peppermint angel

[reefsandrotts]

Just saw on facebook ny aquatic has a peppermint angel as well as a few other rare fish.
Can be seen and purchased from the rare fish section for $20,000.00

 

[dan_k]

Very pretty fish I will take 2

 

[Mark...]

In my mind, if they are that rare and expensive, leave them in the ocean. You would have a heart attack if they got sick too..

 

[mnat]

Look like they hit the US this week. A couple of people on RC were showing the pictures. The reason they are so expensive is they are collected around 400 ft deep, so they are rare in shallow waters, but plentiful in deep waters. Rufus and his team have been trying for years to get a big group and they finally did. There are only a few people in the world that dive that deep for collection. Also, the demand from Japan for these fish is incredible so combine incredibly scarce supply with very high demand and you have a 20k fish.

It is a holy grail fish for me, but more along the lines of a powerball fish.

 

[reefsandrotts]

Powerball fish.....lol
But I agree 100%

 

[TanksNStuff]

While I agree they are a beatiful fish, I think Mark has a point. They may be plentiful, but if they normally live in 400 ft depths, how could we possibly provide them with an environment that will be suitable for them?

I would think they would be used to cold, dark water and possibly are searching for specific foods that only live at those depths.

It just seems like a tough thing to match or even come close to and the chances of that fish surviving in a roughly 2' deep tank lit up with our intense lighting would seem pretty slim. Tang police

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I'm pretty sure if you're willing to spend $20K on a fish that you would probably be willing to spend a couple grand to setup an appropriate tank. LOL

 

[reefsandrotts]

These fish are brought to the surface very slowly sometimes taking aslong as a month to get the fish acclimated to the pressure changes so they re no different than anyother fish in that regard just ALOT more money.

 

[kschweer]

Beautiful fish. I believe 4 of them made it to the US and 3 are in the north east. As mike said it is not so much that the fish is rare it's just rarely collected because of depths. This last group collected was 9 peppermint and a handful of narcosis angels which are really cool as well. The diver said that the first peppermint he collected was in 71 degree water and this latest group in 76 degree water which is surprising at those depths. If these fish are properly decompressed (which is likely due to the fact that these are experienced deep water collectors) they should adapt to captivity fairly well. Many anthias are deep water fish as well. Also if acclimated slowly to brighter lighting I would say they should be fine. Hopefully with more of these fish now in captivity and in the US we will be able to learn more about them.

 

[hjp109]

Wow.. these are some amazing looking fish, but at $20k... YIKES!!! Isn't there something else that looks similar to them in the market? I'm sure this will get cheaper in another 2-3 years as people start breeding them. I HOPE!

 

[ThatGuy]

Wow.. these are some amazing looking fish, but at $20k... YIKES!!! Isn't there something else that looks similar to them in the market? I'm sure this will get cheaper in another 2-3 years as people start breeding them. I HOPE!

These won't be bred anytime soon. Of the 4 I highly doubt that someone will buy multiples. Let alone having a 1:1 pair if they do. There is a very small number of SW fish that are actually bred on a marketable scale.

 

[mnat]

One of the reasons people love this fish is because it is so beautiful and unique. Most deep water fish are kinda bland and are expensive because they are hard to collect. The narcosis angel is going for $10k but is a yellow fish with a black dot.

Other fish to look at are the opercularis Hogfish, cheaper peppermint hogfish, and they just pulled up another basslet that is red and white but never hits the US and goes for about $2k in Japan.