ORA spotted mandarin goby
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That, I agree with. I wasn't aware they were pitching these to the average aquarist.
I hate that so many of these were lost. I don't claim to be an expert, but I would say I'm above average when it comes to husbandry. I offered all of the foods recommended several times a day, despite having a cyano outbreak from all of the feedings. The other one at the store I bought mine from was skinny and sold for about half of what I paid for mine in an effort to save it. Mine never showed any interest in food whatsover. I know ORA is trying to do the right thing, but these guys clearly didn't acclimate well. I would recommend that ORA move them to tanks with sand and rocks before they ship them, to allow a litte time to adjust. I hope this works, eventually....
just jumping in on this thread. i got a wild mandarin from marine designs. there were probably 10 in the tank, and i had victor feed them some mysis shrimp and saw one immediately eat a piece. took it home and its doing awesome. i feed it mysis every morning, usually 2, and it is fat and happy. i do have pods also so i know it helps. ive had it about 4 months now.
Victor was very helpful and i know that there store gets them in often. Good luck.
Victor was very helpful and i know that there store gets them in often. Good luck.
I was a little bummed when ORA announced these "pellet eaters" AFTER I had obtained a mandarin... I thought that they had revolutionized the care of these fish, but obviously that was a little premature. I have a good pod population (and I "seed" pods from time to time just to be on the safe side), and my two (one green, one spotted that was an adoption of sorts) are constantly eating and are keeping a healthy weight. I have never seen even a hint of them touching anything in the way of prepared foods, though I wish they would.
As soon as I can catch it, I'm probably going to rehome the spotted mandarin to Ansley's tank, which has a ridiculous pod population... that way my green mandarin has less "competition" for the food supply, plus if the spotted happens to enjoy a flatworm now and then he'll being doing the Doc a favor.
As soon as I can catch it, I'm probably going to rehome the spotted mandarin to Ansley's tank, which has a ridiculous pod population... that way my green mandarin has less "competition" for the food supply, plus if the spotted happens to enjoy a flatworm now and then he'll being doing the Doc a favor.
Wewt!
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From what you guys are saying and quoting it seems that the ORA Mandarins are not eating after leaving the ORA facility due to shipping stress. In ORA's defense I doubt they did any preliminary shipping test stress on them. The stress from shipping probably reared it's ugly head after sales to the public began. I don't see where their advertisement was that far off, based on the knowledge they had at the time.
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I would agree. I actually wondered about this when they first announced captive bred mandarins because of what I read about wild caught specimens that suffer from stress after something as simple as moving from one tank to another, causing a fish that was weened on to prepared foods to only accept live pods once again.
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Unfortunately, I think most have translated the appearance of these captive bred fish as a proclamation that they do not need a matured tank and specialized care. They do, and always will. Even if they WERE eating pellets or prepared foods, they need specialized care.
For me, the huge benefit to these fish is that they may not be taken from the ocean. Captive propagation is a HUGE step forward for these fish, and our hobby. Sadly, I doubt thats why most have bought these fish. I think most buy them to try to shortcut the requirements of the species. Is ORA at fault? Perhaps. They most certainly did attempt to market these as such a "shortcut" to the species' difficulties. However, we, as aquarists, need to also play our part, and try to offer these fish exactly what they need. For example, I have read of many many people failing with ORA mandarins (on otehr forums). Most did not try to feed Nutramar Ova, as suggested by ORA. The mandarins were offered pellets, and when they didnt eat them, the fish starved and died. That is not good care, IMO. Of ANY species.
For me, the huge benefit to these fish is that they may not be taken from the ocean. Captive propagation is a HUGE step forward for these fish, and our hobby. Sadly, I doubt thats why most have bought these fish. I think most buy them to try to shortcut the requirements of the species. Is ORA at fault? Perhaps. They most certainly did attempt to market these as such a "shortcut" to the species' difficulties. However, we, as aquarists, need to also play our part, and try to offer these fish exactly what they need. For example, I have read of many many people failing with ORA mandarins (on otehr forums). Most did not try to feed Nutramar Ova, as suggested by ORA. The mandarins were offered pellets, and when they didnt eat them, the fish starved and died. That is not good care, IMO. Of ANY species.
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:up:
Just a pet peeve of mine.... but it's a Mandarin *Dragonet", not a goby.
That misnomer alone has undoubtedly contributed to the demise of many of these fish. After all, in general, gobies are pretty easy to keep.
Dragonets, not so much. It's an industry-wide mistake (deliberate or otherwise).
Same with the Scooter Dragonet which is often mis-named as a "Scooter Blenny".
Drives me nuts.
Jenn
That misnomer alone has undoubtedly contributed to the demise of many of these fish. After all, in general, gobies are pretty easy to keep.
Dragonets, not so much. It's an industry-wide mistake (deliberate or otherwise).
Same with the Scooter Dragonet which is often mis-named as a "Scooter Blenny".
Drives me nuts.
Jenn
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I wasnt pointing the finger at you. Thats why I said "on other forums". Some people do give it the proper effort and it still fails. But, So mamny therads on this topic Ive read on other forums</em> say "ORA mandarins suck! They dont eat pellets and die!" and do not even attempt anything but the pellets.
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I agree, its is annoying to have them so constantly mislabelled. But, I disagree that this</em> is a cause for failure. I feel that most people that would know that gobies are a moderately easy group of fish to keep, would also know that mandarins are tough to keep. Both seem to be commonly parroted ideals.
I don't know... Maybe I'm super lucky, but we picked up a green mandarin when we were about 2 months in with our biocube 29. We did a lot of research and understood what we were up against. We never bothered to socialize the idea on the forums as I saw how that went ahead of time..
We've poured in a *LOT* of $25 bottles of pods, and gone through a lot of upgrades. At over 1 1/2 years now, I'm saying we have succeeded. He eats literally anything that goes in the tank. Pellets, shrimp, clam, etc. I fed him a piece of silverside off of a pair of tweezers the other day just to see if I could.
Maybe I'm lucky, but in the end, we didn't rely on the fish eating frozen or anything. Instead, we were committed to giving it whatever it required to stay alive. Many people can't (afford) or won't do that, and then they're surprised with they die.
We've poured in a *LOT* of $25 bottles of pods, and gone through a lot of upgrades. At over 1 1/2 years now, I'm saying we have succeeded. He eats literally anything that goes in the tank. Pellets, shrimp, clam, etc. I fed him a piece of silverside off of a pair of tweezers the other day just to see if I could.
Maybe I'm lucky, but in the end, we didn't rely on the fish eating frozen or anything. Instead, we were committed to giving it whatever it required to stay alive. Many people can't (afford) or won't do that, and then they're surprised with they die.
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That's really great. I'm glad to see people have success with these fish. I had one weened onto prepared foods as well, but after a number of months, even with twice daily feedings, I noticed he was getting thinner. Rather than experimenting with other types of food, I just thought it would be better to re-home him to a larger, more established tank.
I have a pair in my 65gal and they're fat and happy. Started with feeding them pods but now they'll eat whatever. Took me about 2 weeks to train the male and the female learned from him. I turned off pumps and sprayed frozen brine in his face with a long rigid airline tube. The key is to closely watch him open his mouth and eat one the first time, gets easier after that.
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I had one in my 12g nano. He lived for about 6 months i did everything I could to try to get him to eat pellets, frozen, etc..etc.. I never could get him to eat anything but the pods. I guess he finally depleted the supply
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