Latezonatus

colby

In Memoriam
Ok so for me as I am sure with many of you, Latezonatus are my ultimate fantasy clownfish...

My lfs manager said he may be able to get me some Latz this summer, however I am not comfortable that I have the knowledge to try them yet..

Now I have spent hours searching through and reading every single post I could find on Latezonatus and the general concensus seems to be that they are hard/ close to impossible to keep alive due to diseases from shipping induced stress.

I also have noticed that most people who have had these guys and are sucessful getting them through acclimation later lose them to blindness or some other form of bacterial infection.

So I have had some ideas and I would like to start a thread about Latezonatus in an attepmt to come up with a general guideline fro keeping these guys and hopefully some solutions to the problems.

I was thinking in preperation for a pair of Latz I would like to try a different route than a bare bottom QT tank...

While I realize the necessity of a clean QT tank available in case it is necessary to medicate away from inverts, I have found that more often than not the best way to combat stress and to some small part disease is to place a fish in a clean, quiet natural- like tank.

In this case from what I gather an appropriate tank would be a largish lagoon like tank with a good amount of open sand with a few large "piles of LR." According to what I have read (I believe Mr Blue said it): while collecting Mcc's he and his friend saw some LAT's down deeper in the lagoon chilling in some LTA's, he also noted the temp range in the lagoon according to locals ranged annually between 64 and 80-something degrees farenheight. Now I would assum (got to be careful here though...:rolleye1: ) that the temp in the lower part of the lagoon would experience small temperature swings. So at any rate we can assume that a temp of around 73-75 may be the ticket to happy Latz (or part of it anyway...).

Herein lies one of the main problems for my rational...my success with anemones has been based upon the "facts" that parameters to include: 80 degree farenheight water, bright light and appropriate substrate are the keys to success with these touchy inverts...so how can I justify putting some LTA's in a cooler tank lit by primarily Actinic lights? Is it a geographical variation or will "all' LTA's and BTA"s do well in this temp water?

So to finish off my vision for this tank is a 40 gallon breeder with an open sandy substrate, a cove of LR and tons of large LTA's filling the tank to make the Latz feel right at home...

So that is my idea, a comfy natural like tank for the Latz with the theory that a stress free environment (as opposed to a bare 10g with a big scary looking rod and a weird looking clay something or other...:eek1: ) will ultimately win over the elusive Latz..

Clearly my plan is lacking many important details, so it is my hope than any and everybody will shre their experiences, knowledge and opinions.

Sorry so long...

Colby
 
Lats can be found much further north than Mccullochis, and are usually collected off the southern part of the coast of Queensland. They are not at all rare, but are usually not collected because they are not worth the hassle - collecting licenses in Australia are for a certain number of fish per season, and collectors would rather catch a fish that wholesales for $100 than a clown that wholesales for $5-10 (which is still a LOT for a clown).

By the way, I wouldn't trust your LFS if he says he can get Lats in the U.S. in summer. That is the height of winter in Australia and collectors normally don't get much time in the water due to bad waves and poor visibility. I have only seen Lats in the U.S. import channels in the winter (in the Northern Hemisphere). Typically they show up in Southern California in December.

A few suggestions:

1) Try to get juveniles if at all possible. If you get adults, they will be very tricky to acclimate to a small captive environment. (similar to an adult A. chrysopterus in difficulty)

2) Watch for brook.

3) Net your tank. I lost more lats to jumping than any other cause.

4) Try to get them to hand feed. If I can get a fish to hand feed they think of me as "food" and not as "danger". Otherwise you can have some skittish clowns.

Amphiprion%20latezonatus%20collage.jpg


fatlat.jpg
 
Hmm..Bonsai Nut, I think I failed to understand what you said..

Did you say that they are not collected frequently due to the fact that they are not worht it? I am slighly confused as I have yet to see one advertised for any less than around $80. So are you saying they sell to wholesalers for only $5-$10? Because I know that CB Ocellaris for example will sell to wholesalers for $4, and it seems to me that Latz would be worth a TON more...


Colby
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7505592#post7505592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by colby
Did you say that they are not collected frequently due to the fact that they are not worht it?

Yes. They are often not collected because they are not worth it. Lats only come from Australia. Australia has VERY strict wildlife export licenses. There are only a limited number of licenses per each geographic area, and each license is only for a certain number of fish. So if you are a collector, would you rather catch a Latezonatus clown? Or a Personifier angel? (By the way I am not making this up - I have this on first hand account from an Australian collector himself) Fortunately clowns are very easy to catch, so collectors snag them sometimes just because they don't take much time.

I was using the term "wholesale" to mean what a collector can get for a fish. Collector sells a Lat to an Australian exporter for $5. Exporter sells to a U.S. importer for $10. Importer sells to a U.S. wholesaler for $20. Wholesaler sells to a retailer for $40. Retailer sells to you for $80. Play with the numbers a bit but you get my point. (by the way wild-caught clowns in the Phillipines sell to exporters for less than $.50)

Compare to a CB clown in the U.S. C.B. clown sells for $4 to wholesaler. Wholesaler sells to retailer for $8. Retailer sells to public for $16.
 
Last edited:
Ahhh...thank you for enlightening me, now that you explain it it does make sense.

Does anyone else have any experience or advice they would like to share? Particularly regarding the temp. and the enemones tolertion for it.

Thanx,
Colby
 
For what it's worth - I have not had any trouble keeping lats in 80 degree water. The ocean temp off Brisbane runs from 70 degrees in the winter to 79 in the summer.
 
Ok thanx, so then how long have you kept a single Latz? Have you kept any for several years? I nly ask because I know that Pots for exapmle may live in 80 degree farenheight water for a while but sooner than later the heat gets to them and shortens their lifespan. Also can you by any chance tell me deifinitively what species of anemone the Latz associate with in the wild and how will LTA'S and BTA'S fare in 70 degree water? Thanx.

Colby
 
Greg love the pics i never get enough at looking at them.


im working on latz as well here in ny. and i havent seen any come in for about 2 years now. was the last i saw and i went home to get check book came back and it was gone. guess i was too slow but im searching slowly myself.
 
I have kept Latz at 80 - 82 from time to time, I now have 2 pairs of Latz a nice mature pair and a small juvi pair. I am keeping the adult pair at 80 right now and I just raised the juvi pair from 75 to 77 and they will end up at 80.
I use MH lights on their tanks, I only had one eye trouble with the larger female when I just got her she had Popeye for about 2 weeks then it went away on it's own. Other than that they have been no trouble.
 
I bought a pair of latz out of a tank and the former owner stated how well they were so I met them at a store with fish in bucket. can't tell health in a bucket thats for sure. I get home and the female is mostly blind since the food goes in front of her mouth and she goes after it but just misses. male is eating fine but not looking so good. tried formaline and bacterial food and the eyes cleared up and they acted fine for a day then sick for a day for a few weeks then the female turned quickly for the worse. I still have the male which is living happily with my allardi in 3 rose anemones. who knows what will happen with the 2. I do not think the male is totally healthy yet but I am hoping for the best.
just goes to show how 10 years of experience means nothing when you see something you really want. you get blind and stupid.
ricordia who bought the little red house?
 
Well, basically your best chanc of obtaining a pair involves three factors:

1. Who you know... (It is really helpful to have a good relationship with a retailer or even better a wholesaler...)

2. Money, they are expensive.

3. Finally and most importantl: "LUCK"...plain and simple luck. You can expect them to show up more around winter though... anyway best of luck trying to get some.

Colby
 
vaporize I have been trying for 4 years straight to get them and just got them. that is why I ended up like I did though. get into a good relationship as stated with a local retailer. make sure everyone knows you are looking for them. ask everytime you see them. well maybe I didn't ask everytime but I mentioned it alot. repetition is the key to memory. of course you know you are in competition with the rest of us so good luck ;)
 
I guess this is not as highly sought after as the black ocellaris, otherwise I would think somebody would have go after them. Like ORA, TMC and the like...

What's the street price on these?
 
Back
Top