ORA Mandarin

[Huskymaniac]

Quarantine or directly into display tank for these guys. It would be straight from ORA via liveaquaria.

 

[cshouston]

Quarantining first is always a good idea, but I would feel comfortable adding captive bred ORA stock directly to my tank. It’s always somewhat risky though since you don’t know for sure that their water is 100% clean.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Quarantining first is always a good idea, but I would feel comfortable adding captive bred ORA stock directly to my tank. It’s always somewhat risky though since you don’t know for sure that their water is 100% clean.

I quarantine basically everything but I feel like this fish will fare a lot better going right into a display. I am not sure of ORA process in terms of their tanks. Are CB tanks ever cross contaminated with wild, etc?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I may be an outsider here but straight into the display. Not a clue how you could prophylactically treat a mandarin and keep him fed.

 

[cshouston]

If you choose to quarantine it out of an abundance of caution, I wouldn’t worry about feeding it. ORA captive bred mandarins are trained to eat prepared foods. They have a list on their website, but off the top of my head I remember seeing baby brine shrimp and small NLS pellets on the list.

 

[cshouston]

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. However in a reef tank, they often will default to the naturally occurring live copepods found among live rock.

That’s directly from ORA.

Blue Mandarin | Synchiropus splendidus | ORA | Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums

ORA Aquacultured Blue Mandarin Gobies eat frozen and pellet foods and are easier to care for than their wild counterparts.

www.orafarm.com

 

[infinite0180]

Why not buy direct from Biota instead?

Livestock - Captive-Bred Biota Mandarins

Everyone knows us for our captive-bred mandarins and for great reason! Our mandarins are fed a diet of pellet and frozen foods so when they get into your tank they're already acclimated and ready to thrive. Check out this video of a group of them chowing down on some TDO B2 and PE hatchery...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Huskymaniac]

Why not buy direct from Biota instead?

Livestock - Captive-Bred Biota Mandarins

Everyone knows us for our captive-bred mandarins and for great reason! Our mandarins are fed a diet of pellet and frozen foods so when they get into your tank they're already acclimated and ready to thrive. Check out this video of a group of them chowing down on some TDO B2 and PE hatchery...

www.reef2reef.com

Frees shipping from LA.

 

[infinite0180]

Frees shipping from LA.

But it comes directly from Biotas isolated Mandarin only system...

 

[ScubaFish802]

That’s directly from ORA.

Blue Mandarin | Synchiropus splendidus | ORA | Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums

ORA Aquacultured Blue Mandarin Gobies eat frozen and pellet foods and are easier to care for than their wild counterparts.

www.orafarm.com

The real issue is the amount/frequency they need to feed though. The common misconception seems to be that because they will eat other food sources that they no longer need an excessive amount of copepods etc.. available

 

[Huskymaniac]

But it comes directly from Biotas isolated Mandarin only system...

Same with ORA though. Ordering ORA from LA comes directly from ORA. The question is do they have their own Mandarin system also?

 

[Huskymaniac]

The real issue is the amount/frequency they need to feed though. The common misconception seems to be that because they will eat other food sources that they no longer need an excessive amount of copepods etc.. available

100% agree which is why I am not really feeling qt'ing this type of fish is a great idea.

 

[infinite0180]

Same with ORA though. Ordering ORA from LA comes directly from ORA. The question is do they have their own Mandarin system also?

Oh i didnt realize that! Its probably a toss up then!

 

[cshouston]

Same with ORA though. Ordering ORA from LA comes directly from ORA. The question is do they have their own Mandarin system also?

I would wager they do, but you can always give them a call or drop an email to ask. I still think it’s pretty safe to just go straight to tank with ORA. I did once with an ORA dottyback and never had any issues. Quarantining would just cover your butt 100%, which is the only point I was trying to make.

 

[MJV15]

Anyone have first hand experience with Ora or biota and the mandarins actually eating?

My tank is a year old and has pretty noticeable and constant level of pods. But, I’m worried he’ll just mow down what’s in the tank then starve. I have live rock and pod hotels in my sump hoping to have a setup that can constantly feed the display. I’m tempted to try, but don’t want to condemn the little guy to slow starvation.