ORA Announcement of Captive Bred Mandarines...

asl4me76

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ORA Announces Captive Bred Mandarins

For many years marine aquarium hobbyists have been captivated by the exquisite beauty of Mandarin Gobies (actually Dragonettes). Their popularity, however, is tempered by the fact that they are difficult to feed in captivity and are subject to questionable collection practices in the wild. Unfortunately, most Mandarins succumb to starvation in home aquariums, even with the best intentions and attempts at feeding. Thankfully, all of that is about to change.
ORA biologists have succeeded in developing the methods needed to breed and raise commercial numbers of the two species of Mandarins, the Blue Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and the Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus). Building on the early success of breeders such as Julian Sprung, Wolfgang Mai, and more recently Matt Wittenrich, ORA is now poised to have commercially bred Mandarins available to everyone. The significance of this cannot be understated as it is a major advance in marine aquaculture and solves many of the problems associated with keeping these species.

Just as the first captive bred Seahorses were trained to eat frozen foods, ORA has already trained our baby Mandarins to eat commercially available frozen diets. This fact alone makes them easy to feed and care for, and the average aquarist will delight in not having to worry about sources of live food for their finicky eaters. Our goal is to have them soon weaned onto a pellet diet. We expect to have these fish eating pelletized foods before being released for sale.

ORA is the leader in bringing the marine aquarium industry new and exciting aquacultured species. With the addition of Mandarins to our ever-growing list, a major milestone in aquaculture has been achieved. We are sure that our retail customers and hobbyists alike will be elated that captive raised Mandarins are finally available and that a page has been turned in the tragic history of this beloved aquarium fish.

We expect to have significant numbers of Spotted Mandarins available this summer. Blue and Red Mandarins will be available in more limited quantities around the same time.

http://************.com/2010/03/24/captive-bred-mandarin-gobies-synchiropus-commercially-ora/
 
wow this would be amazing, however i see this as being extremely expensive as is everything else that is ORA for the next few years.
 
Wow, this is fantastic. The mortality rate of these fish from the wild is just awful. CB, trained to eat mandarins is a great accomplishment.
 
how active of swimmers are these guys? what is the min size that you would be able to put them in if they were eating good? I am upgrading when i move to either a 40 or 120 depending on a few things. I have always wanted a mandarin.
 
I agree. Hopefully people, esp. thos entering the hobby will have access to these easier than wild caught etc. With them being such a beautiful fish it is great that there will now be a better alternative to the norm. Even if it is more exspensive I think the price will be worth it. Hopefully others will see it as well. I also hope that lfs will try and sell as many of the ora's as poss. over the regular mand. so that the chances of survival are much greater.
 
footballdude 2k3: They move around constantly but don't really 'swim' in the traditional sense. They really just hover above the rocks all day searching for food.

This is an amazing announcement. Bravo, Ora!
 
Great news! These fish are one of nature's best designs. I have a female spotted mandarin right now and I just can't get enough of her. She's the first one I look for when I approach the tank. I used to have one that squirts water on me!
 
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