Reef Metabolics

Ross was so fascinated by the Indo-Pacific surgeonfish after keeping a tank at home for 15 years that he decided to set up an aquatic business in Quedgeley in 2010, calling it BLUETANGMARINE. Ross, who has a passion for all things marine, was recently operating from the same premises however in 2020 the opportunity arose to move to new larger premises to expand his wholesale business and own brand of bluetang products at the new HQ located on the edge of the River Severn”.

The Blue Tang is still a big part of his life. “He’s 16 now and enormous,” said Ross. “He’s had to have several new tanks as he grew, in order to accommodate him properly.”  The fish is very distinctive with a royal blue circular body which is flat like a pancake, a pointed snout-like nose and a yellow tail. Dory in the film ‘Finding Nemo’ is a regal blue tang.

When Ross started selling coral, he imported it from various places in Australia, mostly sourced from the Great Barrier Reef. Corals are live marine invertebrates which are popular with saltwater fishkeeping hobbyists.  But after a while Ross became concerned that the coral he was buying was being taken from the wild.  He also stated that in recent years the Great Barrier Reef has suffered mass bleaching events, so every effort needs to be taken to help the reef recover.

“It wasn’t very Eco-friendly,” he said. “I was unhappy that I was depleting natural resources. So I did some research and decided to propagate the coral right here in the UK”.  Now Ross runs large acropora-dominated tanks to propagate Acropora in the UK for his numerous customers, grown on a range of products Ross developed called “Reef Metabolics” creating tank hardened generations of Acropora adjusted to tank life.

As his business relationship with his suppliers expands, Blue Life USA, were looking for a UK wholesaler for their own product range.  So, in 2018 Ross took the opportunity to distribute this brand too. In 2021, BLUETANG took the opportunity to work with Aquarium Plants from the USA to offer the CarbonDoser exclusively to the UK – the revolutionary Electronic CO2 regulator for Calcium Reactors and Planted Tanks.

While the business is going from strength to strength and Ross is happy he is helping provide a sustainable future that is not depleting the ecosystem, the Blue Tang fish that started it all is also doing well – and looks as if he will continue to inspire Ross for a good few years to come.