So.... As I tinker with the tank this weekend I think (well duh... most of us think I think...). In any case I find myself conflicted about a subject that I have a strong feeling for. I try to distance myself and think of the positives and negatives before commenting but well... I'm an outspoken kinda guy.
Tonights thoughts are on frags, frag sellers, coral "farmers", and this whole naming / limited edition thing. On the one hand I think all the spin and intensity around people purchasing, trading, and collecting little fingertip nubs with non-sensical non scientific names keeps the hobby alive. It appeals to the collector, and the ego in all of us.
On the other hand, really folks.... Limited Edition corals? So Mother Nature herself is numbering these right? Are we so cash strapped that we need to chop a living animal into quarter inch chunks for sale and push them under some amazing names that have absolutely nothing to do with what they are? Most of the corals I see for sale / purchase lately are extremely tiny, only a few polyps and a slight chance at making it.
Have we come so far in our "captive propagation" as to push it over the edge? Fragmenting a coral used to be a very good way of propagating the species in captivity thus reducing harm to natural populations, now... it's a method of chopping up living species so small that they dont stand a ghost of a chance of ever becoming a true colony.
I cringe when I think of how many hobbyists tanks I have seen littered with white frag plugs. Nobody truly considers what whill happen when these corals grow and begin to take up space as they are so entranced by how they look under artificially created high temp light. Come on folks we're supposed to be better than that.
end rant....
Happy Easter
I'ma frag me a bunny
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