marin v.s. wild

[markie mark]

I'm just curious of why I hear people say that marin-cultured acros do better in captivity than wild acros? I get orders in every week from the west coast and theres no difference in either because they both come out of the ocean...cultured are grown in lagoons and other water closer to shore from every thing ive seen and been told.....just wanted to start a conversation and see what everybody has to say....

 

[allsps40]

I personally dont have much luck with either, some do ok. Aqua cultured I have no problem with at all. Wild sps go through more than cultured do. They are cut from the reef, put in water they are not used to, handled and shipped aroung many times before the get to our tanks. Mari cultured does not go through as much stress, grown in a controlled environment normally in man made pools light by sun light, They are on frag rocks so not cutting, they dont get placed in different water as many times before shipping.

 

[markie mark]

I agree that the wild ones probably go thru a lil more stress being torn off the reef but I also think that it depends alot on who your getting your corals from...these are the people that need to let their corals rest before sending them straight off the next day after coming in....thanks for chiming in,just wanted to hear other peoples opinions...

 

[fcmatt]

i have to wonder if a lot of people who have trouble with wild corals order them online?

seems to me when you visit a LFS and you buy a wild coral that is healthy, looks good, and
been in the store for more then a couple of days they do just fine. on the other hand we
may have people buying wild corals that are shipped to the US, popped in a holding tank
for a ?few days?, package for air mail, and then arrive to the hobbyist in such poor shape
they just do not do well.

just a guess though. i have no problems with any type of coral now days. I could not say
that 7-10 years ago though.

 

[allsps40]

I get mine from a LFS not online. Do you really think a hobbyist is collecting the corals. No way some lower class, low paid worker gets paid to collect corals in a third world Indonesian Island in the Pacific. Granted their are some that know how to collect with care but they are in lesser numbers. Poor collecting practices are a major problem in many reefs, causing damage and over collecting.

 

[markie mark]

ok,like i said before..i work with a few of the best wholesellers on the west coast every week...fiji orders come in every tuesday...i can have them on wedenesday...so yes,they dont have much time to relax so to speak...but same goes for the cultuerd because they come in from indo on monday and i can get tuesday...so yes,the wholeseller is the one thatr needs to let the coral rest for a bit before shipping it.....thats what i think anyway...cultured or wild....its not always a poor villiage man picking your corals...there are some large owned suppliers in places like fiji that are americans,aswell as people from germany and so on....the corals are picked and then go to a holding cell onshore,then packed and shipped....

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

it is really depending on which species you are seeking. Any soft tissue acro should get imported from maricultured colonies, bottom line. However, aefw easily infect soft tissue acros so I would highly recommend to qt these corals.

The way that acros have been imported has dramatically improved over the past several years. Fiji acros are healthy but still not quite as hardy has maricultured acros.

Being on the east coast, I see corals (especially acros) go through a lot of stress by the time they make it to our area. Maricultured always seem to do a little better.

With wild acro, I have about a 60% - 70% success rate but I have over a 90% success rate with maricultured acro.

I know this isn't part of the question but either way, aquacutured is a million time healthier than maricultrued or wild acros

 

[markie mark]

I agree with aquacultured acros being the hardiest of all...I guess they have had time to get use to all the false conditions of captivity...I'm in Alababma and so im pretty much on the east coast,but the thing I dont like about my distributors is the will ship the day after they recieve....which sucks because you need to have a order waiting if you want the best of the best,but if you you give it a few days your just getting the left overs....

 

[chilwil84]

location of the maricultured will make a difference. if you are looking at indo pieces they may not be cared for the same as the figi pieces that companies like walt smith grow.

 

[potterjon]

I never realized there was a big difference between maricultiured corals and wild corals. Just a big difference between "wild and maricultured" vs. aquacultured simply because of the lighting. I have had success with all except for coloration. Aqua cultured seems to be closer to the color you will get in your tank. On top of that, most lfs can't really tell you what you are getting. When I worked at the lfs and called our supplier, the rep couldn't even tell me for sure what they were, so he opted for the most well rounded answer, which was a mix of all three. Needless to say, I didn't believe him. The colors on the maricultured and aquacultured always seemed to be more pastel and not nearly as intense in color as aquacultured or wild colonies but when I look at photos from online retailers, a lot of those corals have very intense color, only to be lost when put into a tank under our manipulated lighting systems.
I understand your question and I think the answer lies in the fact that they seem to be less removed from the wild colonies as far as perception of their hardiness. If that makes any sense at all.
Besides all that, monkey see monkey do.

 

[Spun1_2]

I would imagine all the corals would be stressed changing water conditions 3-4 times before it goes to most tanks from the lfs. The acros that are bought and sold in the trade arent nearly doest have much of an impact compared to pollution and ships that damage the reefs every year. Not to mention global warming.

The maricultured are brought in from the ocean the same as wild. Then placed in holding tanks for 2-4 weeks , then shipped into the west coast, rebagged and water changed again. So even the wholesalers are getting a coral that has been stressed.

I think wild have way better colors and are more unique. The maricultured are mass produced from the same cuttings. I would imagine that will we see more and more maricultured corals and less wild colonies in the future.

 

[markie mark]

I agree on the different genera on the wild for sure..I get in some wild pieces that are just unreal,and like you said,the cultured are mostly always the same...there are still plenty of different genera of cultured but the color and shape of the wilds are truly amazing.....

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

The acros that are bought and sold in the trade arent nearly doest have much of an impact compared to pollution and ships that damage the reefs every year. Not to mention global warming

Ditto. I'm not too concerned about the way the acros get into captivity, to a degree. As long as we can get them adjusted to synthetic aquarium salt and parameters, we are making progress. With proper education and communication, we can all make improvements so we can find a safe home for these delicate animals.

I get in some wild pieces that are just unreal,and like you said,the cultured are mostly always the same

The wild ones come in with better colors, without any doubt. After about 3 weeks, they will readily brown out and most will take about 3 or 4 months to come back fully colored. Maricultured colonies have already started change colors a bit so you are already a step ahead of the process when you buy them. They usually take about 2 months to color back up.

 

[allsps40]

ok,like i said before..i work with a few of the best wholesellers on the west coast every week...fiji orders come in every tuesday...i can have them on wedenesday...so yes,they dont have much time to relax so to speak...but same goes for the cultuerd because they come in from indo on monday and i can get tuesday...so yes,the wholeseller is the one thatr needs to let the coral rest for a bit before shipping it.....thats what i think anyway...cultured or wild....its not always a poor villiage man picking your corals...there are some large owned suppliers in places like fiji that are americans,aswell as people from germany and so on....the corals are picked and then go to a holding cell onshore,then packed and shipped....

True, however the guy in the water doing that hard and dirty work is normally an under paid local.

 

[markie mark]

I dont totally agree with it being just some under payed local...if that was the case that if this''under payed local'' wasnt getting healthy products and taking care of them than the people like walt smith wouldnt even have a company because they would just be bringing in crap all the time...and plus,in places like fiji,what do you consider under payed? I these people still live the way people did 2000 years ago untill outsiders sayed lets build hotels and coral farms on your tropical paradise,so what they are probably getting payed to harvest coral,is probably like having $100,000.00 job in the U.S.,I meen,all these people were doing was fishing anyway and mother nature makes there product.....just the way i see it....I dont doubt that there are some places that the corals arent aswell cared for but theier not all under payed locals....

 

[sbabs]

aqua cultered are better than wild from a survival rate perspective for sure. Got 3 acro colonies a few weeks ago from a great dealer. All were wild, only one colony made it. The other two died, but the biggest colony I have a frag from. If I had fragged the whole colony, I would have a bunch of frags. Unfortunately, the colony came with one small piece broken off. That piece made it and while brown, looks like it will be fine. The rest of the colony, 6 inches by 4, is a while skeleton. The other colony was bright blue prior to shipping, 16 hours later, it arrived, 72 degrees in temp, and white as a ghost. I get frags and never have issues, but I always have challenges with wild caught acros.