My LAST crazy Score in a long while - RCT Captive Bred Resplendent/Argi Hybrid

[WayneL333]

I've had the most spectacularest, bestest, awesomest day in my reefing life today. First I wanted to thank Nui at Tong's in Fountain Valley for facilitating this purchase.

I was invited to go to Quality Marine today to pick out my hybrid angel and surprisingly Frank from RCT, the only man to have successfully captive breed pygmy angel fish, was visiting QM for the first time too. He actually hand picked my angel fish for me. It was such an honor and privilege to meet Frank.

And before anyone says it, I know this fish looks very similar to much cheaper flamebacks and other Centropyge species. But the fact that Frank at RCT was able to successfully captive breed the hybrid of a Resplendans and Argi, two Centropyge that would have never bred in the wild because of geographical distances is simply amazing. In addition, Quality Marine and Live Aquaria have both committed to give the majority of the proceeds from the sale of this clutch back to Frank to fund his research. I am just happy to be a cog in this entire process in the hopes that his research will lead to more amazing success stories for our hobby. Anyway, back to today...

Lonnie from QM also generously took the time to give me a tour of the entire facility...including the infamous back room! I've detailed my visit and impressions on this thread in the Reef fish Forum:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20041995&posted=1#post20041995

Here are some pictures from today including a goofy picture of a star-struck me:

So I won't be posting these types of threads for a long while. My wife has threatened me with something much worse than divorce(not divorcing me!) if I spend anymore money on ANYTHING for the next decade. There's only one more fish I'm willing to risk my life on, but I'm in no rush to get it....

 

[wishntoboutside]

Very nice. I bet that smile on your face will last for a long time. Or until the credit card bill arives. Congrads on obtaining the impossible! Thanks for sharring.

 

[acesq]

Wow! Nice final addition (for now) to an amazing collection. That's what I call a hat trick. Good luck with with them all.

 

[coral acquisition]

looks awesome, how big do they get and are they reef safe?

 

[teckt]

Very cool story Wayne. I'm sure you were like a kid in a giant candy store walking around quality. Congrats on your new beautiful addition and many blessings on your new fishes health for years to come!

 

[solitude127]

Congrats on the fish. I'd love to see your full fish list.

 

[bullitr]

Its even rarer than masked angelfish.
This is awesome two of my favorite animals are being crossbreed
Macaw and angelfish

Great pick up Wayne !

 

[maikoa02]

Wow that is an amazing experience! Your wife is definitely a keeper since you were able to tell her the how much you spent! I'm happy for you and defintely keep us posted on how well the new pets (investments) do.

 

[oigimsar]

Really cool. Congrats, Wayne! Thanks again for sharing.

 

[devmasa]

Congrats ! and thanks for sharing !
The colors on the hybrid look great.
..btw the photo of that black widow fish you posted is very interesting.
does that fish look anything like the black ghost knife fish popular with the FW hobbyists ?

 

[WayneL333]

looks awesome, how big do they get and are they reef safe?

It won't get much bigger than it is now. They're one of the smallest pigmy angel fish. It's a crap shoot with the wild ones, but the captive bred ones are much safe since they never have a chance to taste corals during their rearing.

Congrats ! and thanks for sharing !
The colors on the hybrid look great.
..btw the photo of that black widow fish you posted is very interesting.
does that fish look anything like the black ghost knife fish popular with the FW hobbyists ?

It kind of does. It looks more like a FW electric catfish to me. It's definitely unique looking. They had a yellow Scopas Tang with a white streak down it's side and a hybrid Achilles and Whitecheek tang in the back room too. Crazy looking!

Thanks everyone else for you kind words. I'll update with pics soon.

 

[WayneL333]

Wow that is an amazing experience! Your wife is definitely a keeper since you were able to tell her the how much you spent! I'm happy for you and defintely keep us posted on how well the new pets (investments) do.

Are you kidding?!? Heck no I didn't tell her! She just assumes I spent a lot, but I don't ask her how much she spends on her shoes and bags. We have a don't ask/don't tell policy in our house

 

[BeanMachine]

Hey Wayne I'm curious what size the femininus is?

Really cool story, awesome little angel. I saw the captive bred flame at RAP last year. It was really tiny. Have a chance to see that one?

 

[WayneL333]

Hey Wayne I'm curious what size the femininus is?

Really cool story, awesome little angel. I saw the captive bred flame at RAP last year. It was really tiny. Have a chance to see that one?

The Femininus is on the smaller side. I would guesstimate 2.5-3". Dan said there was a few at QM, but this one definitely looked the healthiest and ate the best. I was also hoping that since it was younger, it might not have been subjected to the internal parasites yet compared to the older ones.

I didn't see them at RAP but I heard about it. I hope they make it out to MAX and/or RAP this year. I'd love to grab a pair of those too! The true Hawaiian Flames at QM looked awesome. Their orange was so vibrant.

 

[lowbudget]

congrats on the new fish

 

[isseym328]

Sweet fish Wayne. I love all the rare specimens you picked up recently. Care to list all of them?

 

[marfuerte]

very cool, congrats. And props to you for being a "cog" in the captive breeding machine.

 

[scrapz]

very nice pickup!