Don't Break The Chain (DBTC)

Gomer

New member
Anyone else participate in a version of it? Any thoughts on your experience?
IMO, this is one of the greatest treasures of my current (soon to be long range :() reef club. There doesn't seem to be a strong "group"/club in the area, but something like the purpose behind DBTC could serve as a core idea.

Here is a Primer to the Bay Area Reefers DBTC program. Having been very active in it with BAR for the past several years, I can honestly say that it is an amazing program and could be out here in the SW should people take it to heart.

http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/13

What is DBTC

DBTC, stands for Don't Break The Chain, the idea is that it works like a Pay It Forward (PIF) type program, where someone donates a particular coral fragment with the idea that the person who gets said fragment will grow it out giving to others, who will in turn make fragment to others, etc.

I still don't get it. Why do we have this?
The idea behind it is to help spread coral species throughout the region. This will hopefully lessen the impact of taking corals from the oceans. As well as help spread diversity throughout the area. The idea was a way to push a non-greedy way of helping get corals out there to people. If you can get a coral fragment from a local farmer, that means less of an impact on the oceans. A great many of the "abundant" corals are not in any way mari/aquacultured since it's still profitable to hack them out of the seas.

Ok fine, so how do I get some free corals?
Now while you will get "free corals" this is not what this program is about, this is about sharing and be willing to share with others. While inevitably there will be a bit of a "greed" factor that seems to permeate, especially with more desirably corals, you have to understand the idea is that more will be offered, the way it works is that each coral grows exponentially (ideally), so while it may take some time the coral will be offered again. This program is NOT about stocking your empty tank with new corals for free, what it is about is helping grow a renewable resource and make it available for others for free.

Time? How much time do I need to wait?
It depends entirely on the amount of corals that are initially offered, and the type of corals. Some corals, specifically soft ones, grow quite readily so can be fragmented and dispersed quite rapidly, others like the small polyped stony corals grow relatively slowly, some grow a few inches a year! So it might take longer. Patience is the key, again this isn't to stock your tank full of corals so there should be no rush on getting one.

I don't have an Limited Edition or otherwise rare corals though.
Doesn't matter, this program is not about distributing rare corals, if that happens, all the better however what is needed is a sharing of all corals not just rare ones. You have those brown mushrooms, offer them up, just don't be sad if no one wants any.

Ok, I have corals I'd like to donate, who do I give them too? What do I do?
Alright, now we're talking! First you give them to whomever you wish they are your corals after all. Second you might want to list some rules, or follow some standard rules for who gets them. Third, start a new topic in this forum and type in all the gory details. Some advice 1) Give a brief description of the coral in the topic you make, Blue acropora or whatever 2) Give a bit more detailed of a description in the coral in the body of the message, if you don't know the exact species who cares, it's hard, it's a stick, call it an acropora, chances are you'll be correct, someone else will be most likely help you identify, besides most corals can't be accurately identified beyond the genus. Mention what lighting you have it under, how high in the tank it is, the flow conditions,fish load, or anything else that's out of the ordinary that you might think is relevant. 3) A picture is worth a thousand words! Get a camera, take a picture, don't worry if it's not the best, just give an idea of the overall color/shape of the coral. Post to any one the many online photo hosting sites (photobucket.com, imageshack.us) and then post via tags in the body of the message 4) Mention those rules, and what you would like seen with the coral as well.

What are these rules you mention??
The rules are simply a guideline, so overall call goes to whomever is offering since this is a voluntary program. However some standard rules that can easily be followed, or referred to "See FAQ for rules" are the following Must be BAR member. (you may open this up to what ever clubs you like, however this keeps it within the club, at least initially) Must be good with XXX (where this is the type of coral, this means you don't just finish cycling your tank and want to fill it up with corals) You agree to give frags to 3 more people before selling/trading of it (This is to keep the exponential growth thing going, also it helps safe guard against one person having an issue, tank crash, fell behind a rock, etc) You agree to pick up XXX (Again wherever you like, BAR meeting is useful, since it makes people go to meetings Smiley, basically it's to keep people from expecting you to deliver it) Pictures of progress ( it's nice to know how it's doing in other tanks under other conditions sometimes)
 
Sounds like a good thing to get going, but it seems to require a minimum population to make it work. Perhaps a dozen participants.

In any case, I have a few colt coral frags to offer up. They are small, as is my tank.
 
This sounds very cool. I would love for something like this to start here. I have a couple of ricordia and fuzzy mushrooms. Also some chaeto if anyone wants some.
 
/bump :-D I want to bring this back into the light for a hopefully good discussion that we can bring to our Dec 4th meet:-D
 
sounds like a nice idea. Personally I believe when somebody pays for something they have a higher appreciation for it. I know i would be embarrassed if I was given something and it died on my watch. lol like a black hole.
 
I too was in that mode till DBTC really sunk in with me. I eventually really appreciated the program, and even more so, people's generosity to the program. It's really something to see people willingly give out all sorts of rare corals expecting nothing more than people to grow them out and give to more people. Initially, the corals were "just" nice corals, and after some time, the community grew strong together and there were no limits. Seriously :-D Sure, there were some leachers, but they were quickly identified and cut off. The good folk kept all the good vibes flowing.

I've killed a bunch of DBTC corals. It happens. It also part of why you would give one out (incase your's dies, you have a backup out there). If you learn from the dead coral and keep the spirit of the program alive, then all is good :-D

Everyone willing has different abilities on what they can and are able to give to such a program. some people eat it up and give everything they can. Others may give a few and some give none. As a club, we strive for the most we can but know that all flavors will come.

I was in the Bay Area Reefers having moved (new job) for a few years. Initially, I didn't have much to give and my experience was ok at best. I learned, I took, I spread, I gave. It felt amazing.

In that time, my "stats" were
Total Chains Started: 19
Total Frags Given: 94
Total Frags Received: 51
Total Frags Perished: 20

I killed a bunch, but I was able to propagate and distribute a lot more :-D
 
Just posted 2 different threads for frags for this new DBTC that has been started. Is anyone else interested in posting up frags for this program?
 
Thanks for posting up Billy :-D
DBTC is like a huge train. Take a lot to get moving, starts real slow, but once it gets going, it is really hard to stop :-D
 
i am interested but have nothing as of yet to frag as my tank recently just recovered from my stupidity. so im down to brown zoas and a pulsing xenia.
 
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