Difficulty Finding Tangs & Other Fish

[JRA95SHO]

I am having a heck of a time finding a few fish, mostly Tangs. I was over in New Orleans this past week for work and stopped by the Coral Connection. The guy there told me they had issues in getting some due to political unrest or some situation over in the Indo-Pacific areas. Checking online seems to prove true as well. All the online fish stores seem to be out of everything---seasonal shipments, not high demand, ???. I know I've received lectures on tangs, at least constructive criticm here. (...but on RC the Tang Police came after me full force and shut me down quick, so I don't go there anymore) Anyway, I'm trying to limit myself to 2-3 in my tank. I already have a yellow one that's doing awesome, so that doesn't leave much room. If that doesn't cure my fix, I will have to add a 2nd tank when finances perit, or just upgrade my existing one later on.

This week, I'm in Chicago for work, so I'm hitting up some LFSs over here. I went to one last night and WOW, talk about the most expensive store I've ever been to. Here's an example: $80 for a standard size yellow tang, $120 for a powder blue tang. $25 for a blue? banded coral shrimp, etc. Needless to say I didn't buy anything to ship home. They had nothing that we don't already have around our home area. I figured they'd have some unusual, rare items being in a large city. I also cannot seem to find anyone that has a Midas Blenny in stock, which is something else I've been looking for. I am close to being finished stocking fish, but there are a few more I'd like to, at least, take a look at in person and SEE the fish in real life or at least consider.

Other fish that seem pretty cool that I'd like to at least see:

Lavender Tang - heard good things, never seen
Fowler's Tang -never seen
Bariene Tang - never seen
Vlamingi Tang (yes these require a monster tank, I know--saw some at the Gulfarium but another hard to find fish, apparently)
Dussumier Tang - never seen
Tennenti Tang - never seen
Bellus Angelfish - never seen

Any reason these can't be found? Yellows are easy to keep, blue hippos are popular because of their color and that kids movie, but since they're ich magnets, I figured they'd be one of those PITA fish. You also see powder blues, which are cool, but a PITA fish that's an ich magnet. Why don't you see these others?

[Fishfood]

Well one reason is the need for a large tank to house them. Not everone in the hobby has a 150, 180, 200 or larger tank for these tangs that like to swim. That limits the demand for them right there. Some is the availability to collect. Our lfs aren't going to bring in fish that won't sell. It cost them money to sit on something for a long time and then have it possibly die in the store. If you really know what fish you want your best bet is just to stop in at B&B or Progressive and have them order it for you. If they have decent suppliers they should be able to get you anything you want if its in season.

When I lived in pensacola I had the ability to see the fish lists from the one store and could just call up the owner and say hey this is on the list this week can you try to get me one. I doubt anyone at B&B or Progressive will allow you to see the list but I'm sure they will try to get you whatever fish you are looking for if their suppliers have them. Hell that eliminates shipping costs as they get it with their normal shipment and you can possibly pick it up before they even acclimate it into their system.

[JRA95SHO]

I've thought about having the store order me something. B&B said they would. I may call both them and Progressive and see who will be the cheapest. Most stores will do that as long as you pay up front, at least 50% usually.

[Buddy08]

serious note before you add any more fish jra... do you have your water levels in check? if not, dont add any more fish! if you have that itch to spend some money, you can just give it to me..i take cash, check, or credit

[JRA95SHO]

The tank has been doing great, and the water has improved. I'm still around the 20-ish ppm for nitrates, which I want to be lower. Salinity, calcium, alkanlinity are not bad. I keep an eye on those quite often since I don't have a calcium reactor. I find myself having to add buffer and calcium every week or two to get everything back in balance. Both the corals and fish are doing great. All the fish are very active, including the yellow tang. I had Andy come over about a week or so ago to do an "experienced person" check to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything. He said everything looked great, and we bumped up the calcium and added some buffer. I've also been cleaning out my skimmer cup every 2-3 days, and replacing the sock filters at least weekly now. I do water changes every 1 to 2 weeks. By doing that and adding the chateo algae in the sump, I think those things have helped tremendously.

I found another awesome website that has great prices and selections: www.bluestaraqua.com They're out of NYC and have the standard $30 shipping and free shipping on anything over $199. If anyone sees something they want, let me know. I'm thinking about putting in an order.

[Buddy08]

look into bluezoo

[JRA95SHO]

Looks like our local LFS's prices aren't so bad compared to elsewhere. I'm in Chicago this week on business, and I hit up 3 stores so far. Prices are outrageous here, over double what they should normally be. Yellow tangs go for $80 here; powder blue tangs $100-120, cleaner shrimp $30-40, etc. Wow!

1 of the stores I went to had a great selection. I finally got to see a large Atlantic blue tang in person; it was $100! They also had a lavender tang, which I'd never seen in person. The coral selection was great too; however, I don't see how folks in Chicago afford reef tanks unless they do their shopping online.

[jt3069]

BLUE ZOO HAS GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE
I ORDERED MY RANDALLS ANTHIAS FROM THEM, ALL LIVED AND WERE ICH FREE AND EATING FROZEN FOOD
FROM THE TIME I GOT THEM