Being pretty isolated down here in NZ we're a little out of the loop on this kinda thing. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Aquarium Glaser in Germany saying they had captive bred Altums available, and it got me wondering about the possibility of being able to import* some once my wallet has recovered from the 2000L tank build!
So, how commonly available are captive bred young Altum angels in your part of the world, and what sort of price do they usually go for? The reason I ask about captive bred instead of wild caught is A; the small size makes shipping more efficient and B; they are supposedly a lot hardier than the wild caught specimens, which is a good thing when being posted half way round the world.
*note, importing fish into New Zealand is an expensive and complicated process, it isn't just a case of ordering them and waiting for them to arrive. First you need an importer/quarantine facility willing to help, then you need to buy enough fish from where ever you're ordering to make the shipping and fixed quarantine costs worth while (otherwise they fast become very expensive fish), and once you've got all that sorted you need enough keen people to put up some cash to make the shipment happen. It isn't impossible, and such special orders have been done many times before with asian arowana and wild discus (over and above the regular imports of "standard" aquarium fish), but it certainly isn't easy...
So, how commonly available are captive bred young Altum angels in your part of the world, and what sort of price do they usually go for? The reason I ask about captive bred instead of wild caught is A; the small size makes shipping more efficient and B; they are supposedly a lot hardier than the wild caught specimens, which is a good thing when being posted half way round the world.
*note, importing fish into New Zealand is an expensive and complicated process, it isn't just a case of ordering them and waiting for them to arrive. First you need an importer/quarantine facility willing to help, then you need to buy enough fish from where ever you're ordering to make the shipping and fixed quarantine costs worth while (otherwise they fast become very expensive fish), and once you've got all that sorted you need enough keen people to put up some cash to make the shipment happen. It isn't impossible, and such special orders have been done many times before with asian arowana and wild discus (over and above the regular imports of "standard" aquarium fish), but it certainly isn't easy...
