ORA Mandarin Dragonets!!!!!

[mrbigshot]

bump! i cat wait for the blues. sad thing is i asked the lfs if he could get ora and he looked at me like i was retarded and said whats ora? i explained and he said im a staple store, i only carry what people need.

that would explain the brown and green plain jane zoa's he wants $60 for.

 

[FMarini]

IIRC-- these initial batches of mandarins were from Wittenrich's growout stock. I believe Matt also guided/trained the folks at ORA on how to, for future production.

While i think this new offering is spectacular- i feel the deciding factor for most folks will be price.Price drives sales.
We (you, i and others on this web board) live in a bubble- we are educated towards the sale and collection of these fish-we care to learn (hence your on the weboard) but remember that we(you, i and the webboard members) are less than 10% of the hobby that buys fish (approx 700K households have salt water tanks). Again if you put WC mandarins $25/ea next to tank of CB mandarin ($80 bux)- i guarantee who sells first. So for the educated & willing hobbyist- yes these CB mandarins will be worth every penny. But for the remaining salt water keepers- no way.

 

[EvoKnvl]

This is great news! I can't wait!!! Gonna contact my LFS as soon as they open.

 

[rekn]

IIRC-- these initial batches of mandarins were from Wittenrich's growout stock. I believe Matt also guided/trained the folks at ORA on how to, for future production.

While i think this new offering is spectacular- i feel the deciding factor for most folks will be price.Price drives sales.
We (you, i and others on this web board) live in a bubble- we are educated towards the sale and collection of these fish-we care to learn (hence your on the weboard) but remember that we(you, i and the webboard members) are less than 10% of the hobby that buys fish (approx 700K households have salt water tanks). Again if you put WC mandarins $25/ea next to tank of CB mandarin ($80 bux)- i guarantee who sells first. So for the educated & willing hobbyist- yes these CB mandarins will be worth every penny. But for the remaining salt water keepers- no way.

i think its time for vendors, lfs and online, to step up.

 

[arioch]

I'd rather, instead of pellets, to just feed them frozen cyclopeeze. That's got to be good enough.

(Although, preferably, I'd still keep them in an established tank with plenty of pods...)

 

[Shift_9k]

I wanna see this to believe it.

 

[sfboarders]

Even though they eat prepared foods you think these guys would still eat pods? I have them all over my tank.

 

[Niño R]

I don't know much about genetics, but did notice the color of the ora mandarins are not similiar to the typical wild caught ones (I personally think the wild caught colors look better). I think if they are able to breed them into a different color and eating habits, I won't be surprised if other characteristics can change. I would never say never.

I wouldn't mind giving a little color up, as long as we are preserving life in the ocean.

 

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

The pics of the ORA ones look like young dragonettes that haven't fully developed their colors.

 

[velvetelvis]

I wouldn't mind giving a little color up, as long as we are preserving life in the ocean.

+1 Some things are more important than getting the biggest bang for your buck.

 

[FMarini]

Whose preserving life in the oceans?
I think many of us know that mandarins will still be wild collected even though these CB ones will be available. The benefit of these CB mandarins will they will eat prepared foods and do well in your tank. However- the production of these fish commercially most likely will NOT impact their wild collections, not now at least.
Allow me to use clownfish as an example-- even thou they are the most widely CB propagated fish- commercially available in almost every state as a CB/CR fish- thousand upon thousands of WC clowns are brought in every year. Why- because the demand is there- commercial firms cant produce enough and again- money is the key driver- WC clowns are a few dollars.

 

[lars on live]

I'm in. I'm trying to buy nothing but captive breed from now on.

 

[Sardaukar]

IIRC-- these initial batches of mandarins were from Wittenrich's growout stock. I believe Matt also guided/trained the folks at ORA on how to, for future production.

While i think this new offering is spectacular- i feel the deciding factor for most folks will be price.Price drives sales.
We (you, i and others on this web board) live in a bubble- we are educated towards the sale and collection of these fish-we care to learn (hence your on the weboard) but remember that we(you, i and the webboard members) are less than 10% of the hobby that buys fish (approx 700K households have salt water tanks). Again if you put WC mandarins $25/ea next to tank of CB mandarin ($80 bux)- i guarantee who sells first. So for the educated & willing hobbyist- yes these CB mandarins will be worth every penny. But for the remaining salt water keepers- no way.

I think it will be easier than you think. Lots of even uneducated salt water hobbyists have tried mandarins and most have failed. As long as CB are not ridiculously expensive (and I don't know why they would be, I can't think of any large scale CB salt water fish that are more than about double wild caught price), as a former LFS employee, I can guarantee that a customer who has tried and failed multiple times with wild caught mandarins will be an easy sale.

 

[Sardaukar]

Whose preserving life in the oceans?
I think many of us know that mandarins will still be wild collected even though these CB ones will be available. The benefit of these CB mandarins will they will eat prepared foods and do well in your tank. However- the production of these fish commercially most likely will NOT impact their wild collections, not now at least.
Allow me to use clownfish as an example-- even thou they are the most widely CB propagated fish- commercially available in almost every state as a CB/CR fish- thousand upon thousands of WC clowns are brought in every year. Why- because the demand is there- commercial firms cant produce enough and again- money is the key driver- WC clowns are a few dollars.

Any yet, every CB clown thats sold to a hobbyist is one that didn't have to come from the ocean. The fact that commercial breeding is unable to totally satisfy demand for clowns does not mean that the hundreds of thousands of CB clowns sold each year are doing nothing for the reefs. Heck, if nothing else they keep people like ORA in business so they can make real progress on fish like dragonettes.

 

[velvetelvis]

I think it will be easier than you think. Lots of even uneducated salt water hobbyists have tried mandarins and most have failed. As long as CB are not ridiculously expensive (and I don't know why they would be, I can't think of any large scale CB salt water fish that are more than about double wild caught price), as a former LFS employee, I can guarantee that a customer who has tried and failed multiple times with wild caught mandarins will be an easy sale.

+1

As I've said before, if your finances are so tight that an extra $20 or so for a one-time purchase of a CB fish will break you, you probably can't afford to keep a saltwater tank at all. Buying replacement salt water and RO topoff water alone will cost many times more than that over the years, let alone other maintenance costs like food, replacement bulbs for lighting fixtures, replacement parts (or upgrades) for skimmers and powerheads, and so on.

It's a false sense of economy. You'll spend more making regular trips to Starbucks or eating lunch out a few times a week than you will on the extra cost of buying a CB fish. And you won't have to worry about replacing it when it doesn't succumb to brooklynella, ich, internal parasites, or starvation--which will also save you money.

Additionally, prices of CB fish tend to drop as individual species gain popularity and are produced by more breeders. Conversely, if wild reef fish populations suffer due to overcollection (especially to meet demand for species with a poor survival rate in captivity)--or if regulation crops up to protect them against such exploitation--many WC fish may eventually become more expensive. Ultimately, buying CB "versions" of the fish you want when they are available is practical, as well as responsible.

 

[snorvich]

Double reply, sorry

 

[snorvich]

Since mandarins eat constantly in the wild and have a metabolism that is accustomed to that, how will captive bred mandarins owners feed them? Once a day, twice a day, or ? And since mandarins are poor hunters as best, how will they get their share of food when they are fed? Are these new owners going to target feed them multiple times per day?

 

[Guygettnby]

Since mandarins eat constantly in the wild and have a metabolism that is accustomed to that, how will captive bred mandarins owners feed them? Once a day, twice a day, or ? And since mandarins are poor hunters as best, how will they get their share of food when they are fed? Are these new owners going to target feed them multiple times per day?

i agree with you. i still think it will be hard to keep them long term even if they are eating prepaired foods.

 

[Guygettnby]

on another note, does anybody know when they will actually be releasing them for sale?

 

[Jordani]

They said in the summer sometime.