Are you a coral collector or keeper?

[Cthulukelele]

Russ @ gulf coast eosysyems. Where I got mine. Great quality and pricing.

Omg I LOVE that gorgonian. Gotta check them out! Thanks!

 

[Enderg60]

Both! I love collecting different colors and different shapes which is what my frag tank is for. Collect, grow and trade for something new. I then take that collection and choose the corals I think will look good in the display and keep them happy and growing.

 

[Wasabiroot]

I think revhtree kind of put it best. It's tempting to start out in the hobby collecting anything cool you see. That's fine if you have a frag tank or your goal is propagation to others. The problem is when it becomes hoarding for the sake of it or when the animal health suffers in favor of more specimens. We only have so much room in our systems.

It could be argued collecting can be cool and important in the sense of curating a fascinating variety of specimens like a museum or to ensure a specimen stays in the hobby - Jake Adams was a "collector" in a sense but you could tell he cared for every single piece and was doing it to have them reach full potential. I agree though- the hobby is at its most rewarding watching your selected pieces blossom into colonies. As time goes on I have tried to move away from buying a smattering of frags just "because". Now I'm at the point where I am picturing where I want my 50g to be in a year or two and going from there, and it's been nice seeing my chalices/montis/acros plate out.

I think doing what you want in the hobby is perfectly fine as long as the health of the animals is item one on the list and you make responsible decisions. It's your money.

 

[StatelineReefer]

Good point! What does that look like? Something like, "I keep a mixed reef, but I collect zoanthids?"

In this case, that looks like 'I like to keep acros, but I also want the challenge of keeping extremely bright and colorful acros staying extremely bright and colorful'



So a lot like this...

 

[DanyL]

I like to keep acros, but I also want the challenge of keeping extremely bright and colorful acros staying extremely bright and colorful

I would consider this as a coral keeper.
You like the challenge, and have a certain taste.

 

[anthonymckay]

I started as just a keeper a decade ago, but my excitement over beautiful corals has definitely turned into collecting... it's hard to not want everything! I'm now upgrading to a larger system and debating a frag tank as well, haha. Reading through the comments, there seems to be a negative connotation of "collector" in this thread and a notion that if one is a "collector" they don't care for these living things. Those two things are far from being mutually exclusive. I try to make my system as good as I can possibly make it and keep my corals as healthy as I can. A lot of time, effort, and money goes into doing so.

 

[StatelineReefer]

I would consider this as a coral keeper.
You like the challenge, and have a certain taste.

I also like to wait for them to grow out to colonies so that if something drastic happens in the main display, I still have that coral. So.... collector?

 

[DanyL]

I also like to wait for them to grow out to colonies so that if something drastic happens in the main display, I still have that coral. So.... collector?

You mean to frag them and keep their DNA in a separate system in case something happens you still have them?
That's a keeper for me.

Growing them out? Even more

A collector to me is when you track down certain frags because of their rarity, popularity or to complete a series.
But I guess everyone have their own definition for keeper/collector.

 

[Zach B]

I have heard it said before but once I realized we are just keepers of water it made things a lot more simple. Get your water/parameters in order and it's that simple

 

[ZoWhat]

I consider myself a KILLER
of coral

 

[pezgal]

I have heard it said before but once I realized we are just keepers of water it made things a lot more simple. Get your water/parameters in order and it's that simple

I follow this same principal with gardening too!

 

[KingTideCorals]

When it comes to the chasing of really nice toadstools.. yes I feel in fact I am a collector. As for the overall hobby though I feel I am a keeper since I care for many different tanks.

 

[Sean Clark]

I keep mine until I give them away. Tiny frags are irresponsible and greed driven.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I try to be ecosystem driven. The comensal inverts and micro components, hitchhikers and things that fill certain niches are super cool to me and I would rather have a tank filled with diversity rather than a flat of tiles with a gallery of high ends corals. Nothing is wrong with that, I just prefer the whole reef experience as much as I can. I miss the days of getting a shipment of rock and just watching stuff grow off of the rocks.

I feel like this got lost somewhere along the way. I seedes dry rock with live and it was super difficult to even get my hands on decent looking live rock. The closest LFS that carries it is 3.5 hours away. I picked up a little when i was in town for something else, and i finally got a little more from a local reefer breaking down a tank. But its also holy moly expensive when you can find it. Which is why i seeded dry with a bit of live.

 

[Leroyc]

Yes

 

[dstockwell]

Russ @ gulf coast eosysyems. Where I got mine. Great quality and pricing.

Same for me

 

[Eienna]

Absolutely keeper....though
i may end up collecting goniopora, LOL

 

[Cu8ano]

Keeper AND collector

 

[Nano sapiens]

Do you consider yourself a collector of corals or a keeper of corals?

How about 'I am the keeper of a much simplified reef ecosystem (compared to the natural one) that focuses on coral'

For me I think I had more "joy" in the hobby when I went from trying to collect to just "keeping" what I had to the best of my ability.

+1

 

[Acrocrazy725]

I started as just a keeper a decade ago, but my excitement over beautiful corals has definitely turned into collecting... it's hard to not want everything! I'm now upgrading to a larger system and debating a frag tank as well, haha. Reading through the comments, there seems to be a negative connotation of "collector" in this thread and a notion that if one is a "collector" they don't care for these living things. Those two things are far from being mutually exclusive. I try to make my system as good as I can possibly make it and keep my corals as healthy as I can. A lot of time, effort, and money goes into doing so.

I agree with you 100%. I believe most people are both, whether they like it or not. Jake Adam’s was a collector, he wanted one coral of every species. Had tanks dedicated to particular species and tried to provide the best habitats for each species. How many of us, me included, if we had the time, space, and money wouldn’t love to have separate tanks where we could have all the things we always wanted to have in our tanks but couldn’t because they couldn’t live in our current systems. He was a collector, And who loved corals more than him? He dedicated his life to them. Collecting doesn’t have to be looked at so negatively. We all collect in one fashion or another and I don’t think anyone here on this forum does it without the best intentions for these animals. Pulling out some of the colors I’ve seen pictured here that people accomplish with their corals. That takes a lot of work, time and love. By providing these animal with the best possible situation you have happy colorful animals. That’s all we should be concerned with.