Look at what I saw on LiveAquaria today....

[Sailfin11]

I never thought that captive-bred and wild-caught yellow tangs would be the same price! If you were buying a yellow tang, which would you get?

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

The wild one looks slightly healthier but idk

 

[ca1ore]

Neither are WYSIWYG so photos are stock pictures and the latter is ‘on sale’, but your point is well made. Spread used to favor wild caught, now it’s much closer.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

Captive bred all day

 

[Bryknicks]

Captive bred hands down for same price. Just bad stock photo’s.

 

[OrionN]

That captive bred Yellow tang in the picture above is a lot smaller than the wild caught. This can be deduce from the larger ration of the eye to the head. Smaller is a big plus to me. I love to buy smaller fish.
Once that smaller Yellow tang get larger, the color will be just as good. There does not seem to be any deformities to me with that one picture. I would get the TR fish in this case for sure.

 

[User1]

Tank raised. Supports the effort and movement.

So far I have two tank raised or whatever it is called. Matted file fish and yellow assessor. The matted file fish came in super small at the size of a dime. The assessor was larger but in great shape. Interesting fish although I never see it.

But great price and I'd go with TR.

 

[EmdeReef]

captive bred for sure. I have one in my tank, arrived tiny and was almost still translucent. Apart from some more common arguments for captive bred fish - It’s really fun to watch a fish grow!

 

[Jesterrace]

Even though I probably will never have another YT, in the case where a given fish is the same price or just a few dollars more to me it's a no brainer to go captive bred.

 

[NorCal Reefer]

I would definitely go with the captive bred at the same price.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

I would wait for the price to come down yellow tang is a really common fish and usually go for 30 to 40 bucks tops. Idk why but within the last 6 months everything has gone threw the roof price wise

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Would you pick a wild caught wolf over a golden retriever? I’m in for a golden

there is a ton of manual labor that goes into getting these fish to the market. We should as hobbyists all be supporting captive bred efforts. I dream of a day when all or most marine aquarium fish are captive bred and getting wild caught fish is rarely needed. Hopefully the industry will continue to see advances and these discussions no longer needed. But for now, please support our hobby and it’s captive bred industry!

 

[Mical]

I would wait for the price to come down yellow tang is a really common fish and usually go for 30 to 40 bucks tops. Idk why but within the last 6 months everything has gone threw the roof price wise

Because Hawaii put a ban on capturing tangs .

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

I thought it was just liveaquaria most all there fish went up I see other vendors still selling them normal priced

 

[bluprntguy]

I’d agree with other posters that the captive bred one is probably much smaller. When I got my captive bred mandarin she came in one of the cups you pee in at the doctors office and was the size of my pinkie finger. It’s been fun to watch her grow up and get fat. I’d still do captive bred.

 

[Reef Raff]

I never thought that captive-bred and wild-caught yellow tangs would be the same price! If you were buying a yellow tang, which would you get?

Captive bred all day, I recently purchased one about a little over month ago and he is my favorite fish in the tank. Great personality, ate anything I feed immediately and almost tame enough to hand feed (working on it). He’s sleeping right now or I’d attach a pic

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

captive bred for sure. I have one in my tank, arrived tiny and was almost still translucent. Apart from some more common arguments for captive bred fish - It’s really fun to watch a fish grow!

Aww he’s cute

 

[Redleg]

No question. I'd get the tank raised at $75 so the same price is a bonus. But if the option was tank raised or wild from my Lfs , then wild caught.

 

[dstevenstn]

My Yellow Tang was Captive bred, and has been a great addition. I got it a very reasonable price too. So that gets my vote

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

With the advances in technology and everything else that captive bread should be cheaper. As a business owner that's just how it is.