Will this hobby be terrible in 40 years?

[Caragol]

I was thinking about it on the drive home from ReefWise yesterday. Will tank automation and technology make it too easy and take away the care and maintenence that bonds us with our livestock? Will coral imports be banned? Will the people who genetically modify those zebra glo-fish get in the coral business to the point where it will be hard to tell what's natural anymore?

Would you want gm coral that came in crazy rainbow colors if you knew it didn't exist in nature anywhere?

 

[gone fishin]

I do not think that technology will make it to easy. At the end of the day we still keep living animals and there needs to be an interaction for success. Technology can help us but we must still interpret results and problems and act accordingly. As far as genetic manipulation of corals I have not really gave that any thought. I would have to think about it.

 

[Caragol]

I'm thinking of the technology in terms of how hard it was to keep SPS back in the VHO T8/T12 days... and how now it's an inexpensive LED setup. How easy corals are to keep vs 15 years ago. I'm thinking about better filtration systems and better testing systems, perhaps made great by technologies that will arise as the world comes upon more freshwater shortages. I'm looking at that robosnail and thinking it's a crappy Mag Float with a motor now, but what about in 20 years?

We are still keeping live animals, but a big part of that is good living conditions and a lot of that could be improved through automation, filtration, and testing enhancements. The rest is just feeding them.

We're now breeding mandarins, but not yet tangs... what if there's an import ban before we get there? Will fish availability be limited? Will we all be drooling over that LE snowflake mandarin? Or day-glo clownfish?

 

[GoldStandard]

As technology advances so does our potential to make these organisms such as corals and fish thrive and live better. We all hear how our reefs in the world are declining because of pollution or damage caused by people. I can see people in this hobby being the ones that help repopulate the reefs and help them grow again. Like I said I maybe crazy but I can something like this happen.

 

[Caragol]

I imagined the same... sort of an extinct in the wild, exists in captivity situation but in our in-home tanks.

 

[taylor t]

Would you want gm coral that came in crazy rainbow colors if you knew it didn't exist in nature anywhere?

Yes! If they would glow on their own, could we get rid of our lights? :lolspin: Maybe after the warm water reefs are killed, collections can move to cold water reef animals. I would love to start a cold water reef, but stocking it seems to be a big problem.

Taking care of my 2 tanks is already easy. More technology won't help me. Compared to what I read some people doing, I do very minimal care. I think the smaller tanks are harder/more work to keep, large tanks are more work/more money to get started though. I've had from 20 gallons to my current 210 and several inbetween. Advances in reefing will sell more toys, and may help some people with smaller systems be more stable with over stocking issues that seem to plague.

The only advancement I see being the future, is a glass panel with a cat6 plug to plug into the router, so you can see your fish and corals in 3D - without glasses. We may have to order smelly skimmer juice to get the whole picture AND smell. Go ahead and laugh,(I am) but 40 years ago people laughed at the thought of selling bottled water too.

 

[Sullyman]

Watch Blade Runner, Clowns will be the first replicated...................

 

[skunkmere]

I use a automated toothbrush and i still get cavities!!

 

[JPerkins2]

I think if reefs have a chance of survival at the current rate, they may only exist in our aquariums in the future.

 

[mm949]

I use a automated toothbrush and i still get cavities!!

its not the tools, its how you use them....

 

[Timber77]

Well I have been in hoby 20+years and have been out for the last 5 due to divorce and moving around.. excited to be going back in. From what i can tell the lighting is better and the skimmers are quite a bit more efficient. Its pretty to cool to see gonipora and elegance corals living in peoples tanks now a days, in the past the elegance coral purchase was almost doomed to fail. Import bans and political protection are definately things that are gonna affect the suppy and demand for aquarium safe species.

 

[jlnielsen13]

I think this hobby will be tougher in the future. I teach biology and I told my students that at this rate 100% of the coral reefs will be gone by 2050! On top of that 30% of the biodiversity on the entire planet will be wiped out by that time as 130 species go extinct every day. (5,000 times the rate of normal extinctions).

One of the highschoolers raised their hand and asked," Does that mean people will have to take a fieldtrip to your house in order to see coral reefs?"

Sad... but priceless!

JIM