Do you consider growing out coral, fragging and trading as a way to participate in reef conservation?

[revhtree]

Happy Monday!

What are some way in which regular reef aquarium hobbyists can participate in reef conservation right from their home?

Do you consider growing out coral, fragging and trading as a way to participate in reef conservation?

image via @therman

 

[revhtree]

Bump!

 

[bradleym]

Absolutely! Every coral frag from an overgrown colony takes up a space where someone might otherwise fill it with a wild captured one. Plus, captive raised frags have a higher survival rate, decreasing the consumption of corals across both categories.

 

[Mikey-D]

Not to grow it into a buisness but I am genuinely interested in fragging and learning this process. What techniques are unique to specific types of coral and how not to out grow your own frag tank. I am a million lightyears away from even starting this but its on my radar.

As for conservation...is there a program that we can donate to a reef hehabilation that would help the ocean regrow its coral population??

 

[MaxTremors]

I don’t see how the answer could be anything but yes. There is only so much room in every aquarium. Space take up by aquacultured corals is space that cannot be taken up by wild caught corals, which means that the more people frag and trade/sell their corals, the less wild corals are collected.

 

[JNalley]

Yes and No... Some hobbyists and stores seek to profit greatly from frags, which oftentimes leads to the majority of people buying cheaper ocean-harvested corals. It's the same thing you see with clownfish and other fish that are farm grown, the costs *should* be lower than ocean-harvested fish, but they're not, so the masses tend to buy the cheaper fish in any given scenario. We're a cost-driven society for the most part. While I understand that in many cases (those of the fish, not corals), the costs are justified (keeping the lights and heating on a bunch of breeding tanks is expensive), the sad part is that charging $100+ for a 3/4" frag of an SPS will deter the majority of buyers...

 

[shakacuz]

absolutely. i tend to steer clear from wild caught as their chances of survival is far less than those aquacultured.

 

[kevgib67]

I feel every coral placed in tank from being fragged from another’s tank is one less coral harvested from a reef. I’m actually taking six frags to my lfs today.

 

[olonmv]

I’d say no solely because the corals we frag aren’t being used to replenish what we take from the ocean.

 

[KonradTO]

The answer is generally no. Sorry.
There are exceptions, like very threatened species which are almost functionally extinct in the wild, which can be preserved in captivity.
But in general the genetic diversity represented by the frags in the hobby is negligible if compared to what is necessary for proper conservation measure. Also the corals in our tanks are adapting to captivity conditions and therefore less suitable for repopulation than coral fragments grown in situ.
Conservation is something that must be organized, studied and planned in years, not by randomly buying corals at shops.
The positive aspect is that by growing corals and sharing this passion to other people we are more aware, and making other people more aware, about the value of marine life.

edit. Also I would say that the portion of corals that are wild caught is negligible compared to what is lost due to climate change. Still better frags than WC corals, that's for sure.

 

[MaxTremors]

The answer is generally no. Sorry.
There are exceptions, like very threatened species which are almost functionally extinct in the wild, which can be preserved in captivity.
But in general the genetic diversity represented by the frags in the hobby is negligible if compared to what is necessary for proper conservation measure. Also the corals in our tanks are adapting to captivity conditions and therefore less suitable for repopulation than coral fragments grown in situ.
Conservation is something that must be organized, studied and planned in years, not by randomly buying corals at shops.
The positive aspect is that by growing corals and sharing this passion to other people we are more aware, and making other people more aware, about the value of marine life.

edit. Also I would say that the portion of corals that are wild caught is negligible compared to what is lost due to climate change. Still better frags than WC corals, that's for sure.

Right, but by buying aquacultured corals, that’s less wild caught corals, which means more genetic diversity and one less strain on wild corals.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Totally agree!!! And a reason to hope:

 

[KonradTO]

Right, but by buying aquacultured corals, that’s less wild caught corals, which means more genetic diversity and one less strain on wild corals.

Sure, also frags grow better because they are adapted to aquarium conditions. But from the conservation perspective I would say it is negligible. There are very few hobbists keeping corals. Probably the best impact we can have on conservation is to avoid discarding biological waste in the sewage, that can actually make the difference I believe. 1 wrong organism that manages to survive and you can pretty much **** up long term the environment.

 

[MoshJosh]

I voted yes, but I’m sure it’s more complicated than that.

I guess my thinking is that any aqua cultured or hobby grown frag that sells has the potential to replace a coral that would’ve otherwise been wild collected.

 

[i cant think]

Not to grow it into a buisness but I am genuinely interested in fragging and learning this process. What techniques are unique to specific types of coral and how not to out grow your own frag tank. I am a million lightyears away from even starting this but its on my radar.

As for conservation...is there a program that we can donate to a reef hehabilation that would help the ocean regrow its coral population??

The way I accidentally frag coral is through getting the most brittle coral I can find (My most recent run in with this was Seriatopora hystrix) and just “accidentally” snapping it every so often.

 

[i cant think]

Also, as for the question, I think fragging your own coral is a great way to go in the hobby. The reason why is because you can make room for different coral you may have not thought of but also trade on the coral you have to other hobbyists and meet new people in this hobby that have the same interests as you.

And ontop of that, you will be helping with the reduction of coral being taken from the wild.

I will admit though, I personally wouldn’t frag corals until it’s an absolute necessity as a full reef tank looks better than a fragged one.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Somewhat yes. Less wild caught species in the hobby. We could be on the verge of "too much success" as technology makes reefing easier, though. The coral will keep growing, but without a place for all those frags to go, they will simply end up in the trash. Hopefully that gap can be mended by conservation groups accepting aquacultured coral for study and to place in the ocean.

 

[Crustaceon]

Yes and No... Some hobbyists and stores seek to profit greatly from frags, which oftentimes leads to the majority of people buying cheaper ocean-harvested corals. It's the same thing you see with clownfish and other fish that are farm grown, the costs *should* be lower than ocean-harvested fish, but they're not, so the masses tend to buy the cheaper fish in any given scenario. We're a cost-driven society for the most part. While I understand that in many cases (those of the fish, not corals), the costs are justified (keeping the lights and heating on a bunch of breeding tanks is expensive), the sad part is that charging $100+ for a 3/4" frag of an SPS will deter the majority of buyers...

I think you're correct in this case, but the damage could be offset if part of the conservation effort was put into "transplanting" frags back into the wild. Also, I always wonder why no one has offered 1/4" frags at a lower cost in a "frag pack". I'd be more inclined to buy a variety of ten 1/4" acro frags for $100 than one specific 3/4" acro frag for $100. It's the weirdest thing because I believe the fastest acro growth scientifically documented was accomplished by cutting frags into wafer-thin slices. Odds are, an acro fragged like this would be so spurred by injury response that it would probably have a greater likelihood of successfully acclimating to most tanks, not to mention having a lower chance of being covered in parasites.

 

[encrustingacro]

Yes and no. Aquacultured corals do reduce the need for wild caught colonies; however, the coral farms that the corals come from require a lot of electricity to run. A more environmentally friendly option is maricultured corals, which require very little energy to run the farms.

 

[Topekoms]

I would have to say no. Reason being is none of our stuff is going back in the ocean. If it was then i would say yes. Does it prevent more being taken out? Yes and no cause everyone is always looking for the next hot piece. I would like to see programs that we could donate some of our corals to go back in to the ocean but then you run in to the problem that most of us don't live where the corals come from so shipping becomes a problem. We also don't want people randomly growing coral in places it isn't native. Now on the other hand if there was a way to sign up to keep colonies for future placement like the seed bank for plants that would be cool but it doesn't work that way.