dang the mission is a failure :-P j/k

 

That is great news, I will surely pick one up when I get ready to stock anytime I can buy tank raised fish I will because it is "sustainable" and doesn't mean impact on reefs etc ok ok don't want to go overboard because there are fish I will buy not raised in a tank lol

[Arc Katana]

The prepared foods will keep them untill they are very old but I dont think that it will make them immortal.

 

There can be only one! It could be that Mandarins really are Highlanders, and must fight to the death...

 

I'm old leave me alone

[jbfrompa]

There can be only one! It could be that Mandarins really are Highlanders, and must fight to the death...

 

I'm old leave me alone

 

I love that show. Whatched all the movies and the full show with netflix.

[Wence]

Well, mine finally died after about 60 days of never seeing him eat. When I looked at the tank before I left for a Superbowl party, he seemed fine, but upon returning home, one of the Cleaner Shrimp had him.

 

Not sure what else I could have done for the fish. I even ordered live copepods to add to the back chambers a little over two weeks ago at a pretty large expense and am still seeing some in the main tank (they are a darker color than the ones that I've always seen around in small numbers). It's only the second fish I've had die in the three tanks I've owned over the past 15 years (the other was a carpet surfing BSJF), so I'm pretty bummed.

[burtbollinger]

my green spot ORA just began feeding after 48 hours on frozen Hikari Blood worms...still not responding to New Life Spectrum small pellets and Hikari Mysis.

 

EDIT; he's eating pellets, seems like the blood worms primed him to eat. very happy.