If there were no environmental concerns I'd prefer wild collected corals or at the very least maricultured and here's why:

[Nano_Man]

Go and get your wild corals so you can show them off to no one

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Go and get your wild corals so you can show them off to no one

Do you want to see corals from the wild for some reason? I can show you pics...if it will calm you down from making a ridiculous thread saying that there is no point in environmental protection. There are too many things to point out for it to be worth it. People likely thought you were kidding.

 

[The_Paradox]

If it makes you feel better of the 19 pieces sold after yours, 15 will probably die within 4 weeks. Ignore the other 4 that will end up in frag racks and propagate a thousand more frags you will see in the future.

If you collect rare coral for an “investment” I can see the original posters point about dilution. Personally I have never purchased a coral that I had never seen before. If I saw a new coral species let’s call it Neonepilepticdeath Smashthatlikephilia, I would not buy it as I would have no idea what kind of care it would need.

Coral hipsters… guess you do see something new every day. Maybe from now on I should only buy corals no one has heard of.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If it makes you feel better of the 19 pieces sold after yours, 15 will probably die within 4 weeks. Ignore the other 4 that will end up in frag racks and propagate a thousand more frags you will see in the future.

If you collect rare coral for an “investment” I can see the original posters point about dilution. Personally I have never purchased a coral that I had never seen before. If I saw a new coral species let’s call it Neonepilepticdeath Smashthatlikephilia, I would not buy it as I would have no idea what kind of care it would need.

Coral hipsters… guess you do see something new every day. Maybe from now on I should only buy corals no one has heard of.

Can you quote where I said I want rare corals?

 

[mizimmer90]

I would strongly disagree with that which is a very common response to wanting anything unique. Wanting the most expensive is vanity. Is wrapping Christmas presents and feeling excited because you got something special vanity and a bad quality? It doesn't really matter though honestly because it's only your opinion that seeking uniqueness (don't name your child something out of the ordinary either or you're seeking attention) is somehow wrong.

Can't you just pretend it's unique? I mean, clearly this has to do with psychology and not the coral lol.

If you never knew what anyone else had, would you feel uncomfortable that you couldn't know if your corals are unique?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Can't you just pretend it's unique? I mean, clearly this has to do with psychology and not the coral lol.

If you never knew what anyone else had, would you feel uncomfortable that you couldn't know if your corals are unique?

It's unique for exactly that reason....I just feel it's unique and that's enough for me...I don't need proof

 

[Danny McElroy]

I've always felt that part of what is truly incredible about this hobby is the fact that you can make every aspect of your tank completely unique and unlike any other. I do support aquacultured corals strongly because of the environmental aspects involved in wild collection of corals but that's pretty much the sole reason. This might not be something that bothers anyone else and many reefers have probably not stopped to think about it but when shops get in shipments here and in similar places, no two pieces are the same and it's very visibly noticeable how unique each piece is. When I look at the available corals, I couldn't care less about seeing the name before looking at what's available. (The names are ridiculously annoying to me too but that's for another rant.) The only reason I'd ever ask the name (meaning genus) is to be sure I can properly care for it. Believe me, regardless of your personal preferences most people have towards certain species of Acropora for example, the chances are high that you'll see a completely different SPS that's so unique it outranks what you thought your favorite coral was. This is different than how the vast majority of shops do things in America and Europe where 20 or so identical small frags are placed in a neat row for you and the next 20 customers to purchase the same coral essentially. A lot of them might as well be clones...that's not special at all to me. I want a unique piece that catches my eye and when I buy it, I own a unique part of the sea I feel is perfect for my tank. Yes, you can still mix the "clone frags" in infinite possibilities, but that's not the same as a unique one of a kind piece. Aquaculture serves a very important purpose for corals but for me at least it removes a very special part of the hobby. You also know half the shops inventory before ever visiting unlike here where you have no idea what species will come in or what they'll look like. How do you guys feel about it?

That's neat and all, however my experience with imported corals is that they have a high mortality rate in the aquarium and often have a lot of pests to deal with. If it were not for this, I would agree with you. The reliability of the aquaculture corals is so much higher, so I have grown weary and given up on imported pieces for this reason.

 

[mizimmer90]

It's unique for exactly that reason....I just feel it's unique and that's enough for me...I don't need proof

Sorry maybe I misunderstand. Is it that you can sometimes look at a polyp of GSP and think, "woah! That's the one, it's so unique, I must have!" Or that if you've never seen GSP before and didn't know how common it was, you'd be satisfied with the uniqueness?

Just to clarify, no judgement on my end but I'm curious because it's an interesting take!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

That's neat and all, however my experience with imported corals is that they have a high mortality rate in the aquarium and often have a lot of pests to deal with. If it were not for this, I would agree with you. The reliability of the aquaculture corals is so much higher, so I have grown weary and given up on imported pieces for this reason.

Part of that may be due to my location...I do like to wait until they've had a little time to get used to captivity before buying them though

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Sorry maybe I misunderstand. Is it that you can sometimes look at a polyp of GSP and think, "woah! That's the one, it's so unique, I must have!" Or that if you've never seen GSP before and didn't know how common it was, you'd be satisfied with the uniqueness?

Just to clarify, no judgement on my end but I'm curious because it's an interesting take!

If I see 5 strawberry shortcake frags at a shop one will appeal to me because it strikes me as more unique. I really don't think it's that uncommon to want a slightly different shapes or branches piece.

 

[mizimmer90]

If I see 5 strawberry shortcake frags at a shop one will appeal to me because it strikes me as more unique. I really don't think it's that uncommon to want a slightly different shapes or branches piece.

Makes sense! Repeating back my understanding, "unique" in this case is on a personal level, which is decoupled from the probability of finding a coral amongst the population. 2 more clarifying questions:

1) do you prefer unique over asthetic? I.e. if 4 of the shortcake frags have gorgeous branching structure (but look common) whereas the other one is unique, but maybe in a jenky way, would you still prefer the unique one for the sake of uniqueness?

2) is this an issue with wild caught vs captive bred, since they have similar chances of this type of uniqueness? Or is the assertions that wild corals have higher likelihood of being unique in these ways?

 

[The_Paradox]

Can you quote where I said I want rare corals?

Can you quote where I said you wanted rare corals? I applied your sentiment to someone, not necessarily, who might want rare coral.

In addition by the contrapositive a coral that is not sold commonly at a Local Fish Store(LFS) is rare.

 

[Peace River]

R2R was founded on the simple premise to develop a warm, friendly, suitable place to gather and discuss this hobby for people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. The “Be Nice” policy is something we take very seriously. This can be especially challenging when we perceive trolling activity - please work to separate the problem from the people and focus on addressing the problem.

We highly encourage healthy debate here and understand not everyone will agree on all issues. In fact, we value healthy and even lively discussion of hobby issues and questions...this actually leads to advancements in our hobby, so we ALL win through these debates. What we will not tolerate is the negativity, name calling, belittling attitude towards other members or the topics being discussed. We are not asking you to cease debating your positions. What we are asking is that you do so in a healthy, respectful manner.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Makes sense! Repeating back my understanding, "unique" in this case is on a personal level, which is decoupled from the probability of finding a coral amongst the population. 2 more clarifying questions:

1) do you prefer unique over asthetic? I.e. if 4 of the shortcake frags have gorgeous branching structure (but look common) whereas the other one is unique, but maybe in a jenky way, would you still prefer the unique one for the sake of uniqueness?

2) is this an issue with wild caught vs captive bred, since they have similar chances of this type of uniqueness? Or is the assertions that wild corals have higher likelihood of being unique in these ways?

1- no, to me in that case the fact that they didn't appear equally beautiful would make the most beautiful one the "unique" one to me...like an outlier but its not based on only one thing I just want my little pieces of art I invest so much time and effort (not to mention money) into to be one of a kind and not something you glance at and then look away because nothing is eye-catching (this refers more to me looking at it than others opinions tbh). A lot of factors can make something unique in my eyes.

2- From my experience working for one of the shops which is hands down one of largest R2R supporters...every member would know their name and then living where probably 90% of corals are either wild caught or not cut into frags of uniform size, shape, or anything else that would make them appear to be very similar, I'd tend to say unless you're buying a VERY large aquacultured piece, wild caught is a good bit more unique from all I've personally seen. Think about all the parameters that affect the appearance of a wild coral vs. an aquacultured colony kept under strict parameters and the same light schedule. The wild corals (most of them) tend to take on different appearances which may be slight or obvious.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

R2R was founded on the simple premise to develop a warm, friendly, suitable place to gather and discuss this hobby for people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. The “Be Nice” policy is something we take very seriously. This can be especially challenging when we perceive trolling activity - please work to separate the problem from the people and focus on addressing the problem.

We highly encourage healthy debate here and understand not everyone will agree on all issues. In fact, we value healthy and even lively discussion of hobby issues and questions...this actually leads to advancements in our hobby, so we ALL win through these debates. What we will not tolerate is the negativity, name calling, belittling attitude towards other members or the topics being discussed. We are not asking you to cease debating your positions. What we are asking is that you do so in a healthy, respectful manner.

You know, this wasn't supposed to be a difficult discussion. I have a feeling people know they're taking things out of context and "editing" key words in their comments I never said. I don't know why it even matters to them. I just wanted to talk about unique appearing corals. If they truly wanted to know what I meant, they would have asked what I meant by "unique". I actually thought this would be an interesting way to share experiences and opinions...

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Can you quote where I said you wanted rare corals? I applied your sentiment to someone, not necessarily, who might want rare coral.

In addition by the contrapositive a coral that is not sold commonly at a Local Fish Store(LFS) is rare.

I didn't realize you were confused by my use of the word...feel free to ask what I mean if your not sure. I thought I was clear in the first post but apparently it was misunderstood.

 

[mizimmer90]

1- no, to me in that case the fact that they didn't appear equally beautiful would make the most beautiful one the "unique" one to me...like an outlier but its not based on only one thing I just want my little pieces of art I invest so much time and effort (not to mention money) into to be one of a kind and not something you glance at and then look away because nothing is eye-catching (this refers more to me looking at it than others opinions tbh). A lot of factors can make something unique in my eyes.

2- From my experience working for one of the shops which is hands down one of largest R2R supporters...every member would know their name and then living where probably 90% of corals are either wild caught or not cut into frags of uniform size, shape, or anything else that would make them appear to be very similar, I'd tend to say unless you're buying a VERY large aquacultured piece, wild caught is a good bit more unique from all I've personally seen. Think about all the parameters that affect the appearance of a wild coral vs. an aquacultured colony kept under strict parameters and the same light schedule. The wild corals (most of them) tend to take on different appearances which may be slight or obvious.

Thanks for the clarifications!

In relation to the moderators comment, I'm hoping my comments aren't perceived as trolling! I'm genuinely interested in spicy takes!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Thanks for the clarifications!

In relation to the moderators comment, I'm hoping my comments aren't perceived as trolling! I'm genuinely interested in spicy takes!

I don't think he meant you...I got frustrated at people who weren't even reading the thread because they wanted to jump on the bandwagon as people do. I welcome your questions. Do they make sense to you? I really didn't think it was that crazy as certain members were acting.

 

[Nano_Man]

Yes I am man enough too apologies for going on a rant on your Thread that was wrong of me . And yes I was starting too rant which normally doesn’t happen but let’s be friends and please show me some good wild corals from your area of the world. This is a friendly group of people at r2r.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yes I am man enough too apologies for going on a rant on your Thread that was wrong of me . And yes I was starting too rant which normally doesn’t happen but let’s be friends and please show me some good wild corals from your area of the world. This is a friendly group of people at r2r.

It's completely fine...no worries...you just felt strongly about a view which wasn't the same as mine and I don't hold any grudge