ORA aquacultured spotted Mandarin Goby

[19jeffro83]

Congrats!!

[JesseWin123]

THe trick is finding that stuff! No one in Utah carries it even though there are multiple dealers.

[wamb0010]

THe trick is finding that stuff! No one in Utah carries it even though there are multiple dealers.

 

I know. I got everything BUT that crap. its on marinedepot.com

 

Im gonna pull the trigger and get some

[JesseWin123]

Just found it there as well. Love the $8 price tag and the $25 shipping fee BLOWS. I ordered 3 packs to make it worth it, hopefully it works.

[19jeffro83]

Do a pod culture. And train on frozen. Much cheaper.

[LivingStrong08]

I HAPPLY picked up a male and female pair from our newest and highest quality of LFS's in Arizona. Reef Culture. Any I agree $59 a piece is a bit high, but well worth it, and I didn't blink twice at the price. I still researched all of ORA's press releases as they recommended special foods that they fed in their facility. My LFS did the same, so I picked up the recommended frozen and pellets, seen an ORA purple rimmed cap that I have been looking for, for a while.

 

Mine don't leave each others side and were coming out when I just dropped pellets in for my sexies, so I added more in for the and viola! Feed.

 

Sooo, so far so good.

 

I have a CPR Hang on fuge on my sump, I was thinking off adding sone live pods, but feel 100% confident that these babies (which are a bit larger then an inch) will thrive in my reef.

 

Good luck fellow owners!

 

 

Timmy G

[19jeffro83]

I'm glad to see that some of these mandarins are eating well. Id like to pick up a male for my female in my tank. But I will be waiting for cheaper pricing and more assurance that they will eat.

[DaveFason]

Eye Spy

 

Video : In the middle of the tank

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

-Dave

[basser1]

Eye Spy

 

Video : In the middle of the tank

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

-Dave

 

 

I did! Thanks for sharing. Looks like yours is active and on the hunt!

[Jacobnano]

I don't see what all the arguing is about here. Yes they are more expensive, that is because they are captive bred. I highly doubt that ORA would lie about them eating prepared foods, maybe they just need to get used to their surroundings. The fact that wild caught mandarins are only 15$ is not helping these animals at all. A few people are able to keep them alive, this makes everyone think they can go out and train a mandarin, not so. Please stop trying to say mandarins can be trained easily, not all are the same. End rant.

 

 

Sorry if it is a little unorganized, sleepy.

[19jeffro83]

Jacob if your referring to my coments read them all!! I believe that if peopl are going to take on the challenge of this fish in there aquarium they need to be dedicated to them and take proper precautions. Like having a pod culture taking the time to train and removing the fish if it's not eating. This fish is for experienced aquarists. I believe there are so many deaths due to ignorance and neglect of the animal. What I was saying about ORA is that they have misled people into thinking anyone can have one and that it's as easy as let's say a clown or other easy fish to keep. I am posting on this thread because of my personal interest of this species and would like to know how the ORA captive bread ones are doing. And yes I'd much rather put out 20$ than 100. Wouldn't you???

[LivingStrong08]

Jacob if your referring to my coments read them all!! I believe that if peopl are going to take on the challenge of this fish in there aquarium they need to be dedicated to them and take proper precautions. Like having a pod culture taking the time to train and removing the fish if it's not eating. This fish is for experienced aquarists. I believe there are so many deaths due to ignorance and neglect of the animal. What I was saying about ORA is that they have misled people into thinking anyone can have one and that it's as easy as let's say a clown or other easy fish to keep. I am posting on this thread because of my personal interest of this species and would like to know how the ORA captive bread ones are doing. And yes I'd much rather put out 20$ than 100. Wouldn't you???

 

Jeffro, I'm a little confused on how ORA is misleading people into thinking anyone can have one and the ease of the fish. The difficulty of the fish prior was their need for live pods and vorocious appetites. ORA and any worthy LFS are telling you that they will eat prepped, the recommended prepped that they were fed in ORA's facilities and the LFS while in QT, etc. These fish still need to be feed twice daily at minimum, and they are adding precaution saying that since these fish are about a 1 1/4" they are still very naive, so obviously anyone with any sense would not put this fish in with a fish that will easily eat the little guy/gal.

 

At this point I am seeing about the difficulty in feeding and raising as when I bought my ORA Picasso's which were even smaller than my male and female ORA Spotted Mandarin's.

 

As far as cost, I think most will pay the premium to go with a fish from ORA and convienance to have such a beautiful species in their tank. Now granted everybodys budgets are different, but I had no prob paying $59 a piece for a paired set (they paired themselves through QT at the LFS) and the day or two they were in the display (LFS held for me due to a surgery I was having), now they never leave each others side. I had no issue because 1. Their ORA 2. I have always wanted a Mandarin, however I didn't have the pod population in the 29 BioCube, and in my Solana XL67 I was waiting for the ORA release.

 

I guess everyone is different my friend, but in no way is ORA misleading anyone.

[19jeffro83]

Read this thread buddy a good amount of these fish do not eat.

 

A fish that doesn't eat is not easy to keep. Plain and simple.

 

I will also add congrats. I'm glad that your fish are happy and eating.

[cadre]

I think that's a terrible idea. You will stress them out more. It'll be even longer before they eat.

Oh, I meant more before you put them in your main tank. Now would be a bad idea haha, sorry for the confusion.

 

 

I HAPPLY picked up a male and female pair from our newest and highest quality of LFS's in Arizona. Reef Culture. Any I agree $59 a piece is a bit high, but well worth it, and I didn't blink twice at the price. I still researched all of ORA's press releases as they recommended special foods that they fed in their facility. My LFS did the same, so I picked up the recommended frozen and pellets, seen an ORA purple rimmed cap that I have been looking for, for a while.

 

Mine don't leave each others side and were coming out when I just dropped pellets in for my sexies, so I added more in for the and viola! Feed.

 

Sooo, so far so good.

 

I have a CPR Hang on fuge on my sump, I was thinking off adding sone live pods, but feel 100% confident that these babies (which are a bit larger then an inch) will thrive in my reef.

 

Good luck fellow owners!

 

 

Timmy G

Ah, I was wondering who got those from reef culture! I'm glad to hear yours are eating.

 

Read this thread buddy a good amount of these fish do not eat.

 

A fish that doesn't eat is not easy to keep. Plain and simple.

 

I will also add congrats. I'm glad that your fish are happy and eating.

The fact that these fish aren't eating has more to do with stress than anything. Just because their not eating now doesn't mean ORA is misrepresenting them.

[19jeffro83]

Although I've only been keeping saltwater for about 7 months or so I've been keeping fish for almost my whole life since I was 6 or so and never saw a fish stressed for 8-10 days. The op of this thread is having a verry hard time and so are some others. I still see this fish as a difficult specimen to keep. I think that if you think it's an easy fish which ORA is kinda saying. They are misleading peope. Just my personal opinion.

[DaveFason]

I don't think ORA is saying that this fish is that easy. Honestly where did most of hear about them? The internet! I think a lot of us hyped them up in our heads after reading about them online. Heck I even thought that we are going to be able to drop them in our tank and bamb, they would start eating pellets and other prepared foods. While after reading ORA statement, they told us that the Nutramar Ova is the favorite.

 

Give it some time and see if you can pick up the Nutramar Ova. If your LFS is a Quality Marine dealer then they can piggy back it with there next order.

 

Keep trying and do not give up, if it wasn't for these people we would all be dreaming

 

-Dave

[JoeD]

Captive bred mandarins are a great idea. Already trained to eat frozen/pellets, even better. High metabolism that has not changed = lottsa work. Minimum 2-3 times daily spot feeding. You like to go on vacation?

Just my $.02.

[Nemo Niblets]

Minimum 2-3 times daily spot feeding.

 

I had mine grow and do fine with every other day spot feeding. It was fat, and happy in my 29 gallon.

 

Uhmm, yes you can judge ORA based on your experience. Their claims about their MG's eating prepared foods are not subjective, they are objective. Also, this same situation is happening to a LOT of people, not just a needle in a haystack. There in lies the problem. False advertising. Period.

I wasn't saying you can't judge ORA for their mandarins, if you bought one of theirs and it didn't take food.

 

What I was saying was that because he had no trouble training mandarins doesn't mean that everybody else will.

[LivingStrong08]

+++ Nutramar Ova... Both mine love it... It could be the size of the roe as well. Very small, perfect for their tiny mouths.

 

Lol, read the thread, and I agree prob more to do with stress and a new environment, also food. ORA specifically stated what to feed to make the transition easier. I was able to pick up all the was listed because I have a bomb LFS!

 

Because Jeffro felt so strongly about ORA missleading people, I went back and read all my pages that I found my info on, and never once did I see ORA say this is a fish for a novice. Infact they even mention skilled aquarist. To me that pretty much says it all. Along with the direction of food, feedings etc. ORA and a quality LFS are doing their dilligiance for the species. They (ORA) even talk about how protective they are of their new Mandarins.

 

However I guess we all have our own interpretation of misleading and ease of a species.

[wamb0010]

+++ Nutramar Ova... Both mine love it... It could be the size of the roe as well. Very small, perfect for their tiny mouths.

 

Lol, read the thread, and I agree prob more to do with stress and a new environment, also food. ORA specifically stated what to feed to make the transition easier. I was able to pick up all the was listed because I have a bomb LFS!

 

Because Jeffro felt so strongly about ORA missleading people, I went back and read all my pages that I found my info on, and never once did I see ORA say this is a fish for a novice. Infact they even mention skilled aquarist. To me that pretty much says it all. Along with the direction of food, feedings etc. ORA and a quality LFS are doing their dilligiance for the species. They (ORA) even talk about how protective they are of their new Mandarins.

 

However I guess we all have our own interpretation of misleading and ease of a species.

 

I've been feeding Hikari bloodworm (finely chopped) and Hikari baby brine shrimp (nothing gets smaller than this stuff). Both are on the list ORA recommended and mine haven't eaten (to my knowledge - and yes i've been feeding with the pumps off). My only fish is a gold assessor basslet which wouldn't harm a fly. My fish never come ouf of the rock work.

 

I have nutramara ova arriving tomorrow afternoon

[19jeffro83]

I hope the nutramara works out for you. Good luck! Did you end up starting a culture for them just in case?

 

I'm not denying sucsess or the fact that captive bred fish aren't the better way to go. I just think as I said earlier. That this fish is still not for some and I wouldn't buy a fish so delicate in such a small size.

I eventually plan on getting a male for my female in the future as soon as the kinks are worked out and the price drops.

 

I'm not here to slander a company like ORA I think what they do is graet and others should follow.

[basser1]

I've been feeding Hikari bloodworm (finely chopped) and Hikari baby brine shrimp (nothing gets smaller than this stuff). Both are on the list ORA recommended and mine haven't eaten (to my knowledge - and yes i've been feeding with the pumps off). My only fish is a gold assessor basslet which wouldn't harm a fly. My fish never come ouf of the rock work.

 

I have nutramara ova arriving tomorrow afternoon

 

 

How's the nutramar working for you? Any luck?

[skimmerdude]

How's the nutramar working for you? Any luck?

 

Any updates on these fish?

[steely185]

I saw the ORA spotted mandarins selling for $69 at the lfs the other day. Pretty good considering people have been selling them for 100.

[wamb0010]

As of yesterday, they were both alive. One of mine was out for most of a day and I was able to drop a load of nutramara basically on top of him but he didn't eat any of it..... I just keep shooting a little bit of the ova into their cave each day hoping that their eating. I don't really know what else to do besides that....