Do you see your corals as pets?

[Alexopora]

What’s your relationship with your corals? Do you see them as pets, or just plants (that happen to be animals)? Do you see them as live decoration for the tank?

…Do you, erm, talk to your corals?

I wouldn’t say talk to them. I barely talk to my fish as well. But I’d say I treat them the same way I treat my fish. So I’d say I do see them as pets more than plants.

 

[Thunder_reef]

I’m gonna say this and not try to sound crazy but I see them as pets. They may not be the same as my dog but I have made a choice to care for both of them and I take it as a responsibility. I believe that we are privileged to have the ability to care for such beautiful corals and fish and that we should honor that. It’s ok if you don’t see it as I do, that just my view. It’s one of the more difficult issues I deal with at work. Folks buy things that they have no idea how to care for, and there is only so much we can do to educate them in the short time they are there. That really bothers me sometimes.

 

[Eienna]

All my reef creatures are pets to me (when I have any...it's been a while.) Yes, I talk to them XD

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I definitely see them more as pets than plants, I have plants and I'm not nearly as excited to see them grow as when I see a new head of something in the reef! I've always felt like I'm keeping a bunch of psychedelic deep space aliens. Honestly I'm only slightly more invested in the fish than the corals emotionally but honestly I'm pretty much just as devastated to loose a favourite fish or a favourite coral.

Great question, loving this discussion!

 

[OU812Reefing]

What’s your relationship with your corals? Do you see them as pets, or just plants (that happen to be animals)? Do you see them as live decoration for the tank?

…Do you, erm, talk to your corals?

Corals and fish and all the living things in my tank are Pets.

 

[Tired]

I'd agree with the general sentiment of "more like plants". The anemones are sort of borderline, since they're a lot more responsive to food, which is nice.

 

[Eienna]

I've had only planted tanks for the last few years, and when I moved this last time I had to leave them all behind. Someone commented "You're holding that plant like it's your baby." I was just like...yeah...

 

[HomebroodExotics]

My fish I consider pets, the corals I consider more like plants. But I'm not afraid to talk to a coral and give it a little pep talk or congrats every now and then.

 

[G Santana]

Definitely equate them to plants, buy, nurture and hope they grow.

 

[killer2001]

If you aren't talking to your fish/corals, what are you doing with your life???

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Lol plants to me. Yes they're animals but more like.live plants to me. Lol.
I'm a broadcast feeder not a target feeder.
D

 

[Dierks]

What’s your relationship with your corals? Do you see them as pets, or just plants (that happen to be animals)? Do you see them as live decoration for the tank?

…Do you, erm, talk to your corals?

Nope... I do really enjoy watching them grow though. To me I would put them in the same class as plants or trees... But I don't feel the same about my corals as I do my fish!

 

[Julbra]

We talk to our fish but not our corals. Probably because corals don’t have a face, nor ears and they poop through their mouth. They are pets still, just not the cuddly type.

 

[i cant think]

To me… I think of them as cacti. The amount of times I either get stung or grazed by them is shocking. But this is coming from someone who dropped a bristleworm on their leg and ended up wondering why it itched the next morning.

 

[Fishy888]

Corals are every bit as much a pet to me as the fish or the dog. So are all the inverts down to the lowest ranking copepod in the reef. No, I don't take the corals for walks and my pods can't fetch my slippers but they give me a comfort most can't appreciate unless they're reefers too. Needless to say I love our dog but that's a different animal... pun intended. He also brings us comfort but a different kind.

 

[NanoJHB]

I think it takes a while to see a coral as a pet.

A general quick view of the tank and they look like brightly colour plants but if you sit watching the tank for a while, you start to see their intricacies and "life".

Nothing fascinates me more than watching the corals react to feedings, watch each little polyp move in the current, opening and closing depending on how it feels.

I love watching the tank once the lights come on, each coral opening up from the night before and puffing up.

Definitely pets for me

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

A pet. Animal not plant. Like a dog. Love, nurture, teach and hugs... what?!?! I mean.... uhm... "SIT..coral! ... "STAY." "whose a good boy?"

 

[NanoJHB]

A pet. Animal not plant. Like a dog. Love, nurture, teach and hugs... what?!?! I mean.... uhm... "SIT..coral! ... "STAY." "whose a good boy?"

Anemones aren't great at "sit and stay". I've failed at training them one too many times lol

 

[Tamberav]

No, not pets. Just like a colony of bacteria or mold spores are not pets.

I am not crazy!!

Plus cutting off frags of your pets just sounds wrong.

“Ah, Billy. What is wrong? You don’t look as fluffy today”. Billy the coral remembers you slicing off his appendage last week… he’s still mad and giving you the silent treatment.

They are not pets, not plants, they are corals.

 

[Royce White]

I talk to them but they don't listen.