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View Full Version : Just got a ORA blue mandarin



mikel
10-05-2010, 06:08 AM
This little guy is living with my spotted mandarin. They sleep in the same jar at night, very cute. He also eats prawn eggs:)

dpt8
10-05-2010, 07:21 AM
Hey.. Congrats Mikel !!! Couldn't have gone to a better home. Have fun enjoying your mandarins !! Are they eating pellets yet ?? David T

Second Hand Pat
10-05-2010, 09:04 AM
Nice fish ... my daughter wants a mandarin for her 3 gallon pico and I keep talking her out of it.

mikel
10-05-2010, 05:14 PM
Three gal is definitely too small. But my two mandarins are living in a 20 long tank...pleny of room for them, and they are both males. They are both ORA so they grew up in a group, so no aggression so far. Keep my fingers crossed, and I dont know if they are eating pellets because I havnt try feeding them that. I have tons of N Ova so I have just been giving them shots of prawn eggs. mike

Scribbles
10-07-2010, 03:12 AM
Congrats, Mike. I love mandarins.

Chris

mikel
10-07-2010, 11:28 AM
thanks! i really like this ORA bred fish. Apparently the ratio of blue mandarin bred by them vs the green spotted bred by ORA, which I also have, is 100 to 1. This little guy is one of a few they actually released during the summer. I spoke with them yesterday, and they do not have any ready for release for months and months. I hope this little guy does well with me.

csarkar001
10-09-2010, 07:41 PM
can someone here educate me. in the past, i've found these mandarins nearly impossible to keep without a large copepod population. are the tank raised ones any different?

mikel
10-10-2010, 06:26 AM
yes, but apparently the green spotted ones are far mroe successfully bred by ORA, and easier to train by them, and have a far higher rate of staying trained once they come to the individual hobbyist's tank. The ORA people have bred and raised the fish to eat prepared foods, and so technically the need for a huge tank with tons of copepods is over. I have my green spotted for two months, and my blue for nearly a month both in my 20 gal L tank, and they both eat Ova prawn eggs, Cyclop-eeze and spectrum pellets. But I feed them three times a day at a designated spot with the filters completely off (no water movement), and I also change 10% water twice a week. They are very fat little fish.

Apparently many hobbyists bought the spotted mandarins from ORA and simply dump the new young fish into their huge tanks with big aggressive fish and fast currents....and wonder why their little baby mandarins die after a week. First do research on how these fish eat and live, and know that no matter if they are tank bred and raised or wild, they need special care. You can google Ora Mandarin fish and read more. mike

lpiasente
11-13-2010, 06:28 AM
beautiful

Tito
11-23-2010, 04:59 PM
I must say that I am thrilled to see finally the Mandarins being bred. I was familiar with a couple of guys that weer trying it at home - man was it hard - the things they were doing. It's great that the hobby can now get tank raised! Just like Clowns.

REALLY COOL!

mikel
01-30-2011, 08:30 PM
Some updates of my mandarins from ORA...they were captive bred, and I had very good luck getting them to eat Nutrimar Ova, Cyclopeeze and FBBS....mike

pcsb23
01-31-2011, 06:49 PM
Really nice fish :) I had a Mandarin in my reef tank, waited for a goodly while before introducing one too! Lovely fish.

mikel
02-01-2011, 08:07 PM
thanks paul. I love these two mandarins. They are two males, but they live happily in a 20 L together...no fights at all. They eat together,a nd even sleep in the same little baby food jar at night. It's really amazing. love them. mike

scottthomas
02-02-2011, 09:20 PM
Thats so cool. My favorite fish by far. I wish they were not so hard to keep.

mikel
02-15-2011, 06:23 AM
Thanks Scott! They are indeed high maintenace. But they are also very beautiful. These ORA ones are one of the first tank bred and raised available (the blues are no longer, because apparently they do not spawn quite as readily as the spotted), so I feel like a pioneer in keeping them. mike

goodoo
02-15-2011, 06:35 AM
Well done. I love mandarins. There was one at my LFS for a few months.I allways watched him for atleast 10 mins beautifull. Untill they killed it. One day I will keep some after pioneers like you do the hard work for me. Is the colour as intense as the wilds or do they look different.

vera
02-15-2011, 06:46 AM
Amazing colors !!one of my favoirte marines

mikel
02-16-2011, 07:10 AM
Thanks Vera. I once saw a starving mandarin in a LFS, and vowed never to buy one because I didnt want to support a trade in a fish that clearly was so unhappy in captivity (didnt know how to eat processed food). Once this tank bred variety came out, I was so psyched. I think I have two of the earliest ones that were released. Both were tiny when I brought them home, but I think my training in extreme diligenec from learning to keep discus really helped them. I watched them so closely, fed them often, and was so consistent that, despite some horror stories of other people's bad experience with these early releases (they also starved), mine both increased their weight. They are very acclimated to me now. I do want to add that. despite their "captive bred" identity, they are still extremely high maintenance, and require lots of interaction and care. If you want a marine fish that you can plop into a tank, fed minimally to prevent algae bloom, and basically let it be, then I would suggest getting a clown fish. The mandarins are very very difficult in terms of care.

biotopica
06-09-2011, 06:28 PM
Congratulations, lovely fish