Why Wild?

[Zoaelite]

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.

[burrows14]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

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.

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

[lastlight]

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.

[freezetyle]

Originally Posted by lastlight

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.

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.

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by lastlight

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.

+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.

[lorenz0]

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.

[Delphinus]

I'll take a stab at playing devil's advocate. For me wild-collected wouldn't be an option because of the risks inherent with tagalong pests and that there will be wild variability between colours of how it comes in and what it ends up being .. but to someone who is better positioned to properly quarantine and treat if need be outside of the main collection, that variability could be part of the fun and something unusual can come out. Further, extending the genetic diversity of captive collections is probably not too bad of an idea because if everything were clones of one another, they could all be susceptible to the same stressors. As long the harvesting was done is a sustainable manner. I'm not sure I see a huge difference between wild-collected corals and wild-caught fish. Both can be abused equally the same, yet both can be managed carefully and can be a vehicle of economic stimulus to an area that might not otherwise have much to work with. Yes of course, the argument could be made that these areas could likely do better by going into aquaculture activities instead, but who's to say that this isn't in progress and this collection isn't just an early step in that process? Or whose to say that these aren't "bycatch" of an activity to repopulate one area of a reef which may be damaged and by releasing a percentage of small colonies to be relocated to the general hobbyist market that this isn't how that process is funded? There's a lot to be read behind the word "wild" and as an end consumer I have no idea what the backstory is. Personally I think I will be choosing aquacultured and ">F2 generational" frags from now on anyhow, just owing to that I prefer less unpredictability (where possible) in my tanks these days, but I don't think I object to wild-collected being available - as long that it be done in as benign and sustainable as possible manner.

[Oceanic]

This post was ultimately about the consumer and not aimed at any "vendor(s)" directly. The consumer is who drives the market, and I am guilty of buying wild corals when I first started just like anyone else; however, knowing what I know now I just simply think people should make better decisions when buying anything that comes directly from the wild...

Certain species will almost always be from the wild like most euphyllia type soft corals etc etc. It is the reef building SPS that I am talking about...

Aquaculture whether by the basement enthusiast or business is the future of this hobby, plain and simple.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Oceanic

Aquaculture whether by the basement enthusiast or business is the future of this hobby, plain and simple.

Well said!