Got a kick out of this add

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by G1GY

Are you insinuating that if you buy a dead coral that you're not "robbing" the natural reefs like the people who prefer to buy live coral?
Even if you harvest a dead coral..... you're stealing the home/building blocks of another.
Some might even argue that tank kept corals may be the key to re-introducing a given species once it's extinct.

No I'm not suggesting that, however dead coral doesn't die unlike live coral which has around 10% survival rate. Also removing dead coral from the reefs is much less harmful than removing live coral. It's a known fact that using dead coral in your tank over live coral has much less of an effect on the environment, it's published in almost every aquarium book I've seen.
I can assure you the this hobby doesn't help the natural reefs in anyway, to say otherwise is simply a way of absolving yourself. If you disagree show me anything that suggests otherwise, and no research facilities are not part of the hobby.