Hot and Heavy Topic of the Week!

[schminksbro]

I haven't counted the polyps on this rack but it is certainly in the thousands. Each frag was grown from a single polyp. Zoas are basically weeds. They want to grow. Given decent conditions they quickly go from one polyp to many.

I would just like to see as much involvement, activity and input in one zoanthid forum at large..period. It seems this topic and one other are the only ones which garner as many replies.

I typed my opinion on this topic lastnight. Didn't realize it was so long, so maybe I'll just settle for posting some pictures.

Mucho Reef

PS. Has anyone here grown a single polyp frag into a large mother colony of at least 50 or 60 polyps? I have some pics to share later this evening. Thanks

[MUCHO REEF]

Yes, I saw that picture a few days ago, nice. I have grown thousands of them for about 18 years now and they do grow fast in the right conditions and when left alone. I don't consider them a weed at all though. But I still want to see a 50 to 100 polyp parent colony on a 4 x 4 inch mother rock grown from a single polyp. Nothing against the frags, I just want to see all of the ones that everyone has grown from a single polyp frag as I think it would be great to see. And no that is not a slap or an insult by any means to anyone. Keep up the good work.

Here's an example of what I'm looking for. This is a colony from Melev



Thanks everyone

PS. Ok, sorry Mallorie, lets get your thread back on track. Lets forget about the pic request. My apologies Mallorie

[Jarred1]

Mucho that is an awesome rock!

[MUCHO REEF]

No No, it's not mine. I'm not into taking the best pic, so I went to grab one of Mels. Ok, lets get back on topic, OK?




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Hot and Heavy Topic of the Week!


Hey everyone,
I wanted to do an ethical topic every week to talk CALMLY about issues in our hobby and what we can do to try and fix some problems. I'm going to do a new topic every week until I can't think of anymore. Some rules:
1. Don't attack each other, this is meant to show our points of view, not to call names or get banned.
That's all the rules. lol.

So, today's topic is this.

One huge issue I have is that people aren't viewing corals as LIVING creatures. These are animals and sensitive animals at that. I have had enough of seeing people treat these animals like crap. These aren't plants (heck, I treat my plants better than some treat their corals). I would never cut one of my orchids into two pieces if there were only two pieces of it to begin with, it stresses the plant out so bad that the next new growths are stunted. So, why so we want to cut up corals that are tiny for even smaller frags? Is it the money? Is it the look of having a ton of different corals? What is it?

Please only reply if you have something to contribute that isn't rude. Thanks!

[larryandlaura]

Wow nice colonies!

[jimsflies]

@MUCHO REEF , @MyNemesis 's post seems to be pretty close to what you are looking for... no?

[MUCHO REEF]

Again I really want to put Mallorie's thread back on course here. Sorry again Mal.

________________________________________________

Hot and Heavy Topic of the Week!


Hey everyone,
I wanted to do an ethical topic every week to talk CALMLY about issues in our hobby and what we can do to try and fix some problems. I'm going to do a new topic every week until I can't think of anymore. Some rules:
1. Don't attack each other, this is meant to show our points of view, not to call names or get banned.
That's all the rules. lol.

So, today's topic is this.

One huge issue I have is that people aren't viewing corals as LIVING creatures. These are animals and sensitive animals at that. I have had enough of seeing people treat these animals like crap. These aren't plants (heck, I treat my plants better than some treat their corals). I would never cut one of my orchids into two pieces if there were only two pieces of it to begin with, it stresses the plant out so bad that the next new growths are stunted. So, why so we want to cut up corals that are tiny for even smaller frags? Is it the money? Is it the look of having a ton of different corals? What is it?

Please only reply if you have something to contribute that isn't rude. Thanks!

[jimsflies]

Apparently not

[Jarred1]

This statement is spot on. I have been in this hobby for quite some time. I have seen the days before fragging and after. I have seen the days before naming and after. IMHO this hobby is healthier than it has ever been. It has grown from a "cult" hobby to almost a mainstream hobby. This growth has increased the dollars available in the hobby which has given the industry incentive to research, develop, create and improve.
The quality and variety of livestock available is also better than that of ever before.
Over the years I have cultivated many friendships with many reefers. Most of my closest friends have reefs grown in from frags. I find it troublesome when I hear or read statements implying that "nobody grows out colonies" or "everyone frags because their just greedy". I have had countless experiences with fellow reefers tossing me a frag "just because" and I have done the same many times. I feel that blanket statements such as those above tend to foster ill will and can be divisive within the community.
I run a LFS and I routinely tell people to hold off on a freshly cut coral until it heals a bit. While selling coral clearly helps the store, I am also a hobbyist. I want people to be successful. That said if you choose to buy a freshly cut frag and then it dies is the seller really the one to blame? IMO the buyer has a responsibility in choosing their livestock. Just like they have the responsibility of knowing the water they are putting the coral in is going to give that coral the best chance of survival.

That is something I can agree with, we as hobbiest should know what to look for to show that coral has had time to heal. But if there were more LFS like you, beginner hobbiest would stay in the hobby more than a year and that is another reason why there aren't many colonies, you can only get so much growth out of a new tank in a year.

Hope it all makes sense, just woke up.

[rmalone]

I would agree that some folks at the lfs, are just looking for a sale. But I think they are the minority. I have stood looking at fish and coral at the lfs, and listened in on conversations. Usually it goes like this.

Employee, "That item really isn't appropriate for your tank"
Customer, "yeah but thats really the item I like"
Employee, "I really doubt it's going to do well in your tank, I can show you some other items that would be more appropriate"
Customer, "ohhh, I think we'll just give this one a shot, it cant be that hard, bag it up."

There really isn't much anyone at the lfs can do about this. They can refuse to bag it up, part with the sale, and never see that customer again. Or they can bag it up, with one more warning that success is a long shot, and hope the customer doesn't kill the critter. And when they do kill it, hope the customer realizes the mistake was on them and that the customer takes the financial loss for the decision. Most often however, the customer blames the lfs that it didn't work out and demands their money back.

The above situation is a primary driver of high costs at the lfs, one reason a $10 frag from another reefer is $25 at the lfs.

Ultimately a reefers success is wholly and entirely dependent upon the owner of the tank. You as the customer have the responsibility to research what your doing. Don't just rely on the person at the lfs, don't just rely on one reply to a thread you started. LEARN, learn and then learn some more. RESEARCH, research, blah, blah, blah, you get the picture. Caveat Emptor, learn it, live it and live with it. If a fish doesn't look quite right, don't buy the dang thing. Same with a closed up sorry looking little frag of nothing, JUST DONT BUY IT.

Sorry about all the caps, kind of cheesy, I'll go for italics next time, lol.