ORA aquacultured spotted Mandarin Goby

[19jeffro83]

Sorry to hear the bad news.

[bitts]

yeah i found this right after checking back on the thread.

 

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/08/02/draft-o...ncluding-pairs/

[Reef Keeper 14]

Ok so i bought an ORA spotted mandarin in early july. He was in the tank for about 4 days before he started to eat frozen foods. The first couple of days he ate pods. Because of this, i believe just because ORA trained them to eat prepared foods, they still prefer live foods. It has been a month since i got him and he absolutely loves frozen mysis and brine shrimp. Also chopped frozen bloodworms. He still picks at the rocks all day too. It just take times for them to start eating.

[wamb0010]

I'm still not there yet. I have been in contact with ora and they advise me not to target feed, but instead to drop the ova in a pea size ball into the general vicinity. I've been feeding 2x daily to my one using that method and I haven't gotten visual confirmation. I haven't seen the 2nd dragonette in a few days. I'm afraid that it is dead and was eaten by my CUC

 

Yeah this has been confirmed. One dragonnette is dead. I hadn't seen him in a few weeks so I assumed this was the case but after searching with a flashlight i caught a glimpse of a skelton. My other one is alive but i certainly do not consider him a strong eater

[robles]

Well, I found mine dead this morning. It just lost interest in all foods.

[Dani3d]

It is sad to see people buying tank raised fish that are released too young and not ready to be sold because they don't eat. I think they sell them too young, not resistant enough.

 

Also anyone tried giving them live white worms? This rich food might keep them alive? It's easy live food to culture and all it cost is a little bit of white bread and a bit of milk each week.

 

I feed mine white worms once a week.

 

Brine shrimp are not nutritious so I would not give this as main diet.

 

I give mine:

 

fish roe 2x per day (caplan eggs)

Hikari enriched frozen bloodworms 1x per day

Once or twice per week, white worms

3 to 4 times per week, frozen cyclopeeze.

 

Plus they have some copepods in my tank to graze on, but 2 mandarins with 70lbs of liverock is not giving them that much pods.

 

I just got a checkerboard wrasse that was skinny as can be, all bones. After a few days and a few meals of white worms he's already fat and very active.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I found mine dead this morning. It just lost interest in all foods.

[mikel]

I have had my spotted mandarin from ORA for three weeks now. It eats the Nutrimar Ova and the spectrum pellets like they're going out of style. I have noticed the fish gaining weight since I bought him three weeks ago. He is quite chunky, and very alert. I shoot the thawed Ova eggs with a bit of pellets mixed into it in a small syringe aorund the entrance to a a cave that he likes to hang out. I also pushed the gravel away so it's essentially a small area with barebottom so that he can see the Ova eggs. He is always around there waiting for me to give him some of the ova. I do this about 4-5 times a day. It's work but these fish are no longer impossible to keep in a small tank (mine is a 20 L), now it's just a high maintenance fish. You cannot just throw food into the tank and expect it to survive. You need to understand his eating habit, where he likes to eat, and what he will eat. It takes real engagement. mike

[Dani3d]

You can also replace the Nutrimar Ova by fish roe, those little orange eggs that are on sushi. It is called Masago and those are caplan eggs. I buy mine frozen and it is very cheap for a big package. I have been feeding my green mandarins with this for 8 months and they are fat and healthy. They love the stuff and it is very easy to find.

 

Mine eat the eggs for anything, liverock or sand no problem. They are orange and easy to see on the white sand.

 

It does take engagement and a good understanding of the fish. Mine rush to the pipette when ever he see it in the water. He has learned that the pipette mean a nice treat

 

 

 

I have had my spotted mandarin from ORA for three weeks now. It eats the Nutrimar Ova and the spectrum pellets like they're going out of style. I have noticed the fish gaining weight since I bought him three weeks ago. He is quite chunky, and very alert. I shoot the thawed Ova eggs with a bit of pellets mixed into it in a small syringe aorund the entrance to a a cave that he likes to hang out. I also pushed the gravel away so it's essentially a small area with barebottom so that he can see the Ova eggs. He is always around there waiting for me to give him some of the ova. I do this about 4-5 times a day. It's work but these fish are no longer impossible to keep in a small tank (mine is a 20 L), now it's just a high maintenance fish. You cannot just throw food into the tank and expect it to survive. You need to understand his eating habit, where he likes to eat, and what he will eat. It takes real engagement. mike

[mikel]

Hay Dani; Can you tell me where exactly you found the Masago fish roe? At what supermarket? I have 4 stacks of Ovas, but it's nice to know I can sub it with the fish roes. I am hoping to get a green mandarin soon too, and according to the guys at ORA, the two fish, even if both males, may not be all that belligerent to each other because they all grew up together. We'll see. mike

[Dani3d]

Even if they grew up together, I would be wary of putting 2 male mandarins together because when their reproductive instinc will kick on later, they might start to get territorial to each other. Not a good idea anyway as a male mandarin is way better alone or with a female. He'll be less stressed that way but of course of you have a large tank, like 100 gallons or so, it might be ok to have 2. Mine fight with his reflection and sometime pretty hard.

 

I buy the masago at Kim Phat here on the south shorre of Montreal, but that should be available anywhere they sell sushi ingredients or a fish market.

 

This is the masago that I buy and both my mandarins and ALL my fish love this, not just the mandarin. I am fattening up my skinny yellow tang and he loves this too.

 

http://www.clearwater.ca/en/home/products/...1/overview.aspx

 

And this is the store where I buy mine:

 

http://www.kimphat.com/

 

Hay Dani; Can you tell me where exactly you found the Masago fish roe? At what supermarket? I have 4 stacks of Ovas, but it's nice to know I can sub it with the fish roes. I am hoping to get a green mandarin soon too, and according to the guys at ORA, the two fish, even if both males, may not be all that belligerent to each other because they all grew up together. We'll see. mike

[mikel]

Thanks for the info. We have some Asian markets around here too, so I will go check it out. By the way, you said you have the "green" mandarins (that means the blue mandarins, not the spotted or target mandarins, which I have). I think the green mandarins are larger, while the spotted are smaller...and the ORA are even smaller (mine is only 1 inch long). So my fish might have a hard time eating the flying fish roe that you mentioned? I know the Nutrimar Ova eggs are tiny tiny....

[wamb0010]

I have had my spotted mandarin from ORA for three weeks now. It eats the Nutrimar Ova and the spectrum pellets like they're going out of style. I have noticed the fish gaining weight since I bought him three weeks ago. He is quite chunky, and very alert. I shoot the thawed Ova eggs with a bit of pellets mixed into it in a small syringe aorund the entrance to a a cave that he likes to hang out. I also pushed the gravel away so it's essentially a small area with barebottom so that he can see the Ova eggs. He is always around there waiting for me to give him some of the ova. I do this about 4-5 times a day. It's work but these fish are no longer impossible to keep in a small tank (mine is a 20 L), now it's just a high maintenance fish. You cannot just throw food into the tank and expect it to survive. You need to understand his eating habit, where he likes to eat, and what he will eat. It takes real engagement. mike

 

Well aside from feeding 4-5 times a day, which is impossible when you work full-time, I didn't do anything different than you. I fed 2 times a day, once before work, and once after, always in healthy portion, and always where they could see the food. I am glad that your fish are eating, I tried everything ORA suggested, and have been feeding exclusively nutramara ova for the last month. I bought 2 of these fish and one is certianly dead and the other one I haven't seen in 4 days so im guessing its the same fate. sucks, $200 bucks down the drain.

[mikel]

Sorry to hear that! I didnt mean to sound so glib. First, the price you were charged was outrageous. Mine was only $60 for one fish and this is outside of Boston. The owner also plan on selling the green at about the same prive, maybe a little higher, when he gets a couple in. Perhaps the fish had to travel further to get to you. Second, you are right that I can actually come home during lunch and feed this guy. So I am able to do this a few times a day. Also, when I do feed, I squirt the eggs at different places, all with gravel pushed aside to reveal a barebottom glass so the eggs are readily apparent. I also turn off all of my filters and whatnot, so the water is pretty still for a good .5 hour. Sorry for your bad experience. I think ORA should not have made their fish sound so easy to care for...it is really a high maintenance fish. I am only willing to be so hands-on because I am used to the work; I have two tankful of discus fish that need 50% water change everyday...mike

[mikel]

Here are some pics of my Ora Spotted mandarin. He loves his Ova. mike

[mikel]

I got this little blue mandarin from ORA a week ago. He is doing well, eating Ova and whatever he finds in the little 20 L with my spotted green mandarin that I posted previously. All is at peace, and they sleep in the same jar at night. There is another pic of my ORA spotted green. He is getting very chunky, and eats all day. mike

[Pen3]

My friend has his Ora Mandarin eatting Otohime S2 mixed with squid oil and Naturose. I think he bought it at the same place as you bought them, SWE. They looked pretty fat and healthy just as my green mandarins at home and i weaned mine off with Otohime also.

[Jacobnano]

So are these little guys good to buy or no?

[yoshii]

So are these little guys good to buy or no?

I think ORA is releasing them too young

[19jeffro83]

So are these little guys good to buy or no?

You should know this answer. You challenged my opinion earlier in this thead. When I said stated the obvious. Read it again and look at all the problems with these fish. They're too young and ORA has no doubt deviated people on the care still needed for this tank raised fish.

[19jeffro83]

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.

[Shyla8]

I kinda think it is hit or miss for these dragonets. I don't have an ORA one but I did get a female green who is small. She eats decapped brine eggs and is totally fat and I feed her like every other day in a jar. The rest of the time she grazes the 70lbs of rock in a 50g tank. I have 2 scooter blennys as well in this tank and they eat frozen brine, the decapped brine eggs and mysis. I don't have a problem with any of them, they are all fat and happy and not ORA.

But in the past I have had a green and a spotted and both had to be given away because no matter how much I fed they were still skinny. I didn't attempt decapped brine back then because I didn't have the dwarf seahorses tank but I think regardless of wc or ORA, its hit or miss with an individual fish. Some may eat well and others will choose to starve.

[Jacobnano]

I know. I was basing that off of what ORA had said, and at the time, this was the only negative review of the mandarins. I still have my original question though. Has anybody had success with them, and are they a good buy? I looked at the last two posts and they seem to back this up, but I could be wrong, since the OP had some problems. I just want to know what the deal is....

[19jeffro83]

Jacob. I want one too. I'd love a male for my female but I think we should both wait a little longer. Like all things the price will drop when demand lowers and supply raises. I also think in the future they will be larger when released for sale. So I say wait unless properly set up to take care of this fish.

 

I trully believe that a mass majority of wild caught die due to stress and poisoning. Getting a good wild caught fish that was handled correctly and never poisoned when caught. I believe with dedication most can be trained in time.

[mikel]

I dont work for ORA, and so I am not here to make any pitch for them. I am only giving my personal experience with their fish.

 

I bought a very small green spotted mandarin from a local fishstore here after I heard about ORA. My fish just arrived from ORA the day before, and when I saw it in the store tank, it was TINY. I still took the chance, and paid $60 because I wanted to support captive bred mandarins. I also did serious research into what to feed it, and after three days of being wary in my 20 gallon tank (up and running for 2 years with live rocks and some coral), my green spotted began to eat the OVA, the N spectrum pellets and even some cycloopeze. I also gave it a cleaned babyfood jar and it eats inside there amd sleep there at night. A month later, the fish has grown huge and now looks very thick and just as big and robust as a wild caught, but very very fat and happy. It knows me and whenever I look into the tank, it comes to the cave and waits for the food.

 

I then went to another local fishstore and took the chance and bought their one and only ORA blue mandarin. This fish is apparent very rare because ORA is having a hard time breeding and growing them out, and so I wasnt surprised that it was even smaller, and looked frail when I first got it, and I can also begin to see some faint rib line on its side. It cost me $70 and I brought it home, and watched it closely, hoping it wont get beatened up by my much bigger and stronger spotted mandarin. When they met each other under some live rock, they looked at each other, and then the spotted began to eat somethingf on the ground, and the blue began to eat with it. Now the blue and the spotted are often found eating the OVA and the cycloopeeze together. Sometimes they also sleep in the same jar....the spotted always sleep there, and the blue, maybe 50% of the time. Othertimes, he sleeps outside the jar, a few inches away. They live in a 20 gallon L dedicated tank with just two HOB filters. I change 20% water every week and I feed them three times a day. The blue has grown bigger and fuller, but not the same size as the spotted. I am hoping it will get bigger too with time and care.

 

It does take work to keep them healthy, but it can be done. They are not the kind of fish you buy and just dump in your tank with water current blowing them around. They will only eat when the water current stops , and so you need to turn off the filter etc when you feed them. Also , you cannot expect any mandarin to compete for food with stronger feeders....that's just asking for failure and starvation.

 

ORA should have given the warning that even if tank raised, mandarins, by nature, are specialty fish that requires more work and dedication. But seriously, does anyone really think he can buy a fish and just throw it in a tank and expect it to survive, trrive? If that's the case, why bother keeping these animals, get a machine.

[wamb0010]

So I bit the bullet about a month ago and worked out a deal with my LFS to get two more spotted ORA mandarins for basically cost. These fish were at least 2x the size of the ones I got the first time around. Both of them are eating ova and are very healthy and roam around the tank. NOTHING i did this time was different than the first time where both of my mandarins died. Nothing. I just think ORA released them wayyyy too small. My first twowent into the rock work and stayed burried in caves never to see the light of day. I turned my flow down to basically 0 and they still didn't come out. I also have a ton of pods in my tank so I would have thought they would have eaten them but maybe there are no pods in the cave.

 

Also - to the last post. Don't think those of us who failed to get ours to eat we were stupid enough to just drop food in the tank with pumps on. We would literally land OVA on top of their head or they would be laying in it and not eating. Not much you can do in that situation......