Breeding Yellow Tangs

[reefsean03]

So with this new Hawaii van in effect it got me thinking of breeding yellow tangs. Are there any hobbyists out there that have bred tangs successfully? Is it even feasible for a hobbyist?

 

[Wolf89]

So with this new Hawaii van in effect it got me thinking of breeding yellow tangs. Are there any hobbyists out there that have bred tangs successfully? Is it even feasible for a hobbyist?

No hobbiest has ever done. Its insanely hard.

 

[Jenuvio]

 

[code4]

@Jenuvio love the video.

 

[Biota_Marine]

We here at Biota have successfully bred Yellow Tangs. If you ever need any you can find them on our retail website. https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/cultured-fish/products/hawaiian-yellow

 

[reefsean03]

We here at Biota have successfully bred Yellow Tangs. If you ever need any you can find them on our retail website. https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/cultured-fish/products/hawaiian-yellow

Awesome! Do you have any information on how you guys are able to breed them?

 

[Biota_Marine]

Awesome! Do you have any information on how you guys are able to breed them?

Unfortunately, this is company information but we work very closely with the Oceanic Institute for the yellow tang production. I believe over the years they've published a few papers detailing some of the information. The difficulty is the same with many of the pelagic spawning species where you need tons of the correct live feeds, balances, spacing, and broodstock nutrition.

 

[DrewBR]

There is an upcoming project to breed them here in Brazil. From what the people resposible for the project shared I find it very unlikely that a hobbyist could ever breed them sucessfully. Maybe someone with a crazy 10000 G + tank could, but it seems completely out of reach for us mere mortals.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

We here at Biota have successfully bred Yellow Tangs. If you ever need any you can find them on our retail website. https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/cultured-fish/products/hawaiian-yellow

Hello,

I noticed that the captive bred yellow tangs are sold out. Is this due to a surge in demand following the shutdown or is there difficulty keeping them in stock due to breeding?

 

[Biota_Marine]

Hello,

I noticed that the captive bred yellow tangs are sold out. Is this due to a surge in demand following the shutdown or is there difficulty keeping them in stock due to breeding?

Hey @Wheelsonly,

Their seasonal spawning slowdown started in September so we knew we were going to be low in January and February but the demand really sold out of our stock very quickly. We're expecting good numbers in late March/early April.

 

[ineption]

I get it why Biota wouldn't want to share the exact details on how to breed them. However because they are based in US & the ban is world wide, I am sure there will be other countries that would love a yellow tang or 2. The prices for tangs from Biota are quiet prohibitive for many unfortunately. At some point if they do manage to increase the production to a point where a captive tang is 30 dollars or so in retail stores is the point where I would consider affordable for every one.

Question for Biota can also breed Gem tangs or even koi tangs? That would be incredible

 

[Roberto Denadai]

There is an upcoming project to breed them here in Brazil. From what the people resposible for the project shared I find it very unlikely that a hobbyist could ever breed them sucessfully. Maybe someone with a crazy 10000 G + tank could, but it seems completely out of reach for us mere mortals.

Just a waste of time and money, these guys never even breed clowns yet

 

[sde1500]

Just a waste of time and money, these guys never even breed clowns yet

Curious why you say this? Literally anyone can breed clowns at this point. I know absolutely nothing about the project, but if the team has experience, its not like they are required to go through some manner of progression of breeding fish.

 

[Biota_Marine]

I get it why Biota wouldn't want to share the exact details on how to breed them. However because they are based in US & the ban is world wide, I am sure there will be other countries that would love a yellow tang or 2. The prices for tangs from Biota are quiet prohibitive for many unfortunately. At some point if they do manage to increase the production to a point where a captive tang is 30 dollars or so in retail stores is the point where I would consider affordable for every one.

Question for Biota can also breed Gem tangs or even koi tangs? That would be incredible

Hey Ineption,

We also do export to various countries around the world so we are seeing crazy demand from basically the entire world for yellow tangs. We were able to send a small amount to Europe before the ban went into affect.

I think regardless of production numbers due to the larval duration of the yellow tangs we won't be able to have them be $30 as a retail fish. It's just not very feasible because of all of the work, live feeds, time, and resources needed. Before the Hawaii ban most stores were retailing our tangs at around $100-$120 while I think wild ones were hovering between $79-$99. The extra $20-30 is usually worth it to get an animal that's been housed in a bio-secure facility, known to be eating, and very hardy (similar to our captive bred mandarins ie purchasing 1 captive-bred eating mandarin vs 5 attempts with wild caught mandarins hoping one eats).

We are working on other species of tangs as well that we can hopefully bring to market. The closest species we have to market right now is the hippo tang.

 

[ineption]

Hey Ineption,

We also do export to various countries around the world so we are seeing crazy demand from basically the entire world for yellow tangs. We were able to send a small amount to Europe before the ban went into affect.

I think regardless of production numbers due to the larval duration of the yellow tangs we won't be able to have them be $30 as a retail fish. It's just not very feasible because of all of the work, live feeds, time, and resources needed. Before the Hawaii ban most stores were retailing our tangs at around $100-$120 while I think wild ones were hovering between $79-$99. The extra $20-30 is usually worth it to get an animal that's been housed in a bio-secure facility, known to be eating, and very hardy (similar to our captive bred mandarins ie purchasing 1 captive-bred eating mandarin vs 5 attempts with wild caught mandarins hoping one eats).

We are working on other species of tangs as well that we can hopefully bring to market. The closest species we have to market right now is the hippo tang.

Thank you for your reply! I would certainly pay a little extra for captive bred once and I am sure many others would. I guess I am hoping as technology gets better you will be able to mass produce them even more. I wish you all the success

 

[Andrescol87]

It's hard but not impossible. Protocols were disclosed in last year MACNA (for hepatus)… it's pretty much the same for yellows.

 

[nathanb25]

Awesome! Do you have any information on how you guys are able to breed them?

Really they won’t tell anyone because that’s how they keep the market. Which sucks because this should all be open source to help repopulate the species. But generally corporations and people care more about money than extinction

 

[Biota_Marine]

Really they won’t tell anyone because that’s how they keep the market. Which sucks because this should all be open source to help repopulate the species. But generally corporations and people care more about money than extinction

Hey Nathanb25, all of the data is actually published and easily accessible if you Google Scholar the work done by Dr. Callan. Our research is in conjunction with the Oceanic Institute. Also when asked I usually give a rundown of how to breed yellow tang but the reality is it's an incredible amount of space and money that most hobbyists don't have and why it has not been replicated by other breeding companies.

 

[Hats_]

AFAIK De Jong Marinelife in the Netherlands do a lot of captive breeding with many marine species including yellow tangs. But I don't think theyre gonna tell you how they do it either and even if they did it is most certainly beyond what we hobbyists are willing to invest in

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hey Nathanb25, all of the data is actually published and easily accessible if you Google Scholar the work done by Dr. Callan. Our research is in conjunction with the Oceanic Institute. Also when asked I usually give a rundown of how to breed yellow tang but the reality is it's an incredible amount of space and money that most hobbyists don't have and why it has not been replicated by other breeding companies.

The only info I can't seem to find is how large are the broodstock tanks?