Serious Peppermint question

[awwinterfall]

How much do they go wholesale

 

[mattzang]

peppermint angel?

 

[awwinterfall]

Yes

peppermint angel?

 

[mattzang]

not sure they even make it through wholesale

there's like 5 total in captivity and 3 of which are at a public aquarium that they collected themselves. diver's den sold one recently for $30k, but i doubt they found that bad boy hanging around the LA wholesale

they're super deep water is my understanding, far beyond the realm of most fish collectors

 

[pcon]

I think they also have almost exclusively been collected around Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, which has a high logistical cost of getting divers in and the fish out. Along with the limited number of qualified divers who can go that deep, and it being the poster holly grail fish for the hobby the past almost 50 years keeps the cost high. If you are actually as you say “serious” about getting one you should look into financing and logistics to set up a collection trip. The costs are similar to buying one “retail” To send an expedition to collect your own. That’s often how private collectors get them. Pay for the trip for a collector.

 

[pcon]

From the aformentioned public aquarium, only saw 2 on public display.

 

[mattzang]

that sucks if they lost one lol

 

[pcon]

that sucks if they lost one lol

I wanted to ask one of the aquarists but they seemed too busy. I would hope they perhaps just kept one in the back for aggression or something of that sort. Incredibly tiny. The presumed female was perhaps the size of an American quarter, and the presumed male a half dollar coin.

 

[awwinterfall]

Might as well go on a 2 week vacation and collect. Then, resell in the states to make a profit.
Not sure how much paper work will cost for bringing fish back.

 

[pcon]

Might as well go on a 2 week vacation and collect. Then, resell in the states to make a profit.
Not sure how much paper work will cost for bringing fish back.

Yeah if you have the skills to deep water dive down to the 400ft+ depths they live at, and the technical know how and equipment to decompress them properly, you should.