🏆 The Most Expensive Aquarium Fish

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🐉 1. Platinum Arowana (Freshwater)

• 💰 Price: $300,000 – $400,000 per fish.
• 🎨 Appearance: Pure metallic white-silver body with no blemishes.
• 🌟 Why so expensive:
  • Incredibly rare genetic mutation.
  • Considered a feng shui wealth symbol → believed to attract fortune and success.
  • Each legal specimen is microchipped for authenticity (since wild Asian Arowanas are endangered).
• 🏆 Most expensive aquarium fish ever sold in the freshwater hobby.

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🎏 2. Koi Carp (Show-Grade Nishikigoi) (Pond fish, but aquarium-related)

• 💰 Price: $10,000 – $2,200,000 (record sale in Japan).
• 🎨 Appearance: Bright, symmetrical color patterns (red, white, yellow, black).
• 🌟 Why so expensive:
  • Judges look at bloodline, skin quality, and perfect patterns.
  • The world record: A female Koi named S Legend was sold for $1.8 million USD at auction in Hiroshima, Japan (2017).
• 🏯 Symbol of prosperity, perseverance, and wealth in Asian cultures.

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🐠 3. Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) (Marine)

• 💰 Price: $20,000 – $30,000.
• 🎨 Appearance: Vibrant candy-cane red-and-white stripes.
• 🌟 Why so expensive:
  • Only found in deep reefs near Rarotonga, Cook Islands (~300+ feet deep).
  • Extremely difficult to collect → very few specimens in captivity worldwide.
  • One was displayed at the Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii and considered priceless.

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🌸 4. Freshwater Polka Dot Stingray (Potamotrygon leopoldi)

• 💰 Price: $1,500 – $100,000+ depending on morph.
• 🎨 Appearance: Jet black body with perfectly round, bright white polka dots.
• 🌟 Why so expensive:
  • Native to the Xingu River in Brazil (restricted export).
  • Selective breeding produced rare albino or unusual patterned variants worth tens of thousands.
• ⚠️ Needs massive aquariums → usually owned by advanced collectors.

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🐟 5. Masked Angelfish (Genicanthus personatus) (Marine)

• 💰 Price: $15,000 – $20,000.
• 🎨 Appearance: Striking white body with black mask over the face.
• 🌟 Why so expensive:
  • Native to deep waters of Hawaii.
  • Rarely collected because divers must go extremely deep.
  • Seen as a “holy grail” fish for marine hobbyists.

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🥇 Absolute Winners

• Most expensive freshwater fish:
  🐉 Platinum Arowana → up to $400,000.
• Most expensive pond fish:
  🎏 Show Koi (S Legend) → sold for $1.8M–$2.2M.
• Most expensive marine aquarium fish:
  🐠 Peppermint Angelfish → ~$30,000.

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✨ Summary:

• 🐉 Platinum Arowana → Aquarium king of price.
• 🎏 Koi Carp → Record-holder in ponds (millions).
• 🐠 Peppermint & Masked Angelfish → Marine luxury icons.
• 🌸 Polka Dot Stingray → Exotic freshwater gem.