24/01/2025
An Exclusive Look at a Rare Deep Angel. When it comes to rare marine treasures, few can rival the allure of the Abei Angelfish. We had the privilege of quarantining one of these rare beauties before, but we'll be honest — we didn’t quite nail the process. We rushed it into a busy tank. This time, we were better prepared.Finally, we have two of these elusive beauties gracing our collection, and we’re thrilled to share the story behind their collection. These stunners have been in our care for the last 10 months. They are the only natural pair offered for sale in Australia, and their journey to our tank is nothing short of extraordinary.While only a handful of these rare beauties have been snagged from the wild before, In Australia, not many have dared to take on the herculean task of acclimating and keeping them. It’s a mission for the bold, requiring patience, skill, confidence and a deep respect for their unique needs.We spoke with our collector, Tim Bennett, to hear firsthand about his dive for these rare gems. Tim is one of the few divers in Australia that does deep rebreather dives commercially. The good news is, he’s not about to retire anytime soon. Here's what he had to say:“The journey to the collection location takes us 8 days, with 16hrs travel each way. Visibility remains perfect all the way down, so even at depth, it feels very comfortable. It only took me 10 minutes to reach depths of 142 meters, with temperature dropping from a warm 28 degrees, down to 23 degrees. Once i’m there, I only have an 8-minute window to collect before I have to begin my very long ascent back to the top, which eventuates to a total runtime of 203 minutes. With the reduced light, a torch is essential to see details of the fish. It is like being outside on a clear full moon night. It’s really quite beatiful to go from bright sunlight, to soft and gloomy, and back again. Every one of these dives requires intense focus, effort and concentration. Despite the difficulty and the risks involved in diving so far down, the clarity of water at those depths is surreal. If I’m at the right place at the right time, I get the opportunity to collect rare fish species like prognathodes geminus, bodianus masudai, odontanthias borbs and wasi, chromis circumaurea. With years of experience and patience, it’s alway a blessing to collect an Abei, let alone two, so each dive is rewarding. Once collected, the process for resurfacing is just as important. I had to deflate their swim bladders twice, with a fine hyperdermic needle during the ascent - first at 70 meters, then again at 16 meters. The final step involved an overnight stop at 6 meters to ensure their smooth transition to shallower waters. One deep dive a day is plenty but sometimes I’m pumped to have a night shallow dive as well for certain night species. I think it will be a long while before I hang up those masks.”The Post-Dive ProcessOnce retrieved from the ocean’s depths, the Abei Angelfish begin a delicate acclimatization process. To ease the transition, they’re kept in darkness, with light gradually introduced over several days. By the time these dazzling beauties landed in our care, they were already on a diet of frozen food and had been acclimated to some extent. But the real work was just beginning for us. Top of mind were Ben Boone’s words, “Slow it down”, before we started anything. It was important to ensure the Abeis had a smooth transition. Quarantining them via the Tank Transfer Method was our preferred choice. Our priority was also giving them the once-over for health issues.During the TTM process, we covered their holding buckets to control light exposure and gradually ease them into their new environment over the 12-day quarantine period.Next came the mission to get them hooked on prepared pellets. This meant diving into a smorgasbord of seafood, experimenting with different options, and spending countless hours observing their reactions to see what really got their appetites going.Once TTM was done, We kicked feeding into overdrive — up to 10 meals a day — mixing small pellets into their seafood and training them to embrace this new diet. After three weeks of patience, persistence, and a whole lot of pellet persuasion, they finally made the switch.Post quarantine, one of the Abei Angels developed a small lesion/growth . Acting quickly, we incorporated antibiotics into their feeding regime. The lesion healed over a few weeks - we were only able to achieve that because they ate prepared food.Finally, we had to tackle the challenge of easing them into a bright, bustling display tank with other aggressive feeders. These dwarf angels come from a tranquil underwater world, so playing social coordinator as they meet their new finned roommates was critical. To help with this, we performed a full rescape of our tank to give them the best chance of settling in. Having plenty of hiding spots was important. We introduced them first with a few smaller fish and other small angels. Then over time, increased the number of fish in the tank (and size of fish). By the end of week 6 in our care, they were established tank residents. Fast forward 10 months later, these stunning beauties are healthy, feeding well, and mingling effortlessly with the diverse marine life in our display tank. Their journey has been remarkable, and we are honored to provide them with a safe and nurturing home.Photos don’t do these beauties justice. But under the perfect light, their yellow belly is undeniably gold, something that reassures us their worth. Caring and nurturing our marine buddies, especially rare gems like the Abei, isn’t about making a quick buck. We take responsibility for that care. We make sure they are not just tank ready for their new homes but eating and disease free so no hard earned money is wasted. Note: Our live stock guarantee for RARE fish involves us keeping the fish 3-4 weeks post TTM (so a minimum of 5-6 weeks in our care) before they are shipped. In this case, we’ve had the Abei for more than 30 weeks 🫶The journey of these rare beauties are a testimony of the dedication, skill, and care our industry goes though to bring a piece of the deep sea into your world.When you’re next In Brisbane, you don’t need to decompress to see this beauty. Come along to AnythingQT. Word of caution, once you experience this fish’s beauty in our display tank, you may desire fish more then coral. With that, we leave you with a short video of the elusive pair. Thank you Bennett and Marine.
