Exciting News from ORA!

[Capt_Cully]

What kind of longevity have you seen with Mandarins?

I just lost my spotted mandy after almost 4 years. I'm sure it's not for lack of pods. Perhaps it was "just time".

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

lifespan

lifespan

5 -6 years minimum without a Haddon's anemone

 

[Capt_Cully]

Minimum???

 

[toddmh]

5 -6 years minimum without a Haddon's anemone

haha mine was just gone one day..I blame one of my rbta's lol would not be the first fish they munched

 

[RandyO]

What kind of longevity have you seen with Mandarins?

I just lost my spotted mandy after almost 4 years. I'm sure it's not for lack of pods. Perhaps it was "just time".

I just lost my oldest after 3 years. (Killer RIP) Just stopped eating one day. I still have a pair of spotted Mandarins that are 2 years old and a few others in the 1-2 year age.

 

[GMaquarium]

I have one of my original mandarins, the female, she has been in my tank for at least 9 years now. The male jumpped into the overflow couple years ago. They were together for a long time and spiralled and spawned sometimes.

This mandarin has never eaten anything I put into the tank. Have never seen it show interest towards frozen mysis or pellets. It's not crazy fat like some I have that do eat frozen but she is naturally healthy. I do not add pods to this tank ever.

Makes me wonder. Does the fact that some eat foods keep them from starving, yet those that do not eat frozen or pellets and only eat natural live foods at their own pace live longer.
Overall they are not difficult fish to keep. Folks just need to be aware of what their diet is and make sure their aquariums are producing it.

 

[GMaquarium]

Goofy touch screen. Double post.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I never saw mine touch frozen either. It started out tiny and skinny and became huge. It was the size of my thumb. Over a 2 week period I noticed it had become very thin and slowed way down. Tons of pods in fuge so I presume the tank was full of them as well. No new additions so I didn't think anything pathogenic was afoot. Figured a tiny goby in the vast ocean just didn't live that long. 9 years is way longer than I'd expect. Very cool! I've heard of clowns living for 15 yes or more. And doesn't Nate Rogers have a yellow tang that's like 16 or something?

 

[GMaquarium]

The one that keeps surprising me is my 13 year old PJ cardinal with the same bright colors it had years ago, same story with this one the mate died a while back. My father once (3 years ago) sold our 8 year old yellow tang that is still around.

As far as your mandarin goes, I think there must have been a problem with it. I have no idea what the longevity in the wild is for these fish. But given good food and lack of competition and bullying they go for a while.

To bring this back to the origional topic Jonny brought up, I think this is a wonderful thing. Its great that ORA is working on a wider selection of captive bred fish. In terms of price I bet they will cost more than the wilds. They should cost more im my opinion. The price alone will reduce the amount of impulsive mandarin killers and those who are not scared of the price will at least kill a captive fish that has no impact on the wild population.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

here's the problem

here's the problem

folks that don't research Mandarin care are usually the ones that will seek the most inexpensive Mandarinfish (ie: wild caught)

 

[Jacwil]

But....

But....

folks that don't research Mandarin care are usually the ones that will seek the most inexpensive Mandarinfish (ie: wild caught)

...if LFS's were only to stock the tank bred variety, maybe that would curtail the irresponsible impulse buyers. I know that might be a costly venture for the LFS but may help lower the mortality rates of the typical wild caught specimens.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

wishful thinking IMO.

We've already seen people on this very board search for the cheapest source for fish.

 

[Cptn Spaulding]

a couple weeks ago i saw that ORA was raising these mandarins. i personally cant wait to see mandarins that eat pellets. of course they will jack up the price a bit.. but definitely worth $30-40 for one that you know you can feed and keep alive.

 

[lcs]

I think $30-40 would be a bargain for one of these. It's not unusual to pay that and much more for SW fish. I've always wanted one, but knew I couldn't in my smallish tank, even with a fuge. I'm very excited about this! I want a psychedelic.

 

[dreaminmel]

We've already seen people on this very board search for the cheapest source for fish.

If the price is within $10-$20 of the wild version, I think you'd see less people buy wild caught. Maybe not all, but enough to help make a difference. It's when a store charges $130 for a fish that can be found for $45 that I start shopping around. Especially when both versions are wild caught.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's great that ORA is going to be supplying captive raised Mandarinfish to the hobby but here's a couple of things to ponder:

*if ORA can "train" their Dragonettes to eat prepared foods why can't hobbyists do the same?
(answer: they can!)

*before releasing them ORA plans on "training" their Dragonettes to take pellet foods. How many here have tried to feed their Dragonettes pellet foods?

my prediction:
if you can't keep Dragonettes alive now you won't be able to keep the ORA "trained" Dragonettes alive.

Now... who searches out other ORA fish offerings? (besides myself).
ORA has long offered captive bred Clownfish, Dottybacks and Cardinalfish species. As a former breeder of Clownfish I understand why CR fishes usually cost a little more but the record speaks for itself- people are not usually willing to pay more for a fish simply because it was CB or CR.
Perhaps ORA's Dragonettes will change this. We'll see.

In the meantime there will always be a market for "regular" wild caught Mandarinfish as many reefkeepers have never had difficulty keeping them alive- in fact, Mandarinfish (IME) are usually quite bulletproof (having a high resistance to many fish diseases including Cryptocaryon).

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

it's great that ORA is going to be supplying captive raised Mandarinfish to the hobby but here's a couple of things to ponder:

*if ORA can "train" their Dragonettes to eat prepared foods why can't hobbyists do the same?
(answer: they can!)

*before releasing them ORA plans on "training" their Dragonettes to take pellet foods. How many here have tried to feed their Dragonettes pellet foods?

my prediction:
if you can't keep Dragonettes alive now you won't be able to keep the ORA "trained" Dragonettes alive.

I would not pretend to be an expert on Dragonettes or breeding marine fish in general, but perhaps the age of the fish matters when the artificial foods are introduced? i.e. I would wonder if it's easier to "train" a dragonette to eat certain foods if you start the training process at a very early age, as opposed to starting with a wild caught adult.

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see if any clear data emerge showing these dragonettes to have different success rates than wild caught specimens.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see if any clear data emerge showing these dragonettes to have different success rates than wild caught specimens.

agreed.

But it will be difficult to verify results IMO.

For example: there's a very popular myth that CB/CR Clownfish don't host in anemones as readily as their WC counterparts.

 

[Johnny C]

*if ORA can "train" their Dragonettes to eat prepared foods why can't hobbyists do the same?
(answer: they can!)

*before releasing them ORA plans on "training" their Dragonettes to take pellet foods. How many here have tried to feed their Dragonettes pellet foods?

My personal opinion is that some will 'learn' to accept frozen food and/or pellets, but IMO not all of them will. I bought my Psychadelic Manderin from RandyO. He had it in his SPS system for a year before I bought it and it was accepting frozen Brine/Mysis. I have had him for about 4 months now and even though I feed my fish Spectrum Pellets daily, he still refuses to eat them. As much as I hope he someday will, I'm not holding my breath.

Now... who searches out other ORA fish offerings? (besides myself). People are not usually willing to pay more for a fish simply because it was CB or CR. Perhaps ORA's Dragonettes will change this. We'll see.

I purchased a pair of ORA "Semi Snowflake" Clownfish a few months ago, but I must admit- my decision to do so wasn't based on the fact that they were captive grown. Like you said, hopefully the release of the Dragonettes will be a game changer in this ever-evolving hobby of ours!

 

[Flanders]

I'm curious to see what the price will end up being.