Aquacultures

all the xenia i sell to my lfs is on reef bones.its dead lr but after a few wks in my tank its lr and i only pay $2 a pound.i break it into 4 inch peices and grow like 5 stalks on each.sometimes i just rip it off the rock or glass and give it to them.also some stores sell the skeletons from lps or sps corals that die in their tanks for like $2 per skeleton.they make great frag plugs.i hate to buy plugs,they are an eye sore,just does'nt look natural.

 

double post

 

There is no 100% way to tell if they are aquacultured or not, the only thing you can go by is their word. If its on a plug or disk, make sure its encrusted on it and not just glued to it, that shows that it has been on the plug/disk and in a tank for atleast a little while which would give you better odds then buying something that you can clearly see has been recently glued. Another way you can tell is they will be brighter colored. Most things from the wild are dull looking and not colored up but if they aquacultured under the wrong lighting for that particular coral, they can still be dull looking as well.

It goes back to what Tangy said about knowing your dealer. There are way to many places that get something in and have it available for sale the same day, so who knows what kind of surprises you will also be getting ESPECIALLY if its wild collected. In my personal experience I have got a few surprises from wild collected and aquacultured corals over the years, and most were not welcome.

 

Another thing... The places that mass produce aquacultured corals... They dont have the time nor the help to personally inspect each individual frag they sell. Thats how parasites and other hitchhikers get spread around. They dont do it on purpose they just assume that what they are selling is healthy livestock, but there are a few that do check everything and guarantee their stock. Thats why you always dip and quarantine EVERYTHING you get. Dips only kill what is hatched already, not eggs.

 

I don't trust many of them Like there is one HUGE retailer of Live stock and dry goods that never see what is sold in their name places like that I'd stay away from you pay them then they pay the supplier then its drop shipped to you from the supplier in the retailers name LIL Nope My name goes on it I know what it is.. Every coral I have and its about 400 of them I have grown myself with my eye on them everyday.. I sat and waited to get them to where they are now over the last 9 months from tiny frags to some nice colonies now..

Even my LAPS corals I grew them from tiny heads mounted on plugs to the point that they are covered in new little heads shooting up. And I just built a set of special size acrylic tanks on a double stand that all will be kept in for 45 to 60 day's quarantine before shipping out. Right now I just have a smaller system I isolate them in before hand thats why supply is limited and not doing a lot of advertising /talking yet . But there is nothing at our shop I'd not drop right into my systems here at home. And I know we have not added a single new parent colony of coral since I have been handling the propagation part of the company.. But its hard doing it like this lots of time and work for small rewards .. But I know ours are clean and healthy.. and all totally aqua cultured in house.

 

We have quite a few LFS here and I've asked each one if any of their corals are aquacultured. It is clear that they have absolutely no clue and oh so obvious when they start stuttering and stumbling around while telling me that they are. NOT!

But, I think I'm all set up. I am going the frag route, for I agree with you that it would be much more fun and more rewarding to watch them grow into giant beauties. I also really don't want to take anything from the ocean, it that's at all possible. That aspect of reefing is so contradictory. Based on my observations, most of the folks on 3Reef are all ocean lovers, yet may be forced from time to time to purchase something that was collected from the very place we love and want to see survive and thrive.

Anyway, the frag route's the road for me. Thanks, Scott! :biggrinbo

 

Tangster has solved my problem, I'm gonna buy his frags. The LFS ain't gettin none of my money (at least for coral : ). Who'da thought that the industry could be so unscrupulous.

 

usually if the lfs frags and mounts pieces of coral onto a plug you can usually see the mounting glue!!!if it is sps coral look for growth onto the plug..if it is lps you cant really tell if it is aquacultured...for lps i usually culture frags myself....

 

You raise a good point. However, if we are not careful about how much and how often, there will be nothing left to support those families. It's all about responsibility and a lot less about greed. I don't believe that aquacultured corals will have much of an impact - many people don't care and others have no clue. Thankfully, I believe your observation to be correct, most of the 3Reefers do care and that's one of the many things that make this sight so spectacular.