Aquacultured Mandarins?

[salty_dog]

Hi Everyone,
ORA is claiming to now offer aquacultured (captive bred) Mandarins. The idea being, you can now keep these amazing looking fish with ease...as they accept prepared/frozen foods. This seems almost too good to be true!

Does anyone here have experience with them? I've always wanted one but never had one because I didn't think my system could produce enough live food to keep one responsibly.

THanks for any feedback.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

I've already seen them for sale at a couple of local stores. I ended up getting a wild caught one myself and am currently training it to eat prepared foods. I woulda bought captive bred but the red Mandy I wanted was not available at the time. If you're concerned weather the fish you want to buy is to good to be true, just ask an employee to feed it frozen foods before you buy.
P.S. Training my wild caught Mandy has been a fun experience and I can do it, I don't see why anyone else can't. Lee has a couple of great articles on feeding marine fish and food presentation that refrences mandarins specifically. If you buy wild caught, the articles are a must read.

[salty_dog]

Thanks. Yes, seeing the fish eat at the store would make sense. I guess I was wondering about the bigger picture. What I mean is, the wild mandarins seem to literally eat constantly...picking at live rock throughout the day.

So...even if an AC one would accept prepared/frozen foods...I was wondering the long term feasability of the health of the fish...in the context of frequency of feeding (ie. can a mandarin only be fed twice a day?)

Thanks again for any input. It's great to be able to see other's experiences.

[reeferbill]

Hi Everyone,
ORA is claiming to now offer aquacultured (captive bred) Mandarins. The idea being, you can now keep these amazing looking fish with ease...as they accept prepared/frozen foods. This seems almost too good to be true!

Does anyone here have experience with them? I've always wanted one but never had one because I didn't think my system could produce enough live food to keep one responsibly.

THanks for any feedback.

I had 2 green mandarins in a 75 reef now I have a red scooter.Now my display is a 46bow \with a 38 gallon refugium. I have better luck with the red scooters. It would be nice to be able to feed mandarins frozen and dry foods. Happy Reefing!!!!!!!

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Thanks. Yes, seeing the fish eat at the store would make sense. I guess I was wondering about the bigger picture. What I mean is, the wild mandarins seem to literally eat constantly...picking at live rock throughout the day.

So...even if an AC one would accept prepared/frozen foods...I was wondering the long term feasability of the health of the fish...in the context of frequency of feeding (ie. can a mandarin only be fed twice a day?)

Thanks again for any input. It's great to be able to see other's experiences.

I'm almost positive the mandarin will still actively hunt for it's natural foods (instinctively). I'm no expert by any means and am only limited to the wild caught Mandy I'm in the process of training so keep that in mind. I think training both wild caught and tank bred (assuming they still have to somewhat be trained) to eat prepared foods serves more as a supplemental means of nutrition. I could be wrong but that's just my opinion.
I have 2 false percula clowns that were tank bred and they still munch on pods from time to time so I don't see it any different with an ORA mandarin.
P.S. It is my understanding that most/ all fish are constantly hunting/ eating in the wild, eating small amounts frequently. Idealy, that would be the best way to feed our fish in the home aquarium but isn't much of an option for the hobbyist.

[leebca]

The vast majority of oranamental marine fishes eat throughout their day. Don't believe for a moment that fish eat 'meals' set during the day. They eat throughout the day, like you've seen the Mandarins picking.

So, fish eating three plus meals a day of prepared foods have lived long and healthy lives IF the fish is http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine...nutrition.html