by AquaNerd | Oct 14, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish
A little more than a year ago, ORA announced the availability of the Goldflake Maroon Clownfish, while at the same time teasing us with their tiny Gold Nugget Maroon Clowns. At the time, ORA wouldn’t give us a release date for the Gold Nuggets, instead only teasing us further by showing the fish off at MACNA 2012 and other trade shows. Well, we’re happy to report that the day has finally come for the clownfish to be commercially available, and the timing is perfect. Since traditional goldstripe maroon clowns take about a year to develop their characteristic gold coloration, their gold nugget offspring were expected to follow the same time frame. The fish start out with a large portion of their body being white, but as they mature, the yellowish gold really starts to set in. And by judging from the images we have seen, that gold coloration is going to be fantastic. by AquaNerd | Sep 30, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry
It was love at first sight, according to a new article from Oceans Reefs & Aquariums that announced their first ever intentional hybrid, the ORA Blood Orange Clownfish. The story about how this clownfish hybrid came to be is a bit unusual, but it makes for a great read. In short, ORA acquired a breeding clownfish pair from Larry Lau of Eco Reef Aquariums back in 2012, but it wasn’t a typical pair of clowns. Instead, it was a mixed species couple that consisited of a female Goldstripe Maroon clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus) and an Ocellarish clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). According to Larry, he sold the female GSM clownfish to a customer 10 years ago. When the customer had to relocate, the clownfish was given back to Larry, who placed her in a large display reef with a large carpet anemone. A year later, Larry was given an adult Ocellaris clownfish and thought the 200-gallon display would be more than enough space for the two fish to cohabitate. To his surprise, the Ocellaris clown swam right up to the GSM, who more surprisingly accepted it into her anemone. The GSM not only accepted the Ocellaris as a living partner, but even danced for him. Within 3 months from introduction, the two fish were regularly spawning, with egg clusters being clearly viable by Reef To Rainforest | Sep 4, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry
ORA’s new Black Neon Dottyback is a hybrid of two popular Red Sea species. Selected highlights from ORA’s announcement of a new captive-produced dottyback hybrid: “After our success with the Indigo Dottyback, the first hybrid dottyback available to aquarium hobbyists, we became interested in other dottyback hybridization possibilities. We noted many similarities between the morphology and behavior of Neon and Springeri Dottybacks so we began our work. After several attempts to create a harmonious pair we finally saw success.” “This hybrid’s appearance is strikingly similar to [Pseudochromis] dutoiti, which many believe is a subspecies of the Neon dottyback. Could P. dutoiti be the result of natural hybridization between the Neon Dottyback and the Springeri dottyback?” For the full story, visit the ORA Blog. by AquaNerd | Jul 9, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish
Last year, Oceans Reefs & Aquariums unleashed their gorgeous Black Snowflake Clownfish onto the aquarium keeping world. At the time, only one grade of the fish was available, but that’s all changed. Now, ORA is also selling a premium grade version of their Black Snowflake, which have more striking patterns, more thorough white coloration, and several spots. Also announced with the new fish’s availability is lower wholesale pricing, which will help bring down retail costs to the consumer. According to ORA, it took several years of selective breeding to refine the coloration on this fish. And we can say that by judging from the pictures, that effort has really paid off. The fish are outright stunning and, in our opinions, far surpass the original ORA Snowflake clownfish in terms of beauty. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but we’re sure most of you would agree. The new Premium Black Snowflake Clowns are showing up on availability lists this week, so get your store to order you a pair.
