Reef Deal Captive-BRED blue hippo tangs for sale

[Joe Rice]

Algae barn is now selling captive-bred blue hippo tangs. These are the ones from the wholesaler Sea Dwelling Creatures as mentioned in this article:

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/11/29/captive-bred-blue-tangs/

The price is $95 plus $67 shipping to Massachusetts. There doesn't appear to be any shipping discount for ordering more than one but I emailed Algae Barn and they are going to look into whether they can change the packaging a bit and fit more than one in a shipping box in which case I will order two or three, and offer the excess to club members for cost.

 

[s_kelley]

$162 for a hippo tang? Ouch!

 

[marper331]

Love The Reef in Wilmington had them last week for $90

 

[Joe Rice]

Love The Reef in Wilmington had them last week for $90

The captive-bred ones?

 

[Cpage101]

I bought mine at jays for $40 it was about half dollar size when I got him


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[dz6t]

There is no way to tell if a hippo tang is captive bred.
There is a company from Taiwan supposedly breeding them. But there are plenty of tank raised hippo tangs available at normal price.

 

[Joe Rice]

There is no way to tell if a hippo tang is captive bred.
There is a company from Taiwan supposedly breeding them. But there are plenty of tank raised hippo tangs available at normal price.

It is true that there is no way to be absolutely certain that these fish are truly captive-bred but I believe there is pretty good evidence that they are.

* The wholesaler, Sea Dwelling Creatures, has been around for 25 years, and touts their commitment to sustainable practices. They are risking a hit to their reputation if this turns out to be a scam.

* Jake Adams has written about these tangs and refers to "eye-witnesses" from whom he seems to have gathered "But one way to tell that these fish are captive bred blue tangs, is that they are not skittish, they accept a variety of foods, and generally behave like long term aquarium residents."

* And the most compelling evidence in my opinion is the image of a tub full of identically sized juveniles. One collector finding that many identically sized wild juveniles seems unlikely.

$162 for a hippo tang? Ouch!

Yup, that's a lot. My sense is that the wild caught typically go for about $50 to $90. If I can get three though for the same shipping cost as one, the price would come down to $118, still significantly more that wild-caught. For me it's worth the premium to support the breeders and help them get to the point where the captive-bred are price competitive with wild caught. Hippo tangs are not endangered but I do worry about the damage done to the reef by unethical harvesters, and hippo tangs come from areas that are not as well regulated as say, Hawaii.

Oh and regarding the price, I didn't mention that each tang will come with a bag of Algae Barn's copepods and a bottle of phytoplankton, which they normally sell for $55.

If anyone is interested in getting one of these tangs let me know as I'll have to decide today whether to order one, two or three. I'm in Littleton, MA.

- Joe

 

[marper331]

The captive-bred ones?

Yes as far as I know, they were the SDC hippos

 

[dz6t]

Do they arrived? How are the hippo tangs look?


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[Joe Rice]

Yes as far as I know, they were the SDC hippos

Ah, lesson learned. Next time I'll call around to the LFS's first!

 

[Joe Rice]

Do they arrived? How are the hippo tangs look?

Sadly, despite being overnighted, they haven't arrived yet. Their flight was delayed and then they missed the UPS delivery truck yesterday. Hopefully they'll be here in a few hours but I'm prepared for the worst after 36 hours in transit.

Kudos to Algae Barn though. They were all over it, watching the delivery and calling UPS when they realized the flight was delayed. They've already offered me replacements or a refund if the fish show up DOA.

Again, lesson learned. Don't order fish during the Christmas rush!

 

[dz6t]

Ah, lesson learned. Next time I'll call around to the LFS's first!

SDC hippos does not mean they are captive bred. It just means they ordered from SDC.

 

[Archit]

SDC hippos does not mean they are captive bred. It just means they ordered from SDC.

SDC is one of the first wholesellers to acquire these "tank bred" hippos. Just like Quality Marine was one of the first ones to the rights of tank bred yellow tang.

SDC has different pricing for tank bred hippos vs tank raised hippos vs wild hippos.

I highly doubt SDC will BS about the origin considering their reputation, but then again, I have seen plenty of reputable people lie about origins of species before so who knows.

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[dz6t]

You are right that SDC is a reputable wholesaler.

 

[marper331]

SDC hippos does not mean they are captive bred. It just means they ordered from SDC.

I actually inquired about these captive bred hippos several weeks ago and was told by the owner that in fact they were captive bred hippos from SDC.