ORA Mandarin question

chrisnif

Member
Wondering what the consensus is on how small is too small for an ORA mandarin? I had a few saltwater setups before, stopped them all for one reason or another, but my wife would like a mandarin and I'd like to make her happy :) I figure whatever I do will be a simple setup, low light, FOWLR, likely the mandarin will be alone.
Thanks in advance!
 

junior88

New Member
Well, its not going to be easy... You are probably going to have to cycle your tank for a long time, not to mention it prefers live brine shrimp to eat... your LR and sand are going to be the most important thing involved in keeping fed and alilve.. besides the obvious with water quality... i would try to talk her into something much easier to care for.
 

junior88

New Member
Oh yeah, and if you want to do it i would say by itself you may be able to get away with a 20 gallon... but the bigger the better...
 

travelerjp98

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisnif http:///t/388092/ora-mandarin-question#post_3420212
Wondering what the consensus is on how small is too small for an ORA mandarin? I had a few saltwater setups before, stopped them all for one reason or another, but my wife would like a mandarin and I'd like to make her happy :) I figure whatever I do will be a simple setup, low light, FOWLR, likely the mandarin will be alone.
Thanks in advance!
Mandarin fish can thrive in a tank of at least 25 gallons, but they have special dietary requirements requiring a VERY large amount of pods. Only very established tanks, most of the time with refugiums, can produce enough pods for mandarin fish.
And, *WELCOME* to the site junior88!!!!
 

gemmy

Active Member
It is important to remember that mandarins have a voracious appetite even when they ORA. They spend their whole day hunting for pods. In order to have the best success, it would be good to seed your tank with pods for the mandarin (even if you go with ORA).
 

gemmy

Active Member
From SWF:
Caring for ORA Mandarins isn’t as simple as throwing a cube of frozen food and pinch of pellets in the aquarium a couple of times a week. At approximately 1.25”-1.5” in length, ORA’s Spotted Mandarins are still growing and have voracious appetites. We recommend frequent feedings – at least twice daily. Our experience has shown that these young fish begin to grow rapidly when they are kept in a reef environment. We believe that while our mandarins can survive on 100% commercial diets, they will thrive in an environment that offers them a combination of frozen, pellet and live foods.
To have solid long term success, it is best to have them in an environment that can meet all of their dietary needs. Mandarins eat a lot and need to satisfy their appetites. I have trained my mandarin to eat frozen and supplement his diet with pods that I reseed periodically.
 

peasofme

Member
most ora's will not eat prepared foods. do a search. even if they do u would have to feed them constantly to keep their weight up. only a 150g tank thats been running perfect for years would produce enough pods for 1 fish. they eat thousands a day, and only certain sized ones.
 

btldreef

Moderator
As I just stated in another thread, a lot of stores are claiming that their mandarins are ORA captive bred, and they're not. The LFS's are just trying to make a sale, and everyone is on the "get an ORA mandarin" bandwagon, and LFS's are taking advantage of it. ORA has worked with 10+ generations of these guys to get them to accept frozen. They have too much on the line to risk their reputation over saying a fish eats frozen if they were positive.
This is from ORA's website:
"All of ORA’s captive bred mandarins will accept a variety of prepared frozen and dry foods upon acclimation to their new tank. They may be offered Nutramar Ova, finely chopped Hikari Frozen Blood Worms, fish roe, frozen or live baby brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, and New Life SPECTRUM Small Fish Formula pellets. Some have also shown interest in Cyclopeeze."
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Stupid question, one I never thought of before but I have an abundance of rotifers. Would mandarins eat rotifers?
 

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by peasofme http:///t/388092/ora-mandarin-question#post_3422462
a lot of people order them from ora and still they only eat pods.
Not trying to argue with you, or give away some inside information that I may have, but you can't directly order from ORA, so you're completely at the mercy of what your LFS is telling you. ORA also states that the fish needs to acclimate to the tank. I have 2 from ORA, they eat frozen. I've had 3 others in the past from ORA, they all ate frozen, once they proved to eat frozen in my home tank, I sold all but one that I still have and he does not hunt, just waits for his daily feeding like all the other fish. What I have found with ORA's is that they barely hunt, the instinct has been bred out of them.
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Sadly, the "ORA" label has become a gimmick and not the stamp of quality it once was.
As ORA fish became more popular, their quality well known, and more available to the average aquarist, it also became a smoke and mirrors stage for selling certain varieties of fish.
I have been in lfs stores where they are offing "ORA" fish in almost every variety. ORA only breeds certain type of fish, however, as I sat there with the sales putz ensuring customers that ORA breeds only the best fish and are in high demand, lived longer, ate prepared foods, you could tell the customers were impressed. Impressed enough to pay the almost 20% markup from the lfs on the next block who is one of my favorites and an excellent lfs.
To the diehard, educated aquarist, their little scam is transparent, but to the unsuspecting customer who relies upon their lfs for information, they will be none the wiser.
I would venture that educated aquarists are the minority in this hobby. Most have good intentions but rely on the wrong sources for information. These are the folks who feed the idea that saltwater is so much work and so expensive.
Yes, it's expensive to a degree when setting up. However, it is my observation that most of their expense comes from the constant purchasing of fish to replace those that perish.
 
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