Reef Discussion

[Franklin Dattein]

Let me throw some fuel in the fire:
Do you think sustainability is the main reason to promote reduction no wild collection?
My answer was YES, for many years. These days, with more access to information, specially on global warming, I am on the fence.

In fact - based on the speed that reefs are bleaching - I wouldn't be surprised if in a few decades, the captivity propagation research that's been done now, purely for commercialisation and profit, will actually enable wild reefs to be repopulated.

 

[Coralfarmer]

Let me throw some fuel in the fire:
Do you think sustainability is the main reason to promote reduction no wild collection?
My answer was YES, for many years. These days, with more access to information, specially on global warming, I am on the fence.

In fact - based on the speed that reefs are bleaching - I wouldn't be surprised if in a few decades, the captivity propagation research that's been done now, purely for commercialisation and profit, will actually enable wild reefs to be repopulated.

We have spoken with gbrmpa on restoration projects and the answer is flat out no..... But mabe once the reefs are completely decimated..... Mabe...

 

[dimitri]

We have spoken with gbrmpa on restoration projects and the answer is flat out no..... But mabe once the reefs are completely decimated..... Mabe...

it's to late at that point, why not help now and ease the problem?

or are these people just complete morons?

 

[Coralfarmer]

it's to late at that point, why not help now and ease the problem?

or are these people just complete morons?

Im gonna go with morons

 

[dimitri]

well that is disheartening.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

@Wrangy, I saw your second post on FB but I didn't get around to commenting so here are my thoughts.

I consider myself to be on a pretty tight budget when it comes to this hobby but if the frags are of a similar size to the picture you used I would happily pay $20-$30 for one. $35 would certainly be my upper limit and I wouldn't go that high unless I really wanted it but I would consider it on occasion. Overall I would certainly prefer to buy frags over colonies. I think the sense of achievement from growing out frags (especially aquacultured ones) would be miles greater than just filling a tank with colonies and I don't mind paying a bit more.

An issue with aquacultured frags however for me is my remote location (Darwin doesn’t have a LFS) so if I have $100 to spend on frags then I can't get 4, I can only get 2-3 depending on shipping costs - which are usually outrageous. And when you think about spending $100 on 2-3 frags then it's getting quite out of my budget. But I am finding more and more reefers up here and in those cases group buys are always a possibility :)

 

[MaccaPopEye]

@Coralfarmer I had a read through your thread on RC and it's pure awesome. I think what you are doing is great and really hope that in the future (the sooner the better) gbrmpa pull their heads out of their asses and start allowing restoration projects and mariculture before it's too late.

I do have a question for you though, I saw that a few times you have stated that you only ship to retailers which I think may be to keep the local guys in business (if so good on you) and maybe also to avoid small orders that aren't worth your time. Up here in Darwin we don't have a LFS that sells coral, any way to get any of your frags at all? If you are willing then I could talk to the other local reefers to see if there was any interest, depending on your frags cost and shipping of course.

 

[Bataviacoralfarm]

I wouldn't know, we don't get any coral imports. Not allowed too, sometimes the collectors do a sneaky and go a little a little further than they should but aside from that there isn't any foreign corals here aside from r. florida but everyone keeps them on the down low!
It is funny that people are so picky especially when you still get similar/the same level of quality just from a different location!


Holy shit, it's a fair old whack of equipment needed but then again it's what it takes and it's not a cheap venture to get into! We do have blackouts on the occasion and the power can be fairly inconsistent so backups are completely necessary when drawing off the mains! Solar would reduce this further but you still wouldn't want to run a system without them!


Thanks for joining in Jerram! :) At least on the bright side of your setup you don't have to worry about pumps, heaters, chillers and lighting! lol I love seeing your pics on facebook! The racks look absolutely fantastic!
It's actually really good to see a huge mariculture effort going on as I don't think anyone else is doing it(?), I would love to get some of the corals you have going! They look fantastic :) I might hit you up once you're happy shipping out to Vic ;)

Any time Wrangy when I get my s?;/t in a pile
With the mariculture you do get the odd school of Parrot Fish which can be quite devasting in there carnage