My Sea dragon.
- Thread starter twicebirth
- Start date
It was on a different website that I can't link. They guy had a Clarion Angel, and other ultra rare angelfish.
BTW, I have family in Thailand and I generally make a yearly trip over there to visit and was wondering if you recommend stores that specialize in ultra rare fish. I have only seen saltwater livestock at the weekend market when I have been there.
BTW, I have family in Thailand and I generally make a yearly trip over there to visit and was wondering if you recommend stores that specialize in ultra rare fish. I have only seen saltwater livestock at the weekend market when I have been there.
- Location
- Tenafly, NJ
From what I've read pregnant males are harvested and the juvis are grown out...There might be some progress with actual breeding programs though, with a large enough system...
joe
joe
If this is the case then then there must not be very many making it long enough to make it to the hobbyist because these pics are the first I have seen of sea dragons in home aquaria. Given the large influx of AUS corals and fish that have become readily avail. in the US I would imagine a US hobbyist could have gotten their hands on some larval raised dragons.
- Location
- Tenafly, NJ
Do you know how much these cost? I really don't think the average hobbyist is willing to pay over $12,000 for one animal. :roll:
joetbs":bngck0hr said:
That was how much they were before when 1 or 2 WC adults were being collected every year. If someone is in fact larval rearing them then I would imagine we would see some much cheaper specimans hitting the US because there are some hard core rare fish collectors who would also pay a few thousand dollars to own one or two of these guys.
- Location
- Tenafly, NJ
Yeah,
That was the wholesale cost. This was about 2 years ago, and the same practices are still in effect. Leafy Sea Dragons are much less expensive, but still have no place being imported on a regular basis.
If they went down in price, it will likely only be a couple thousand dollars, so how do you expect someone to import these and jump through all the CITES hoops and not make a profit?? You need to hold & quarantine them in an established coldwater system. It's not like a Dragon Moray that will acclimate right over to a 75 degree system. And hopefully they'll never become affordable enough to be treated like Shaw's Cowfish & Flame Boxfish that are often cruelly mishandled. It's bad enough what normal Hippocampus go through to get into a hobbyist's tank.
That was the wholesale cost. This was about 2 years ago, and the same practices are still in effect. Leafy Sea Dragons are much less expensive, but still have no place being imported on a regular basis.
If they went down in price, it will likely only be a couple thousand dollars, so how do you expect someone to import these and jump through all the CITES hoops and not make a profit?? You need to hold & quarantine them in an established coldwater system. It's not like a Dragon Moray that will acclimate right over to a 75 degree system. And hopefully they'll never become affordable enough to be treated like Shaw's Cowfish & Flame Boxfish that are often cruelly mishandled. It's bad enough what normal Hippocampus go through to get into a hobbyist's tank.
The "cost" of these animals needs to include mortality rate (buy two fish and have one die doubles the "cost" of the remaining one) as well as husbandry needs, chillers, etc. - weedies typically don't thrive on just frozen mysids, if they go off feed, you'll need live mysids to get them jump started again.
Three years ago leafies were $2000 USD FOB Australia and weedies were running around $600. Leafies went WAY up this year but I did see some weedies for sale by a dealer in Japan for around $600 USD.
Here is an excerpt from my "Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques" book:
Weedy seadragon (Common seadragon)
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Maximum size: 45 cm
Habitat: kelp beds, open sand areas
Range: South Australia
Only a few captive raised animals have been available. This species requires a dedicated, chilled aquarium and a consistent supply of live mysid shrimp (Although many specimens can eventually be trained to feed on frozen mysids. They are prone to an Uronema-like protozoan disease as well as bacterial infections. Combine this with a dealer cost of over $600, and you have a fish that really only belongs in public aquariums. The even more fantastic looking leafy seadragon is four times more expensive.
Jay Hemdal
Three years ago leafies were $2000 USD FOB Australia and weedies were running around $600. Leafies went WAY up this year but I did see some weedies for sale by a dealer in Japan for around $600 USD.
Here is an excerpt from my "Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques" book:
Weedy seadragon (Common seadragon)
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Maximum size: 45 cm
Habitat: kelp beds, open sand areas
Range: South Australia
Only a few captive raised animals have been available. This species requires a dedicated, chilled aquarium and a consistent supply of live mysid shrimp (Although many specimens can eventually be trained to feed on frozen mysids. They are prone to an Uronema-like protozoan disease as well as bacterial infections. Combine this with a dealer cost of over $600, and you have a fish that really only belongs in public aquariums. The even more fantastic looking leafy seadragon is four times more expensive.
Jay Hemdal
Sea dragons have been breed in captivity here in the US since 2002, starting at the Long Beach Aquarium http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ragon.html
In the 5 years after the initial breeding numerous other successful attempts were made at other locations including the Tennessee aquarium, Dallas world aquarium, and Scripps institute. Currently with the successful breeding programs and the knowledge shared between various aquariums and institutes the weedy and leafy sea dragons can be found captive raised in almost every aquarium in the United States.
The Dallas aquarium and other aquariums have also had success breeding Haliichthys taeniophorus (ribboned seahorses) which are also very rare and beautiful.
I personally have seen both weedy and leafy sea dragons imported into Los Angeles (legally) in the last few years and as recently as 6 months ago. Weedy seem to be more common for importation and the price is significantly lower than in previous years (around $700 USD)
-Erik
In the 5 years after the initial breeding numerous other successful attempts were made at other locations including the Tennessee aquarium, Dallas world aquarium, and Scripps institute. Currently with the successful breeding programs and the knowledge shared between various aquariums and institutes the weedy and leafy sea dragons can be found captive raised in almost every aquarium in the United States.
The Dallas aquarium and other aquariums have also had success breeding Haliichthys taeniophorus (ribboned seahorses) which are also very rare and beautiful.
I personally have seen both weedy and leafy sea dragons imported into Los Angeles (legally) in the last few years and as recently as 6 months ago. Weedy seem to be more common for importation and the price is significantly lower than in previous years (around $700 USD)
-Erik
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