Philosophical Question: What makes a coral aqua-cultured?

[grassy_noel]

I got into this hobby with a self-challenge to keep an entire reef system taking nothing directly from the ocean, keeping only "captive bred" or "aqua-cultured" livestock. Philosophically I feel this is the long-term future of the hobby and I was curious if it is possible today.

I started my system with dry rock and sand. I've had a relatively easy time sourcing captive bred fish, although there are a limited number of species to choose from. I have had less success when it comes to cleanup crew--I've been able to find captive bred cerith, trochus, and nassarius snails, but very little in the way of crabs, shrimp, sea stars, and other CUC. But my real question is about coral:

What constitutes an aqua-cultured coral?

From my limited knowledge of how the coral supply chain works, I think it goes something like this:

1. A colony of coral is collected from the ocean and sold to a distributor or seller.

2. That colony might be sold "whole" to a hobbyist, or

3. The colony is cut up into small pieces (frags), which are held for a time to heal and/or grow then sold to hobbyists, or

4. Those frags are allowed to "grow out" considerably, adding new polyps, which are then fragged again and those frags are sold to hobbyists.

5. Step 4 repeats for many generations with aqua-culturists selling later generations of corals to other aqual-culturists and hobbyists.​

When in this process can a frag be considered aquacultured?

I think we can all agree that by step 5 we're dealing with an aqua-cultured coral, right?

I'm curious where people draw the line in relation to step 3 and 4?

I had a LFS tell me recently that any frag on a plug is aquacultured, which would include the product of step 3. To me, that's like saying you caught ten fish in the ocean, put them in an aquarium for a while and then sold them and therefore they are captive bred. Personally, I don't think step 3 qualifies.

I'm curious what others' thoughts are on this. Thanks!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

To me aqua-cultured constitutes a product derived from life in captivity, whether that is the offspring from a wild-caught fish, or the frag of a piece of coral collected in the wild. To me a true aqua-cultured coral has been conditioned to life in captivity and grown out enough to have frags cut off of it and sold to hobbyist.

A coral that has just been conditioned to captivity and then sold is not aqua-cultured from my viewpoint, just a wild-caught coral that was taken better care of to ensure it's survival, in the same sense that a fish that has gone through QT at a specialized facility is still considered wild-caught despite being better suited to life in captivity.

 

[BoomCorals]

To me an aquacultured coral means the wild/mariculture mother has been in captivity a minimum of 6 months and has grown and color stabilized for at least 3 months after that, then after being fragged, the frags grow AND maintain the same color as mother. At that point I’d consider those frags aquacultured.

 

[Rispa]

To me an aquacultured coral means the wild/mariculture mother has been in captivity a minimum of 6 months and has grown and color stabilized for at least 3 months after that, then after being fragged, the frags grow AND maintain the same color as mother. At that point I’d consider those frags aquacultured.

This is the best answer I've seen. I'm really glad this thread came up because I've been wondering too.

 

[bobbyM]

Yes, frags that are grown in captivity. That is an aquacultured coral.

I also use it as a representation of my life. Work all day on tanks, corals, fish. come home work on tanks, corals, and fish. THE Aqua-Culture. lol

 

[Scales And Tails Daytona]

I consider my corals aquaculture after they are 3rd or 4th generation. By this time I have had them for at least 6 months to a year. So steps 4 and 5 I my meaning of aquaculture.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Personally I would consider a coral aquacultured if a majority of the growth took place in captivity. For soft corals like mushrooms, this is pretty easy to figure out since soft corals have discrete bodies. For example, I've bought two Ricordea fl, which have split many times since I bought them. While I can't be sure which polyp was the "original" polyp, I would consider them all aquacultured now since I have at least 7 or 8 heads of each. Did one of those heads possibly come from the ocean? Maybe. But the other 7 were grown in captivity. A vast majority of the colony is captive-grown.

It becomes a little trickier when talking about stony corals. I would consider a SPS aquacultured if a majority of the growth took place in captivity. For example, let's say a large acropora colony gets collected from the wild and shipped to a wholesaler. The wholesaler cuts the colony into 1" - 2" pieces and glues them to frag plugs. These frags then go on sale. I would not consider these frags to be aquacultured. However, say a vendor bought one of the 2" frags at MACNA. The vendor put the coral in their grow-out system and the coral grew to be about 5 inches tall and wide. The vendor then cuts that coral into a dozen or so 1" - 2" frags. I would consider all of those frags aquacultured, since a majority of the growth took place in captivity.

Now, how do you figure that out? I don't know but those are my guidelines. If a majority of the coral was grown in captivity, even if the parent came from the ocean, I'm willing to call it aquacultured.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I'd say through step 4 at least. Aquaculture requires that the coral has adapted to life in captivity for at least a couple of generations IMO.

 

[slicko]

You cannot use “aquacultured” if you are not completing the life cycle in closed non connected to the ocean system, so aquaculture means to me as per the definition of aquaculture is to spawn and raise the coral in a closed system not connected to the ocean.

 

[PhreeByrd]

IMO the mother colony or coral, no matter how long it's been kept in captivity, would never be considered to be aquacultured. Frags from the mother colony, however, even though they may have come directly from the mother, were 'created' (or at least 'initiated') in captivity, and I consider them aquacultured. Considering that the children (as will be all future generations) are clones of the mother though, the area is pretty gray. It seems rather pointless to say that at generation 3 (or whatever), the coral is 'aquacultured', since it is still absolutely and directly a part of the mother. In that sense, generation 2 is no different from generation 8 apart from the amount of time they've been in captivity, which is actually pretty irrelevant, all other things being equal.

Now, if we're talking about spawned offspring, we have a completely different situation from fragged offspring. I see no gray area there at all. Generation 2 is aquacultured.

Placing absolute time frames on things also seems pretty pointless. Every coral is different, and time is relative.

 

[BoomCorals]

You cannot use “aquacultured” if you are not completing the life cycle in closed non connected to the ocean system, so aquaculture means to me as per the definition of aquaculture is to spawn and raise the coral in a closed system not connected to the ocean.

By that definition then, there are currently no aquacultured sps available to home reefers.

 

[slicko]

By that definition then, there are currently no aquacultured sps available to home reefers.

Correct. Thats why no one should be claiming 100% aquacultured etc like you see everywhere..

 

[BoomCorals]

Correct. Thats why no one should be claiming 100% aquacultured etc like you see everywhere..

Sorry I’d just have to disagree with you then.

 

[slicko]

Sorry I’d just have to disagree with you then.

But you will be only protecting your claims, unless ofcourse you are closing the life cycle in captivity like the true meaning of aquaculture? If so well done too you! Until then stick too “cultured” “chopshop” “frags” etc etc

 

[sde1500]

But you will be only protecting your claims, unless ofcourse you are closing the life cycle in captivity like the true meaning of aquaculture? If so well done too you! Until then stick too “cultured” “chopshop” “frags” etc etc

I think most would disagree with your definition. What difference does it make if the coral spawns to reproduce, or someone buys s frag from a sellers wild colony and grows it out to frag themselves?

 

[dz6t]

I think the word spawn is the issue. So far coral in captive are propagated via fragmentation, which is a legit cloning process. By definition, the new growth from fragments are considered aquacultured as the new polyps are entirely generated in captive.
However, the mother colonies from the ocean should never be considered aquacultured no matter how long they stay in captive.

 

[PhreeByrd]

You cannot use “aquacultured” if you are not completing the life cycle in closed non connected to the ocean system, so aquaculture means to me as per the definition of aquaculture is to spawn and raise the coral in a closed system not connected to the ocean.

That's a pretty narrow and restrictive view. Wild corals on the reefs are regularly redistributed and regrown by fragmentation; the life cycle does not always require spawning. Why shouldn't the same rules apply to captive reefs?

 

[slicko]

I think most would disagree with your definition. What difference does it make if the coral spawns to reproduce, or someone buys s frag from a sellers wild colony and grows it out to frag themselves?

Disagree with the definition of aquaculture? Well im not mad i don’t make the definition im just protraying the fact. When you aquaculture fish you Don’t snip the fin off and grow another one from the fin ofcourse it makes a difference, especially if you start to market your business as an “aquaculture” bussiness this is when facts need to be correct to protect and portray your bussiness in the correct way.

That's a pretty narrow and restrictive view. Wild corals on the reefs are regularly redistributed and regrown by fragmentation; the life cycle does not always require spawning. Why shouldn't the same rules apply to captive reefs?

I don’t believe its narrow and restricted way of looking at it, aquaculture has a definition and that is to close the life cycle of the animal in captivity to supply a market,

 

[BoomCorals]

Disagree with the definition of aquaculture? Well im not mad i don’t make the definition im just protraying the fact. When you aquaculture fish you Don’t snip the fin off and grow another one from the fin ofcourse it makes a difference, especially if you start to market your business as an “aquaculture” bussiness this is when facts need to be correct to protect and portray your bussiness in the correct way.



I don’t believe its narrow and restricted way of looking at it, aquaculture has a definition and that is to close the life cycle of the animal in captivity to supply a market,

I am unable to find any formal official source that indicates aquaculture means coral spawning. There is no "formal" definition, it's whatever we as a reefing community accept or define as aquacultured. In fact the only definition I have found of aquaculture is "the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food". Well, corals are considered animals, not plants. And the definition of rearing is to "raise or care for until fully grown". Nowhere in there does it say this requires coral spawning full life cycle. If you have a formal source for this definition that requires full spawning in captivity please do post it.

edit: And on that note, definitions of words are often changed by people/communities/public - and eventually the "formal" sources catch up.

 

[sde1500]

Disagree with the definition of aquaculture? Well im not mad i don’t make the definition im just protraying the fact. When you aquaculture fish you Don’t snip the fin off and grow another one from the fin ofcourse it makes a difference, especially if you start to market your business as an “aquaculture” bussiness this is when facts need to be correct to protect and portray your bussiness in the correct way.



I don’t believe its narrow and restricted way of looking at it, aquaculture has a definition and that is to close the life cycle of the animal in captivity to supply a market,

Can you provide that definition then? Because I'm not seeing one that says you have to get the coral to spawn.