Zero Impact SPS Systems

[dvanacker]

Well you can tell if its mariculture or wild because wild is broken away from the reef and cultured is cultured on plugs. The question then is where does the brood stock come from for the cultured peices...either way is better then ripping every coral from the wild reef.

And aquarium grown is easy when your getting it from somebodies aquarium......this part is not that grey at all.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9825485#post9825485 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvanacker
Well you can tell if its mariculture or wild because wild is broken away from the reef and cultured is cultured on plugs. The question then is where does the brood stock come from for the cultured peices...either way is better then ripping every coral from the wild reef.

And aquarium grown is easy when your getting it from somebodies aquarium......this part is not that grey at all.

I dont think Im making my point clear...

At your LFS or online vendor- there is that little frag of acropora XXX on the plug that says "aquacultured"- what does it mean? Does it mean the "mother"colony has been in captivity for 10 years? Or that the mother colony is a wild collected coral, that had a chip broke off and glued to a plug? Or does it matter? I think it does matter a lot. For a lot of different reasons. But nonetheless, both are considered aquacultured, because they are supplied on this handy little frag plug. This is the grey area discrepancy I speak of. "Aquacultured" means totally diffrent things to different people and businesses. The source of corals is far more crucial (in the ecological aspect) than how the coral is grown. But this detail is overlooked far too often.

Let me ask another question, kinda off target, but in reference to a comment you have made. Why is wild collection bad? What coral species is in danger due to overcollection? The wild reefs, are, in fact, in danger, but primarily due to agriculture and terrestrial activities, not coral collection for hobbyists. So, again, it begs the questions, why do so many people feel wild collection is so bad?

 

[smp]

I know that a lot of the stuff we get in that's called "mariculture" or "aquaculture" is just that, broken up wild caught corals stuck to cement plugs. They are ready for export when the coral encrusts the plug and VIOLA .. "aquacultured"!!!

Compare the thickness alone to some of the stuff we get in that's called 'aquacultured' and you'll see what i'm talking about. Divers just go out to the reef, collect a bunch of corals, break them up, stick them to cement bases. These "frags" get put on tables in a lagoon or elsewhere and they are now "aquacultured". There is no certification and if you are a poor fisherman what else would you be doing??? Trying to make as much as you can.

I wish i could find the thread I wanted to link to, a really interesting thread. The poster goes to Indonesia to study the mariculture industry there and he reports some very interesting stuff.
Otherwise though, for anyone interested in reef preservation, just keep fragging those good corals and spreading the love. Also, there are lots of very interesting techniques to saving energy, the guys in the propagation forum are really good at that I suggest everyone drop in there from time to time and read up on some of the bigger prop operations .. super interesting stuff.