Pod Population

[wsboyette]

At 4x the normal price it must have really cost them a lot more to produce the fish than an ocean collector; one would think that it would cost little more than it does the ocean collector to pay and equip divers and boat crews, and operate a million+ dollar dive boat (that costs $500.00+ / month in slip rent and burns $200+ gallons per hour of $3.50/gal diesel fuel). And as someone mentioned earlier, other items aquacultured by ORA's competitors such as clownfish do not cost significantly more. But I am totally for getting the livestock supplies switched over to aquaculture (at a reasonable cost comparable to ocean collection); as I believe in conservation of the ocean reefs !

 

[Kelz88]

Yet you wont pay the cost needed. Raising ocean fry is probably one of the hardest things to do. The mating part is easy but the food needed to keep the fry alive is expensive and time consuming.

You talk about million dollar dive crews but im sure there are people going out with a 5$ raft and a 5$ scuba set capturing fish and coral.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Yet you wont pay the cost needed. Raising ocean fry is probably one of the hardest things to do. The mating part is easy but the food needed to keep the fry alive is expensive and time consuming.

You talk about million dollar dive crews but im sure there are people going out with a 5$ raft and a 5$ scuba set capturing fish and coral.

I bet this is the norm. If the regular fish collector was a million dollar boat, all the fish would be a lot more expensive. Also, there is probably a high level of mortality in the fry. Especially in the early stages of trying to captive breed. When the process is refined and improved,by trial and error, the mortality rate drops and then so will the prices.

 

[FishyReef]

And those who are catching the fish are from 3rd world island countries whose economy is pennies on the dollar at best, and aren't being paid fair trade value for their catches. Plus, they catch thousands of fish a month and have very little overhead.

But all of that aside, I just don't see the logic in paying $16 for a pod eating mandarin. Your plan sounds like it is to buy a wild-caught mandarin and start a pod pile with 3-4 different types of pod cultures. Okay. $16 for the fish. But then add in $15 (at least) for each of the 3-4 pod cultures you say you are thinking of starting with (see pricing here Live Foods for Feeding Aquarium Fish, Inverts & Corals: AlgaGen ReefPods) , and you've already spent at best $60-$75 just to get the fish and pod cultures. Then add in cost for more pods to supplement every 6 months (per your current plan, though I think you'll need to add them more regularly than that because your other tank critters will eat them as well, perhaps before you can get a sustainable pile going), and you're paying far more than you would have for the $60 ORA Mandarin who eats frozen food with the rest of your fish. I just don't see the logic.

 

[tampafishguy]

Why would you put so many pod cultures in? i added one a few weeks before i got my mandarin and i still see them everywhere. Its been about 6 months now.

 

[wsboyette]

You talk about million dollar dive crews but im sure there are people going out with a 5$ raft and a 5$ scuba set capturing fish and coral.

Just to avoid being misquoted, my post reads "million dollar dive boat", not "million dollar dive crews". Actually, I might have been off-base with that figure; one might be able to purchase an older boat for half that. I will concede that there is a possibility that (in places where the reefs are close inshore) people may be using small skiffs to get out to the fish on calm days. But I can't help but notice that there is a great love for ORA on this forum; looks like I have 'kicked a sacred cow'. :mrgreen: