ORA now breeds two types of Mandarins that eat prepared foods

One of my favorite fish is the Mandarin fish, specifically the paisley-blue Mandarin. Synchiropus splendidus to be specific. I've been keeping them for years, and was fortunate to keep them happy with pellet food. To make sure they got a meal, I used a small jar and called it the Mandarin Diner. It worked well for me. Over the years, I've gotten lots of emails from others asking for assistance with this particular fish because they so often die of starvation. I wrote a small article with some guidelines to help: http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_care.html

And then the Diner article came out: http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

However, the big news is that ORA (Oceans, Reefs, and Aquariums) has conquered that front, raising Mandarins from fry and teaching them to eat prepared foods. This is a giant step forward in the sustainability of the hobby, as we will soon be able to purchase these fish and their favorite food at our local fish store - instead of taking more from the ocean that may or may not survive. Captive bred fish are already accustomed to the aquarium environment, and knowing what they eat is key to success. ORA is making this possible. Watch for both the Psychedelic Mandarin and the Target Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) to become available, and if your own fish store doesn't have them, request that they bring some in.



ORA Press Release
March 25, 2010

ORA Announces Captive Bred Mandarins
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. Retailers attending this week’s Global Pet Expo in Orlando will be able to see our tank bred Mandarins at the ORA Booth #1773.