Just got a ORA blue mandarin

[mikel]

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]

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]

Nice fish ... my daughter wants a mandarin for her 3 gallon pico and I keep talking her out of it.

[mikel]

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]

Congrats, Mike. I love mandarins.

Chris

[mikel]

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]

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]

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]

beautiful

[Tito]

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]

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]

Really nice fish I had a Mandarin in my reef tank, waited for a goodly while before introducing one too! Lovely fish.

[mikel]

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]

Thats so cool. My favorite fish by far. I wish they were not so hard to keep.

[mikel]

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