So, I am going to be doing an "eco" reef here soon, only using captive propigated livestock and have some questions about Mariculture.
I know mariculture is supposed to be eco freindly and better than harvesting wild coral, but where do the mariculture farms get the SPS that they are mounting to the plugs?
Mariculture frags look great, but when I look closely at them, most are large chunks of coral barely encrusted to the plug they are on, which tells me that the big branches came off a larger, more mature colony. Do they grow these colonies at their facilities or are these simply "Chop shops" that are closer to the reef?
Also, do the mariculture shops provide any benefit to the reefs, ie replanting reef with frags from their shops?
These are just my assumptions from looking at the material offered for sale, I am hoping that someone with direct knowledge of how these facilities works can give me some better insight.
Thanks,
Ira
I know mariculture is supposed to be eco freindly and better than harvesting wild coral, but where do the mariculture farms get the SPS that they are mounting to the plugs?
Mariculture frags look great, but when I look closely at them, most are large chunks of coral barely encrusted to the plug they are on, which tells me that the big branches came off a larger, more mature colony. Do they grow these colonies at their facilities or are these simply "Chop shops" that are closer to the reef?
Also, do the mariculture shops provide any benefit to the reefs, ie replanting reef with frags from their shops?
These are just my assumptions from looking at the material offered for sale, I am hoping that someone with direct knowledge of how these facilities works can give me some better insight.
Thanks,
Ira