Hobby as a whole: Blessing or curse?

[Greatreefer]

I've been in this hobby sense 1998 and have had my fair share of disasters and catastrophic failures. But, each time I come back again and again. Yet, this time I’m at a crossroads. I really want to build my dream tank and fill it with my dream fish and corals yet, I don’t want to set it up because of the environmental impact that some of the fish and coral collectors pose on our already fragile environment.
I know that over the last several years, there have been significant advancements in both aquaculture and engineering which gives hobbyists the option to buy live rock, corals and fish from vendors who captive breed these various species and make them available to the hobbyists without having the negative environmental impact.

Do you think there will ever come a time where the hobby will be 100% self-sufficient?

 

[Bayou City Reefer]

IT's a blessing!
All in one tanks make it easier to get started.
I used to be afraid of what could go wrong back in the 90s and never got past fresh water , to now , I'm teaching folks how to set up and service their own tanks.

Not to mention all the cool folks I meet at shows, reefer clubs and just bumping into at the LFS.

 

[beaslbob]

I've been in this hobby sense 1998 and have had my fair share of disasters and catastrophic failures. But, each time I come back again and again. Yet, this time I’m at a crossroads. I really want to build my dream tank and fill it with my dream fish and corals yet, I don’t want to set it up because of the environmental impact that some of the fish and coral collectors pose on our already fragile environment.
I know that over the last several years, there have been significant advancements in both aquaculture and engineering which gives hobbyists the option to buy live rock, corals and fish from vendors who captive breed these various species and make them available to the hobbyists without having the negative environmental impact.

Do you think there will ever come a time where the hobby will be 100% self-sufficient?

no

 

[Lionfish Lair]

No, I don't believe our hobby will ever be self-sufficient. How are we going to get breeding programs off the ground if people won't pay an extra $15 for a captive mandarin. To the point where it impacted the program and now there are no captive mandarins. People are not getting kinder as time marches on. If our own aren't acting responsible now, then when?

 

[JMLewis]

Use man made rock, captive bred fish and frags from other reefers and you have no impact on the natural reefs.

Guilt free reefing!

 

[rygh]

Yes, fish and coral collectors have a negative impact.
But the gained awareness and tourism leads to better regulations on fishing, development, and pollution.
Hard to say what the net impact is.
I "HOPE" it is positive. Perhaps wishful thinking, but possible.

A bit like the question on zoos being good or evil.

 

[Wiz]

BLESSING!!!
Not that its a good thing but the reefs are dying anyway from fishing, temp swings, invasive speccies. All kinds of other things. I think eventually having aquicultured corals and fish will be the only method of getting them. Even if the hobby stopped collecting the reefs are on there way out.
That being said I think we should do everything possible to preserve what's left. But I doubt it will stop the inevitable. :-(
I think once a fish is aquicultured the wild harvest of that fish should be stopped. Dont give people another choice. Only aquicultured. They are healthier happier fish anyway for our aquariums.
I absolutely love my reef. I am obsessed with it. Every aspect. Bugs, worms, corals, fish, plants, inverts. I pray we never lose the ability to marvel at one of the greatest natural occurrences in the world. I would have no hope of seeing such things without our hobby. Watching my clowns who finally took to my bta, fragging all of my beautiful colonies, watching my serpent stars and shrimp at night, and counting different species of microfauna. I PRAY it never gets taken from me. What would I do with all that time. Lol

 

[chessplayer86]

This post made me go research about the number of captive bred marine fish, so here it goes for your information:
http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2015/12/22/captive-bred-marine-fish-species-list-2016/

we are getting better in breeding!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

We've been doing awesome stuff, like the yellow tangs. As long as there's funding, there will be a group that tries to unlock the secrets of raising them. Then they're raised, what then? Then they come to market and it's not supported enough to turn a profit. When seahorses were put on the threatened list (did some actually go to red listed? I forget....) all of a sudden we went crazy trying to breed them. Why didn't we do that the time before that? It wasn't until we were backed into a corner, that the heat to breed them were turned up. Within no time at all, the captive seahorse market was born. It wasn't our conscious, it was our want to continue to keep horses. So, yes, before the supply dried up we were trying, but we weren't trying.

So basically, despite their breeding, we're still not buying..... well, not enough to support it like it should be. If there's a captive bred version of the certain fish, the WC version of it should faze itself out. We did well with the clownfish, but I don't see much of that with the rest. Like why are we still selling and buying WC banggai cardinals?

 

[Greatreefer]

Does anyone know of other organizations or websites that specialize in raising and selling captive bred animals?

I just wish more hobbyists and organizations would focus on more on sustainability rather than the latest and greatest hardware. Who will use all the fancy new hardware once all the life stock is gone from the ocean?..

 

[Dtackett]

its not really an either or, its both. its a blessing because we can reverse some of the environmental impact. look at all the coral propagation programs around the world. a lot of those techniques were formed in home aquaria. a curse because in general people will pay 750 bucks for the newest radions, but refuse pay 10-20 bucks more for a captive bred fish... unless its a clownfish then they'll spend 500-1000 on a designer clownfish but still wont spend that extra 10-20 bucks for a captive bred fish. they've got their priorities backwards. then places like the divers den make it worse. people will sit there and search for rare fish that can only be wild caught. chances are if its rare as a wild caught fish its pretty rare in the wild too. maybe we should be leaving those alone...

our hobby, more than almost any other, has the possibility to give back to nature and help to rebuild it, but between government regulations making placing coral on reefs so difficult, collection being cheaper and more profitable, people not willing to pony up the dough for captive bred fish, and the difficulty in enforcing collection practices, I don't see us making any headway.

I feel eventually our hobby will be mostly self sustaining. but I don't think its going to be a choice, I think its going to be forced on us.

 

[Greatreefer]

This is a FANTASTIC response and as I sit here thinking about it I agree with you Dtackett.
I think this hobby has a lot to offer and could be self sustaining if people put their head in the right place.

 

[Greatreefer]

This post made me go research about the number of captive bred marine fish, so here it goes for your information:
http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2015/12/22/captive-bred-marine-fish-species-list-2016/

we are getting better in breeding!

This is a really awesome list. Had no idea that they had made so much progress within the last year or so. Now the only question remains is, where can one buy some of these captive bred fish so these companies can get more support for what they do.

 

[Greatreefer]

We've been doing awesome stuff, like the yellow tangs. As long as there's funding, there will be a group that tries to unlock the secrets of raising them. Then they're raised, what then? Then they come to market and it's not supported enough to turn a profit. When seahorses were put on the threatened list (did some actually go to red listed? I forget....) all of a sudden we went crazy trying to breed them. Why didn't we do that the time before that? It wasn't until we were backed into a corner, that the heat to breed them were turned up. Within no time at all, the captive seahorse market was born. It wasn't our conscious, it was our want to continue to keep horses. So, yes, before the supply dried up we were trying, but we weren't trying.

So basically, despite their breeding, we're still not buying..... well, not enough to support it like it should be. If there's a captive bred version of the certain fish, the WC version of it should faze itself out. We did well with the clownfish, but I don't see much of that with the rest. Like why are we still selling and buying WC banggai cardinals?

That's really sad.

 

[Dtackett]

This is a FANTASTIC response and as I sit here thinking about it I agree with you Dtackett.
I think this hobby has a lot to offer and could be self sustaining if people put their head in the right place.

if the government would get out of making policies for things they don't know about (most of the top officials in the EPA are lawyers who have no real care or knowledge of the environment) and allow our nature preservations, and reef preservation organizations to make the calls on what gets placed where and what collection techniques are allowed, and just allow us to work together, I don't know many reefers who would donate a frag or even a colony to be placed on a natural reef and while we would only be able to place native species and they would have to be QT and inspected prior to placement, we could rebuild our local reefs which would give our local fish more places to breed and live and it would build our local ecosystem back to healthy levels.

 

[cmcoker]

There is a website for Marine fish breeding, I believe anyone can get involved...but been awhile since I looked at it..
http://breedersregistry.org/
From the site:

About The BR

The Breeder's Registry, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is dedicated to collecting and consolidating information about propagating saltwater organisms mainly within closed-system aquaria and publishing new information as well. Much of what is currently known about reproductive behaviors and culturing techniques for marine fishes, especially the "ornamental" aquarium species, has been discovered by "amateur" home aquarists and dedicated small breeding operations.

 

[Greatreefer]

if the government would get out of making policies for things they don't know about (most of the top officials in the EPA are lawyers who have no real care or knowledge of the environment) and allow our nature preservations, and reef preservation organizations to make the calls on what gets placed where and what collection techniques are allowed, and just allow us to work together, I don't know many reefers who would donate a frag or even a colony to be placed on a natural reef and while we would only be able to place native species and they would have to be QT and inspected prior to placement, we could rebuild our local reefs which would give our local fish more places to breed and live and it would build our local ecosystem back to healthy levels.

I think that's only partially true. Due to environmental changes I'm not sure how well captive bred corals would survive in the wild. Without addressing the larger issue of global warming.

 

[Greatreefer]

There is a website for Marine fish breeding, I believe anyone can get involved...but been awhile since I looked at it..
http://breedersregistry.org/
From the site:

About The BR

The Breeder's Registry, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is dedicated to collecting and consolidating information about propagating saltwater organisms mainly within closed-system aquaria and publishing new information as well. Much of what is currently known about reproductive behaviors and culturing techniques for marine fishes, especially the "ornamental" aquarium species, has been discovered by "amateur" home aquarists and dedicated small breeding operations.

I think I've seen that list before or a list like it at some point. Really awesome stuff. Too bad they don't have direct links to vendors who carry or support captive bred species.

 

[Bryce Peterson]

Blessing! Many species we keep may soon be extinct in the wild! Oh, wait, that's bad.....I gues I'm on the fence.

 

[Dtackett]

I think that's only partially true. Due to environmental changes I'm not sure how well captive bred corals would survive in the wild. Without addressing the larger issue of global warming.

global warming was a scam. they call it climate change for a reason now. its a natural cycle the earth goes through, however it seems we are speeding this cycle up.

it would be an uphill battle to restore the reefs and in the beginning it would be a losing battle. but our corals are already adapted to higher temps so the warming of the oceans wouldn't be as much of an issue... short term. I can only guess what would happen long term. our corals are also adapted to parameter swings, as you can imagine a lot of people don't keep very stable systems and yet the coral not only survives, but thrives. it would be very week against parasites and bacteria though. that's where the weekness would come from.

im not saying it would be easy or that we would be able to fully restore even a single reef in our life time, but I would rather try and fail than never try at all.