ebeez
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
- Messages
- 242
- Reaction score
- 216
- Location
- Mississauga, Ontario
- What state or country do you live in
- Canada
As I progress through the hobby of maintaining a marine tank and see all the hobbyists around the world do the same I often think about this.. All the money we put into something we enjoy doing. I love to look at my tank daily and be amazed how I can keep the different inhabitants alive and thriving. It's relaxing and I thoroughly enjoy keeping the occupants in good shape and happy. Protein skimmer, sump, return pumps, circulation pumps, special LED lighting, additives, carbon filters, GFO, etc. Think of the Ecotech Marine Radion XR30 Pro's... an AMAZING piece of equipment!!! $1000 a shot and you could require 1 to 4 units for your tank.
We do everything we need to do to keep the tank in pristine shape. From 20 gallons to 400 gallons we put forth a tremendous effort and expense to ensure the lifecycle of the residents in that tank are full, properly cared for and survive.
Then I think of the oceans that are currently being affected by global warming to which we all we all contribute. Carbon dioxide that is emitted from modern tech, coal burning power plants for energy. Ocean temps rising, Alkalinity getting to levels that cause the common species of the ocean to stop reproducing and/or developing. Corals all around the world bleaching out and dying; reefs that take decades or centuries to grow are being destroyed in a fraction of that time.
The famous Great Barrier Reef is a well-known tourist attraction particularly for Australia and is suffering the fate of increased water temps and pollution. Admittedly Aus relies heavily on coal burning plants for their energy which is part of the problem. So does India, the US, Canada.. these are LARGE contributors.
So if we, the hobbyist, start to notice that our corals in our tank are bleaching out, one of our fish are breathing rapidly or notice behavioral changes in the tank we immediately react and do two things;
1) Look for the cause
2) Rectify the issue
How is it that we cannot do the same for source of this amazing hobby? Granted the size of the tank is a little larger!! :)
Would I take a can of unfinished pop and dump it into 120-gallon tank because it's closer than walking to the sink? "ah the protein skimmer should take care of that"... "I'm done painting the basement now so I'll just rinse of my brush in the tank.. no point in running the water and getting a larger water bill at the end of the month?"
Are these extreme examples.. sure!
The entire ecosystem as we know it can fail and our own existence will be in question. The sources of the underlying issue grows and grows. Burning of fossil fuels versus solar electricity, raw contaminants being dumped directly into the ocean (whether it be by natural disaster or deliberate). Would mankind cease to exists and wither away simply because we made a shift and harnessed alternative methods of power? Or because we implemented legislation to deter the deliberate violation of natural resources and harmful methods of disposal? Probably not.
Please don't get me wrong. I don't sit in the corner of my basement, rocking back and forth in the dark, thinking that big brother is watching me. I'm not a fanatic of any kind. I'm am just looking at what is happening and ask why we can't start to make the correct/alternate decisions. I also know there are tons of other issues in the world today.
It's just my view and 2 cents folks.
We do everything we need to do to keep the tank in pristine shape. From 20 gallons to 400 gallons we put forth a tremendous effort and expense to ensure the lifecycle of the residents in that tank are full, properly cared for and survive.
Then I think of the oceans that are currently being affected by global warming to which we all we all contribute. Carbon dioxide that is emitted from modern tech, coal burning power plants for energy. Ocean temps rising, Alkalinity getting to levels that cause the common species of the ocean to stop reproducing and/or developing. Corals all around the world bleaching out and dying; reefs that take decades or centuries to grow are being destroyed in a fraction of that time.
The famous Great Barrier Reef is a well-known tourist attraction particularly for Australia and is suffering the fate of increased water temps and pollution. Admittedly Aus relies heavily on coal burning plants for their energy which is part of the problem. So does India, the US, Canada.. these are LARGE contributors.
So if we, the hobbyist, start to notice that our corals in our tank are bleaching out, one of our fish are breathing rapidly or notice behavioral changes in the tank we immediately react and do two things;
1) Look for the cause
2) Rectify the issue
How is it that we cannot do the same for source of this amazing hobby? Granted the size of the tank is a little larger!! :)
Would I take a can of unfinished pop and dump it into 120-gallon tank because it's closer than walking to the sink? "ah the protein skimmer should take care of that"... "I'm done painting the basement now so I'll just rinse of my brush in the tank.. no point in running the water and getting a larger water bill at the end of the month?"
Are these extreme examples.. sure!
The entire ecosystem as we know it can fail and our own existence will be in question. The sources of the underlying issue grows and grows. Burning of fossil fuels versus solar electricity, raw contaminants being dumped directly into the ocean (whether it be by natural disaster or deliberate). Would mankind cease to exists and wither away simply because we made a shift and harnessed alternative methods of power? Or because we implemented legislation to deter the deliberate violation of natural resources and harmful methods of disposal? Probably not.
Please don't get me wrong. I don't sit in the corner of my basement, rocking back and forth in the dark, thinking that big brother is watching me. I'm not a fanatic of any kind. I'm am just looking at what is happening and ask why we can't start to make the correct/alternate decisions. I also know there are tons of other issues in the world today.
It's just my view and 2 cents folks.
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