There is no better news in the saltwater fishkeeping hobby than a story of successfully bred and raised ornamental fish. Especially when that fish is a highly desired and difficult to keep species. The team at Biota Aquariums managed to do something extraordinary- they brought with them the world’s first captive bred Borbonius Anthias (Odontanthias borbonius) for the MACNA 2017 show in New Orleans.

The crown jewel of all anthias, the elusive Odontanthias borbonius is one special fish. One of the very few deepwater anthias species, Borbonius anthias lives at depths between 300-1000 ft. That means it is not only hard to capture, but also extremely difficult to adapt to a captive environment. Tom Bowling and Kevin Gaines, Biota Aquariums co-founders, shared with us the incredible journey that led them to succeed in breeding Borbonius. Let’s just say it involved deepwater dives, a decompression chamber (for the fish that is), and a hint of good old luck. There’s an excellent article in reef2rainforest.com blog post that details this gargantuan effort to bring Odontanthias borbonius to the masses, I highly recommend reading it.

The captive bred Borbonius anthias that were swimming in Biota Aquariums’ display tank looked amazing- extremely healthy and active, unlike some I’ve seen in local fish stores’ aquariums.  It’s a truly remarkable achievement that deserves recognition, and a reefs.com “Best of Show” was a no-brainer here. We proudly presented it to Kevin and Tom and we wish them all the best in future attempts to bring even more captive breed species to the market.

I can’t end this post before I mentioned another fish Biota Aquariums breeds in captivity that was on display on the MACNA floor in New Orleans- the mesmerizing Coral Beauty Angelfish (Centropyge bispinosa). I’ve seen those little angels before, but man, those offered by Biota Aquariums were beautiful! Just look at it:

Visit https://biotaaquariums.com for more information and to purchase captive breed fish and aquacultured corals directly from the company.