Over the past five years, many of you have seen batches of variably sized captive-bred Blue Hippo Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus) available for sale through The Biota Group and our partners. We initially launched our first success at MACNA Milwaukee, and since then, there have been sporadic batches hitting our availability lists globally. We have been heavily investing in this species because of the demand, popularity, and need in the aquarium hobby and public aquariums.
Currently, many Blue Hippo Tangs offered in the aquarium trade are either wild collected from a few key areas around the world or sourced through ranching efforts (collecting post-larval or juvenile individuals). Unfortunately, these methods present challenges, including high stress upon arrival, shipping difficulties, seasonal availability, frequent disease outbreaks, difficulty acclimating to home aquariums, and feeding difficulties.
Blue Hippo Tangs have a reputation within the aquarium industry for being particularly prone to injuries and diseases such as ich (Cryptocaryon), black ich (Turbellaria Infection), and internal parasites. In the wild, they often hide in branching corals, making them challenging to capture without damaging the coral or injuring the fish. Additionally, as noted in Vincent Chalias’s article in CORAL Magazine (“Is the Blue Tang a Dumb Fish?“, Feb 23, 2023), they are often referred to as “dumb” fish, which makes them vulnerable to injury during capture or within holding tanks where they try to find hiding places that scratch or cut them. These injuries make them very vulnerable to parasites and bacterial infections.
Our captive-bred Blue Hippo Tangs have been reported to acclimate more easily to various aquarium types like reef tanks, fish-only setups, grow-out tanks, and frag systems. Hobbyists worldwide have had great success with our initial batches, citing their ease of acclimation and overall hardiness compared to wild-caught specimens.
Since the release of movies like Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, there has been a consistent, significant increase in demand for Blue Hippo Tangs, which encouraged many aquaculture companies globally to scramble to meet the demand. Following the release of these movies, many of us recall articles and efforts being made to prevent new hobbyists from buying this species, given their difficulty compared to clownfish. With Biota’s efforts, Hippo Tangs are available to all aquarists, and even beginner hobbyists with large enough aquariums can achieve long-term success with this species.
We would especially like to applaud the efforts of the Hawaii Pacific University – Oceanic Institute and our Biota Hawaii facility for “getting us over the hump” through scientific breakthroughs, larval rearing efforts, and keeping the Blue Tang at the forefront of our efforts to continue commercializing species that are important to the aquarium hobby.
Our captive-bred Blue Tang is now available for purchase directly on our website and through our vendors globally. If you have any questions about this species or any of the other species we are actively breeding, please don’t hesitate to contact our team at support@thebiotagroup.com.
###
