Quality Marine Labs Successfully Breeds and Rears Zebrasoma xanthurum

Check out the amazing news from Quality Marine using Nutramar Foods!

Sustainability is a core value of Quality Marine. Continued advancements in aquaculture to augment sustainable wild collection is an integral part of the future of the aquarium trade and to the health of our oceans. We have been ardent supporters of aquaculture and mariculture efforts around the globe, a practice we intend to continue even while pushing the boundaries of aquaculture science here on site in our QM Labs Aquaculture facility.



Quality Marine is proud to announce that we have successfully aquacultured Purple Tangs! These fish were bred and reared in our state-of-the-art aquaculture hatchery in Los Angeles. These young Zebrasoma xanthurum have reached marketable size, are vigorously eating Nutramar foods and they will soon be available to our retail store partners.

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[Flame2hawk]

Awesome development for Quality Marine and more importantly for ocean and hobby sustainability! Thank you!

Was wondering whether QM has a cooperative arrangement or works with Biota?

 

[revhtree]

This is awesome!

 

[Biota_Marine]

Awesome development for Quality Marine and more importantly for ocean and hobby sustainability! Thank you!

Was wondering whether QM has a cooperative arrangement or works with Biota?

Unfortunately, we don't have any cooperative business with QM but many of the scientists who are part of the QM labs were previous students at the Oceanic Institute where we're breeding the yellow tang.

 

[Aspect]

Awesome! What is the biggest difference between these hatchery tanks used to breed Purple Tangs and the average residential hobbyist tank (Besides tank size), or rather what makes their hatchery state of the art? Super interesting stuff.

 

[i cant think]

I’m interested in whether this will raise the price for both CB and WC Xanthurum or lower the price for the CB. Or will we see a similar movement as we do with the yellows in how once CB ones came out you never hear about WC ones (Obviously I’m aware Hawaii changed this but we can still get WC ones in quantities from Indonesia - they aren’t endemic to Hawaii).

 

[Nutramar Foods]

Awesome development for Quality Marine and more importantly for ocean and hobby sustainability! Thank you!

Was wondering whether QM has a cooperative arrangement or works with Biota?

Hi @Flame2hawk- Thank you, and we are so proud of our team who work diligently to bring Aquacultured QM Lab Purple Tangs to market- this is a huge milestone for us here at Quality Marine. We are a wholesale only company supporting Pet Retailers across North America, and have no affiliation or cooperative arrangement with Biota.

 

[Nutramar Foods]

Awesome! What is the biggest difference between these hatchery tanks used to breed Purple Tangs and the average residential hobbyist tank (Besides tank size), or rather what makes their hatchery state of the art? Super interesting stuff.

Hi @Aspect- our QM Labs is a commercial hatchery and the equipment and rearing vessels differ greatly from the conventional home aquarium. The facility is designed to ensure maximum yield, while providing the best possible care for the animals.

 

[Nutramar Foods]

I’m interested in whether this will raise the price for both CB and WC Xanthurum or lower the price for the CB. Or will we see a similar movement as we do with the yellows in how once CB ones came out you never hear about WC ones (Obviously I’m aware Hawaii changed this but we can still get WC ones in quantities from Indonesia - they aren’t endemic to Hawaii).

Hi @i cant think- Many factors influence the price point of marine ornamental fishes, some of which include the cost of freight, cargo space, animal cost, seasonality, and the economics of supply and demand. On the ornamental aquaculture side, R&D, food production costs, overhead, and yield are all factors which influence price.

Quality Marine is wholesale only supporting retailers across North America. We do not set retail price points but the cost of our QM Labs Aquacultured Purple Tang are slightly more than their wild harvested counterparts.

 

[Weeb]

@Nutramar Foods
Welcome to R2R! Glad you're here.

Can we expect the 'artificially bred' Purple Tangs to be less robust as their comparable Yellows seem to be?

 

[Nutramar Foods]

@Nutramar Foods
Welcome to R2R! Glad you're here.

Can we expect the 'artificially bred' Purple Tangs to be less robust as their comparable Yellows seem to be?

Hi @Webb thank you for your question. I am happy to say that our QM Labs Aquacultured Purple Tangs go from our on-site aquaculture lab, directly to retail store partners across the country. The fish are fat and happy eating Nutramar marine foods with gusto. All of the feedback from our store partners has been incredibly positive!

 

[KrisReef]

How old and at what size are these captive bred tangs shipping out to lfs?

Are there any available around Los Angeles-San Diego area to see in person?
What food items are they eating? I have a few tangs and I’m excited to pick up some food for them from NutraMar to support the business.
sorry if I exceeded my question allowance.

 

[Nutramar Foods]

How old and at what size are these captive bred tangs shipping out to lfs?

Are there any available around Los Angeles-San Diego area to see in person?
What food items are they eating? I have a few tangs and I’m excited to pick up some food for them from NutraMar to support the business.
sorry if I exceeded my question allowance.

Hi @KrisReef thanks for your questions! Our purple tangs shipped out to retail stores between 1.5" - 2.25" and should be around 2.5-3" now! We are feeding our Nutramar Complete and Nutramar Algae & Color Boost shots to condition the tangs to prepared foods. We also feed TMC Gamma frozen foods throughout the day.

I am aware that Bob's Tropical Fish in LA purchased some of our aquacultured purple tangs, but I am not sure if they still have them in stock. If you are interested in purchasing one we recommend giving them a call to see if they have one available!