Aqiarium hobby as coral reef species conservation

[Hypsophrys]

Does anyone ever talk about the fact that many reef species will live on in our hobby long after going extinct in the wild?

I think that's a powerful alternative perspective -- vs our hobby being a purely destructive force (as opposed to, you know, ocean warming and acidification).

 

[ThRoewer]

Well, it doesn't matter much to keep corals alive in tanks unless you maintain the knowledge where the particular coral strains originated from.
The same goes for fish bred in captivity.
What would be required is an organization to organize the propagation efforts and track who has which species from which regions. It would also be required to maintain and propagate species that are not popular.

 

[H2oGarden]

Back in the day GARF was created for just this reason.

 

[Kevin Guthrie]

IMO if we care about reefs we should all shut down. CO2 from all the electricity we use is going to do more damage to coral reefs than "reef tank as ark" will ever make up for.

 

[KafudaFish]

IMO if we care about reefs we should all shut down. CO2 from all the electricity we use is going to do more damage to coral reefs than "reef tank as ark" will ever make up for.

If you really believe this you should go ahead now and get rid of anything requiring electricity and find a job that does not affect this as well.

Are you willing to do this?

 

[Kevin Guthrie]

There are myriad ways to reduce carbon footprint, including paying the electric company for "green" so they get money back from solar and wind installs. But also everything you buy has a carbon footprint, from raw material extraction and transport to mfg to packaging and shipping to shopping or getting a delivery. What you are willing to do is up to you. Burn wood for heat, be a locavore, install solar, trade your Chevy Subdivision for a subcompact, it all adds up. We've taken some of these steps but for sure at my house getting rid of the reef would be a big improvement on the electric bill.