Why Wild?
 

Was just perusing the multiple vendors out there and happened upon a vendor that lists "Wild Indo Corals" on their website as arriving sometime in the next couple of moths, why on earth would anyone these days opt to import wild colonies? Does anyone on Canreef buy wild colonies considering they rarely retain their colors and obviously the collection destroys and uproots the natural Coral Reefs? I understand certain species are hard to culture but there are very few and most often they are not the types that are most desirable.

Being that I have seen the list of options in which to order Corals, it annoys me when there are so many options for Aquacultured or at the very least Maricultured Corals to buy. Just looking for opinions...

I have to agree with you Ian. I personally will not buy wild coral first hand. Everything in my tank is either aquacultured or a frag from a local reefer. I also agree with you that aquacultured coral have much better colours and do not seem to waste away like a wild coral would. I know it sounds hypocritical but I dont like the idea of scorching wild reefs so we can enjoy them in our living rooms. I feel the same about live rock thats why for my tank I used all eco dry rock and seeded it with a few pieces of LR from a friend. Hopefully in the next decade our hobby will have major advancements in fish breeding so we could sustain our hobby and leave the oceans alone:) Sorry for a bit of a rant but I always find myself wondering why people buy wlld lol

Lets not go stepping on any specific vendors toes here as I'm really sick of all the fighting and we have to realize this board only exists because of them.

That being said I'm in 100% agreement with both of you, a major step towards aquaculture needs to occur in this hobby. I think the world is to high on the idea of capitalism to realize that you can't extort the environment forever.

Very sad to see Oceanic corals not being a sponsor here for this exact reason.

Ian

I assume you are referring to Ocean Aquatics.

Just confirm and I can continue my response.

LMK


Wendell

I agree with you about this too. I was not talking about vendors I was more aiming at us as hobbyist's.

I swear the politics between so many vendors and ex-vendors drives me nuts. Make's it harder to enjoy these forums in my opinion. I run into it in the LFS as well. I love this hobby but sometimes it's a bit much.

Maybe they are cheaper than aquacultured?

agreed.

Aquaculture is one of the only ways this hobby will remain sustainable, but all of those mother colonies had to come form somewhere. who knows maybe those collectors in Indonesia have farmed/gardened those corals.

+1. It is better to sell your strengths than negative value sell your competition. If you don't like something your competitor is doing... then improve your own practices and let the consumer decide.

As for vendor on vendor.... I agree. There is too much fighting between vendors (and Ex-vendors) and it really shows lack of professionalism.


Stop throwing mud. Please.

Ian I totally agree when it comes to wild coral. IMO maybe 1 or 2 frags off a wild coral will actually survive. I Sit at a 3/5 survival ratio in my tank on wild frags.

In my tank, my most successful corals have been from frags. You can actually see this and I point it out all the time when people ask where my coral comes from. Sure I do like some of the wild stuff, But it grows so slow even the maricultured colonies.