ORA which stands for Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums is an ornamental hatchery located at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Ft. Pierce Florida and is the largest of its kind in North America. With the constant stresses and damage to our diverse and delicate reefs over the past few years, ORA has stepped up to help to reduce these negative implications.
Due to the increase and popularity of the marine hobby coinciding with the uncertainty of our reefs in the near future, something has to be done to change this for without protection and preservation practices and policies being installed and adhered to, our reefs are doomed. Our reefs have severely taken a hit in the past few years through no fault of our own as well as natural disasters. Oil spills and other pollutants to our water, careless boating, snorkeling and scuba diving practices, global warming, hurricanes, earthquakes and increased UV A, B, and C rays all are responsible for our reefs demise.
Not so long ago the thought of breeding marine life in captivity successfully was a dream that hardly could be thought of as a reality by the conscientious aquarist. As it was, their was such a minimal amount of diversity when it came to the selection of corals, fish and invertebrates we could chose from. Then as technological barriers began to break down and advances in technology, collection, shipping and maintenance began to come to the fore front, the marine hobby has exploded and has become an integral part of our conservative efforts towards preserving our natural, beautiful and delicate reefs of the world.
Then along come ORA! Their commitment towards the breeding of marine life in captivity as opposed to the capturing of their wild-caught neighbors, is a huge accomplishment. Not only does this place less stress on our reefs, but ORA has been able to breed amazingly beautiful animals to ensure the success of the marine hobby as well as conserve the natural marine environment. The ability for us to purchase captive bred marine life also affords us a better chance of success in the hobby due to the diminished chances of purchasing a diseased animal often associated with wild-caught specimens.
With all the problems often associated with the process of collecting an organism and getting it to your door, it makes perfect sense to come up with alternative solutions. ORA has employed countless years of time, man hours, studies and technological advances to ensure that the hobby flourishes at the benefit of our reefs. Because these animals are born in a captive environment, they are better suited for life in an aquarium environment. The beauty, hardiness, and disease resistency is aided by proper dietary nutrition, care and the efforts of the ORA personnel unsurpassed in the aquaculture field.
I will now give a partial list of some of the marine life offered for sale by Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums. This is NOT the full list however, as to view the full list you will have to contact ORA via their website or by phone. A couple other thing I would like to mention regarding ORA is the fact that you can not purchase directly from ORA unless you are a retail aquarium or pet store! ORA can give you a listing of the closest retailer in your area however. The second thing is, because of the above and beyond care, extensive research employed by ORA, and beauty associated with the farm-raised animals at ORA, the price will be notably higher than the same specimen that is wild-caught or reared some other way.
As for the fish bred by ORA, again this is a partial listing only! This includes the False, True, Stubby, Picasso and Naked Percula Clown as well as The Maroon(Gold and White Stripe), Tomato, Pink, Orange, Fire and Clark’s Clownfish. Species of Blennies and Gobies, Dottybacks, Cardinalfish and Sea Horses are also bred.
Tridacna clams graded first grand and ultra can be purchased with Crocea, Maxima, Derasa, Squamosa, Gigas and Hoppopus being offered. These clams are some of the most diverse, beautiful and amazing clams seen before and are usually 1 1/2″ – 2 ” in size with the rare “ZEBRA” Maxima(black and white patterned) available at times.
Invertebrates such as the Peppermint shrimp, Abalone, Queen and Fighting Conch have been bred successfully by ORA and are available.
Then their are the popular corals! These corals are some of the healthiest and vibrant around. Ranging in size from 2″-4″ and glued to a plug and have been 6-7 generations removed from the wild to ensure their hardiness and adaptation to captive environment. Montipora, Acropora, Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, Duncanopsammia, Spongodes and Galaxea corals are commonplace at ORA.
Feast your eyes on this diverse array of eye candy well suited for your marine aquarium. I may sound like a spokesman for ORA, however, I am not, but when it comes to overall beauty, diversity, healthy and hardiness of my aquarium inhabitants, I want the best! Moreover, the fact that these are captive bred and raised to reduce the negative implications brought on through the careless effort, many times, of the people that capture, collect and ship wild caught specimens throughout the world, it makes perfect sense to employ the technological advances and successes provided by an organization like ORA into your population of marine life for you and other to enjoy for years to come!
