ORA Announces Captive Bred Mandarin Gobies

[BrendanG]

It's disheartening to run to the LFS and find emaciated dragonettes in bare 10 gallon tanks, and few employees that take the extra initiative to feed a variety of foods to encourage feeding, luckily those days are numbered, and one of the hobbies favorite fish, is finally being captive bred!

 

For many years marine aquarium hobbyists have been captivated by the exquisite beauty of Mandarin Gobies (actually Dragonettes). Their popularity, however, is tempered by the fact that they are difficult to feed in captivity and are subject to questionable collection practices in the wild. Unfortunately, most Mandarins succumb to starvation in home aquariums, even with the best intentions and attempts at feeding. Thankfully, all of that is about to change.

ORA biologists have succeeded in developing the methods needed to breed and raise commercial numbers of the two species of Mandarins, the Blue Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and the Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus). Building on the early success of breeders such as Julian Sprung, Wolfgang Mai, and more recently Matt Wittenrich, ORA is now poised to have commercially bred Mandarins available to everyone. The significance of this cannot be understated as it is a major advance in marine aquaculture and solves many of the problems associated with keeping these species.

 

Just as the first captive bred Seahorses were trained to eat frozen foods, ORA has already trained our baby Mandarins to eat commercially available frozen diets. This fact alone makes them easy to feed and care for, and the average aquarist will delight in not having to worry about sources of live food for their finicky eaters. Our goal is to have them soon weaned onto a pellet diet. We expect to have these fish eating pelletized foods before being released for sale.

 

ORA is the leader in bringing the marine aquarium industry new and exciting aquacultured species. With the addition of Mandarins to our ever-growing list, a major milestone in aquaculture has been achieved. We are sure that our retail customers and hobbyists alike will be elated that captive raised Mandarins are finally available and that a page has been turned in the tragic history of this beloved aquarium fish.

 

We expect to have significant numbers of Spotted Mandarins available this summer. Blue and Red Mandarins will be available in more limited quantities around the same time.

 

(Courtesy of Reefbuilders)

[Happyfeet]

Very Cool!!

[Coral Hind]

That is some awesome news. Kudos to ORA!

[zoozilla]

Excellent news. You Go ORA!!! Hmmmm... I wonder how much these guys will end up costing?

[Der ABT]

Definately great to hear, i have had two and they are definately one of my favorite fish (ive been lucky and both are still living one is just not in my tank)

It will be interesting to see if they get any bigger then some of the ones ive seen in large tanks

 

Congrats

[mogurnda]

That should be a huge thing. Glad to hear it.

[El Camaron]

wonder how expensive they will be, given a regular mandarin sell for around 20.

[Chad]

That is wonderful news!

 

I had heard a snippet a few months back that this was pending, it is great!

[dbartco]

Support them, pay the extra!! Same with bangaiis!

[bshriver]

+1

[Coral Hind]

"ORA has already trained our baby Mandarins to eat commercially available frozen diets."

 

That makes the extra price well worth it!

[zoozilla]

"ORA has already trained our baby Mandarins to eat commercially available frozen diets."

 

That makes the extra price well worth it!

 

+1

[hbh]

+1 for ORA +2 on not worrying if they are eating! +3 on not having starving mandarins dying in transport or in tanks!

[encideought]

This is pretty amazing! Cool news!

[dtfleming]

Glad to hear that they are doing this, but the REAL credit goes to Witt and the Marinebreeder crew for trying and sharing their attempts at breeding.

[gmubeach]

Thats the news I've been waiting to hear..I too wonder how much they will cost.... that and captive breeding means pairs will be easeir to come by.

[bluefunelement]

I spoke with their breeder this winter about their clown gobies (or lack of) and they mentioned this - apparently the market is right

I think I'll find a home for one even if its a bit extra.

[davelin315]

That's very cool. I wonder if in a tank like mine I'll need to acclimate them back to live foods! Fortunately I've got my pair that is doing really well, but I am guessing this will make the hunt for those elusive females easy! No more guessing if it's a male that's been attacked or a female!

[mogurnda]

Anyone seen one yet?

[Kristen9]

Anyone seen one yet?

 

 

I've seen some target mandarins, but no red or blue ones. Targets are selling for 40 to 50 dollars a piece, and the fish stores I've talked to have a waiting list for them (and I'm on it :P)

[zygote2k]

Rumor has it they'll be in the $100 range. Their clowns aren't exactly cheap after all the years of breeding them, don't expect to pay less for a new member of the line.

[mogurnda]

Looks like they'll be asking about $150 for a pair. Seems OK to me.

[CHUBAKAH]

Supplies are very limited to each store MAX 2 at the moment, and it sounds also like the supply it's self is very limited. I'd guess that $150 a pair is about right.

[BowieReefer84]

I emailed Live Aquaria. I'll post their comments once received.

[BowieReefer84]

I emailed Live Aquaria. I'll post their comments once received.

 

 

"Dear Michael,

 

Thank you for your email. We are unable to sell the ORA tank bred Dragonets you are inquiring about at this time. However, we are constantly expanding our inventory and recommend that you check our website occasionally. We apologize, as we are unable to give a specific date that we may add this item to our inventory.

 

Again we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If we can be of any additional assistance, feel free to contact our LiveAquaria Department at 1-800-334-3699 or via email at customerservice@liveaquaria.com and we will be happy to answer any question(s) you may have. We hope that you find this information beneficial. We employ some of the best people in the industry and want to be your source for all of your aquatic needs.

Drs. Foster and Smith. You will also find over 1500 articles full of helpful information on our Pet Education website! Browse by species or topic. Your question(s) may already be answered there. http://www.peteducation.com

 

Sincerely,

 

LiveAquaria

Drs. Foster and Smith

Foster and Smith Aquatics

mjs"