I want to build The Ark

[MohrReefs]

I am no expert by any means but in the long run scheme of things thise are all things that I would look into...

BUT in the short scheme if you could find an aquarium that is willing to start a new tank or dedicate a tank to reefing and is willing to take species from the outside public.... I bet this forum would dedicate frags and specimens for the cause.

If someone did not have something to donate to the cause some would be willing to donate money to build or rescape an old tank at an aquarium. You would have to find an aquarium willing to do this as I think with how generous this forum is the other part would be a lot easier.

You would probably need to ask them politely what would it take to make this happen? Going by what they say will also kind of guide you into a "is this feasible? and are they receiving of my idea?" Moment.

I do like this discussion though.

Expert or not, you have great ideas and a good idea. Maybe I'll start something on a smaller scale while I work out the bigger picture and get the reef2reef community involved.

I really want to tha k you for your input.

 

[ReefBeta]

Check out www.adeproject.org. They're doing something similar, using aquaculture corals to replenish the reef. They also sell to the hobby, but the one that sell to the one that plant back to the reef is like 1:10 I think.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Expert or not, you have great ideas and a good idea. Maybe I'll start something on a smaller scale while I work out the bigger picture and get the reef2reef community involved.

I really want to tha k you for your input.

No problem if it happens it gives me the reason to drive 3hrs to the Chattanooga Aquarium!

I could also smile at a plaque on the coral tank that said sponsored by reef2reef community.

 

[ReefBeta]

For hobby community project, the hardest part is identification and origins. It won't be a good idea to restore reef with coral species that are not native to it, I think. But those information are usually lost in the trade.

 

[CrimsonTide]

For hobby community project, the hardest part is identification and origins. It won't be a good idea to restore reef with coral species that are not native to it, I think. But those information are usually lost in the trade.

Yeah you can't put coral back where it doesn't belong. We as hobbyists also mix coral from all over the world to our desire in our own tanks all the time bc it looks better. Also often times people do not know exactly what they have either. You have a very good point.

 

[MohrReefs]

Check out www.adeproject.org. They're doing something similar, using aquaculture corals to replenish the reef. They also sell to the hobby, but the one that sell to the one that plant back to the reef is like 1:10 I think.

Very cool, thank you!

 

[MohrReefs]

For hobby community project, the hardest part is identification and origins. It won't be a good idea to restore reef with coral species that are not native to it, I think. But those information are usually lost in the trade.

Thats very true, so I may be limited to conservation of corals native to my area. Perhaps start small with Florida and gulf species in conjunction with local governments ? I think you're right, each project would probably have to have a hub in the area they are going back to. That would also help against shipping stresses. We could also be more selective on what we bring in based on owners knowledge, I'm sure at least a handful of people may know their origin or perhaps they can say where they got it and that person might able to reveal point of origin from the wholesaler.

 

[Shufflepig]

Don't suppose you have a name to give me a good starting point? I'll try to Google that article too. Thanks!

March/April 2020 CORAL Magazine.

 

[MohrReefs]

March/April 2020 CORAL Magazine.

Thanks!

 

[CrimsonTide]

Coralbiobank.org seems to be the project in Australia! They have started an Ark.

 

[MohrReefs]

March/April 2020 CORAL Magazine.

I reached out to them, thank so much for that.

 

[MohrReefs]

Coralbiobank.org seems to be the project in Australia! They have started an Ark.

I contacted them!

 

[CrimsonTide]

I contacted them!

I did notice they are specific about collecting 800 specimens of hard coral over the next couple of years. Not sure why they were specific about hard and not all corals.

 

[Shufflepig]

I reached out to them, thank so much for that.

Please keep us posted if this leads to anything that interested reefers can help out with or get involved with.

 

[MohrReefs]

I did notice they are specific about collecting 800 specimens of hard coral over the next couple of years. Not sure why they were specific about hard and not all corals.

Hard corals build the rockwork, thats probably why.

 

[MohrReefs]

Please keep us posted if this leads to anything that interested reefers can help out with or get involved with.

Will do, ill bookmark this thread and update when possible.

 

[ReefBeta]

Looks like there are quite some number of similar effort going on already. I think a tangible thing to do is to connect the hobby (or just say this forum) with those projects. You can organize an event to host representatives from those organizations to present their projects in some form here and zoom maybe, and get some donation going. Maybe a good event for around thanksgiving, as the giving season.

 

[ApoIsland]

I did notice they are specific about collecting 800 specimens of hard coral over the next couple of years. Not sure why they were specific about hard and not all corals.

Probably because if we ever get to the point where the worlds oceans can't support any soft corals then we are most likely in the middle of catastrophic global destruction and will have many other things to worry about in our few minutes left to live.

 

[Empire]

isn't Walt Smith doing something along these lines? probably wrong here but pretty sure i saw something on facebook.

 

[OlderManSea]

Reef Builders highlighted an ark project for Caribbean corals a few months back. There is a good video about it on youtube.

A similar project was undertaken by the American Killifish Association a few decades ago. Killifish are mostly highly endangered and within a given species the color patterns vary from location to location. The effort is aimed at keeping a number of these species/locations in existence. The project is ongoing, distributed among several dozen dedicated aquarists.

An effort similar to that is focused on the cichlid fauna of Lake Victoria. All of the endemic fish species in the lake face extinction (most are endemic to the lake) due to introduction of the highly predatory Nile perch as a food fish. That effort was undertaken as a coordinated effort among several public aquariums.

Thus, these efforts are possible but extremely costly and labor-intensive.