Anthony Calfo's Wake-up Call

[DeepBlue]

I am only hoping that when trends move on to another ...care for the corals remains there, not just pushed aside to make space for other trendy ones. Personally, I am not totally bothered by the trends as long as we still stand by responsible reef keeping in this hobby

[roidan]

actually, off topic, but would we agree generally that this hobby does more harm to nature than it does good? like we are wasting additional, unnecessary resources as implied by the author also.

ok, we can talk about using this hobby a platform to create public awareness to appreciate nature at sea and so on...

but ever wondered how many fishes/corals/organisms have died in the hobby compared to the number that were able to thrive in fewer hands?

this can be a spin-off separate discussion....that the idea that we are destroying more by this hobby rather than saving is beginning to sink in...

[AlfaRomeo]

I, for one, was never under the impression that we are saving instead of wasting resources and killing the reefs. I think for every fish that is alive and thriving today in sumone's tank, 10 other fishes had to die? 1/2 when the collectors are holding the stock and shipping it to the wholesalers overseas. 1/4 dies in the holding facilities of the wholesalers and LFS. Another 1/4 dies in hobbyist tanks. If the fishes were not caught, maybe 8 out of 10 will still be alive out there in the deep blue sea?

Of course, taken in context, the damage that we do is insignificant when compared to natural calamities or reclamation and pollution. Humans is also the cause of all this with our endless greed and envy for material things and comfort.

Only the exceptional few have 'reefs' that are awe-inspiring and thus help to create public awareness in a very very limited way. Wanna save the reefs and create public awareness? Join a nature society and hold exhibitions and awareness talks. Not keep marine tanks at home which only a very few can see and appreciate.

[roidan]

ahhh... this point would always appear to mitigate the damage we are doing in comparison to the devastation of natural disasters.

But look at it this way:

Natural disaster devastation + Hobby-induced devastation

take away or reduce the hobby part and overall destruction will be lesser, no doubt. We cannot say that since there are natural disasters that wipe out reef ecosystems, we can close a blind eye on what we humans and hobbyists are doing. We cannot stop the natural phenomenons, but we can surely curb ourselves to a less destructive level than nature.

sigh....sad man...i don't want a day where we can only see remaining yellow tangs in public aquariums because no more left in the wild

see the way alfa has followed the process of collection, will we come to a point where we are killing more fishes than natural predators or mother nature?

So will we give up this hobby now knowing we are doing more bad than good? Or are we still in this hobby to satisfy our personal desires with no regard to what is happening out there.

Tough choice man....easier said than done especially for what many of us have put into this hobby.

But what about dissuading new entries into this hobby? just kidding...we got no right to say we can continue what we are doing and yet discourage newcomers.

spin-off spin-off

[AlfaRomeo]

Good Point Roidan:

Natural disaster devastation + Hobby-induced devastation = Potential for extinction of the Human race?

Why the above? Natural disasters are manifested by Humans and their activities. Not a fault of Mother Nature but just a consequence of our actions (Hobby and ex-hobby)

Like what Agent Smith says in The Matrix:

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague."

[AlfaRomeo]

BTW, Where are the rest of the mental sparring participants? Is the forum so devoid of such ppl and only meant for showing off what cool LS and equipment we just purchased as a means of social pressure and outlandish and ridiculous competition? hehehehe

Come on ppl, get involved and get your remaining active brain matter ticking before it all dies away.

[DeepBlue]

BTW, Where are the rest of the mental sparring participants? Is the forum so devoid of such ppl and only meant for showing off what cool LS and equipment we just purchased as a means of social pressure and outlandish and ridiculous competition? hehehehe

we work........ maybe later when boss not looking...... (looking suspicious and typing doc at the same time)

[AlfaRomeo]

Good point! but can still post? hehehe

[Gouldian]

For me, I feel that A. Calfo's point boils down to 2 words "Indiscriminate Buying".

Often we see people buying for the sake of buying, buying because another guy is buying, buying because its on sale, buying because everyone has it, buying because it is rare, buying because it just ship-in, buying because no one else has it, buying because..... no reason, just buy loh.

And this problem does not happens to marine only, it happens Everywhere.

But for the Marine hobbyist, I feel that we have the responsibilty! Especially when we are dealing with nature that we know so little about.

I still can remember back in the early 80s whereby we are so impressed with a marine tank with dead corals and a couple of damsels swimming around.

Within a span of 20yrs the Marine Hobby has progresses so tremendously to the extent that we are now keeping sps, fishes that were thought to be sure DOA! All these could not have happens without the continous efforts by our pioneers!

Efforts to continuously search for a better solution and efforts to protect and prevent any unnecessary destruction of the Reefs. If the conservation process is not done - I am sure it would now be illegal to keep marine tanks!

Herewith is a statement I strongly stand by "Reefs, like forests, will only be protected in long term if they are appreciated"

Eric H. Borneman

But in order to let the rest of the generations that comes after us to "Appreciate", we need to be resposible reefers that do not sway with trends and buy stocks and equipments indiscriminately to the extent that we create fools out of oursleves.

I can still remember a incident whereby I am outside one LFS. A family passes by and one of the child wanted their daddy to get them some marine fish and guess what........ The father pointed at the shop and said, "Son, these are the reefs murderers"!

[Achilles Tang]

Ouch. Reef murderers.

[DeepBlue]

as I move on from this place...I leave a trail of fish bones and coral skeletons....

[flubberina13]

I can still remember a incident whereby I am outside one LFS. A family passes by and one of the child wanted their daddy to get them some marine fish and guess what........ The father pointed at the shop and said, "Son, these are the reefs murderers"!

How profoundedly true, the words that spelt, to a certain extent.

We have to ask ourselves, do we buy corals in order to be a trendsetter? Do we jump into the hobby because of trends or one's passion? How we felt when we lose a fish? How we felt when we lose a coral? Is it just monetary pains or intrinsic emotions when that happens?

I would try to advocate responsible reefing practices and extensive research before jumping into an unknown coral or fish but alas...how many fish have died in thy hands...how many corals have perished in thy care...I stand guilty and charged as said...

[Dispar_Anthias]

Pengz... my D70 is bought primary for my other hobby and just happens to work well for the reef tank too

pengz den i abit too ks liao... lol

[blueheaven]

I have noticed such things happening since I have been into this hobby and its only that no one has the courage to bring it up. I can still remember when I started this hobby, it was purely out of interest and at that time the industry is blooming with the release of "Finding Nemo".

Like what many have said or discriminated about the show, that it had created a massive surge of people wanting to keep marine fish, I beg to differ. Its obvious that the show bears the message that collection from reefs are a wrong thing to do. So why do people still have that urge despite the message? No one knows.

So in 2003, you can see that SRC has shot up in its membership and now in 2005, although we have over 3000 members, how many do you think still visits the club?

In the article, Anthony Calfo mentioned that people are buying monster skimmers in which the power consumed and the cost induced make up for only about 20% increase in efficiency. Not very substantial. Like some points mentioned here, its all about evolution. Before needlewheels hit the US market, Becketts are in the fad. Why? Its simply because Becketts are outperforming many other skimmers in the market at that time. So when a reefer decides that his tank is receiving an increasing bioload, its only natural that he upgrades his stuff. So at that time, the only form of upgrading is to get bigger, more powerful becketts. But majority of the reefers do not realise that other than buying expensive, power hungry skimmers, they can also choose to improve the efficiency of the skimmers by using a different design which saves on cost. So when the needlewheels hit the US, people start to realise that that skimmer consumes less and works equally as well. So can this be considered a trend?

As for corals, it is even more significant here. I can still remember that when I came into the hobby, an anemone would cost as much as $40-50 but when you look at it now, it can be found at a quarter of the price. Some goes to elegance corals. I had one which cost me $16 in my previous tank but there was a time the price shot up to $30-40 a specimen. I agree with some points mentioned here that people start to buy a certain species of corals due to 2 factors. One is when a prominent reefer has got a specimen and does a lot of "publicity" about it that due to the herding instinct that another reefer wants to get one for himself without considering other factors such as the conditions needed to ensure its survival. Another factor is that prople buy a certain species of corals in order to be trendsetters. These people may also be the cause of the former. And both actions fuel the industry and urges the supplier to get the supplies. And then again, reefers and suppliers cease to realise that an alternative to getting coral specimens can be achieved by propagation which I would not discuss here. I am 100% sure that if anyone was asked about previous fads on a certain coral, he would be able to name not one but a few.

So in the end, we must think. Are all these trends the result of unscupulous dealers? Are reefers considered to be the innocent flock which fall prey to exaggerated publicity? Who is the mastermind, the source which powers all the actions taking place? The dealer or the reefer?

[DeepBlue]

to be very frank...there is nothing wrong to show corals that you like. Its a hobby, hobbyist do that. They drive their newly mod cars to club gatherings, they post their collecton to let other hobbyist who shared the passion to take a look. If the forum does not fulfill this aspect, might as well make it an info site with lots of FAQ only.

I dont recall seeing a reefer post a pic of a coral and urge the rest to go get one... MAJORITY of the reefers here just show what they got and some forms of conversation are created ....

As I said, let's not be over reactive and defensive and do what some of us do best -finger pointing ... let's relook at our OWN passion for the hobby and try not to lose focus why we are in this hobby.

[blueheaven]

Yeah, maybe I am still too young to understand society

[DeepBlue]

true true..... everyone is entitled their own opinion of things....I'm sure Anthony Calfo's pts are valid.....

But I just felt we dun have to feel too bad about it or even go out and be nasty to reefers who really enjoyed what they do for the hobby. It's their way of enjoying the hobby, cheonging LFS, finding so called gems, reading up new equipment specs... upgrading.... as long as these guys are not blasting the reefs and removing coral illegally .....

Personally...I wont call it a 'wake -up call' .... but it serves as a good reminder to me whenever I want to buy a new piece of equipment...- if it doesnt make huge diff to what I am doing ..most likely..I can do without

[blueheaven]

I agree with DB. I would not say its a wake up call but more of somthing for us to discuss and reflect upon

[pegasus1010]

I think attached pic speaks a 1000 words..

dedicated to those who follows blindly.

[KingFish]

This topic has swerved off-track a couple of times focusing on yet again, equipment, then back again, thanks to a few participants.

Its a 'wakeup call' for those who are not in the know, or those who are still in the state of denial of what they are doing are actually 'good' and/or responsible.

You can call it whatever you like, but its the ###### truth.

This topic may have pricked on some conscience, I should be upfront that this is not intended to target anyone, so I will implore all to view this with an open mind.

Personally, I'd say screw the misguided fools and let them part with their money, while dealers line their pockets and ready the 'Next Big Thing'; but its the livestock attrition which concerns me.

While a hobby should be appreciated and shared amongst the kindred, it should however not be at the expense of others, particularly mother nature.

I will reiterate that the key:

'Stop trendy reefkeeping and exploitation by livestock merchants'

[Achilles Tang]

IMO, it's still back to the laws of demand and supply actually.

Exploitation should be kept in check by the relevant agencies.

If the concern is to prevent attrition during the entire process from capture/harvesting/transportation/acclimatization/selling/packing to the customer's care... then its purely education and effort on both parties.

If we want to take it to the extreme... this hobby should be made illegal.. which it isn't and won't be unless it can outdo natural catastrophes, industrial and commercial activities, shipping, tourism, land reclamation activities, pollution etc.

We do what we can on an individual level first and then collectively as a group. But the trade is something beyond us unless we are all millionaires and can stop the trade in its tracks by suddenly all not buying at the same time!

My 2 cents.

AT

[DeepBlue]

trendy to me is like fashion....where pple pay premium for items that are popular for that period of time and discarded (or retired) once its over....

I hope we are not seeing this trend happening where pple pushed up the price for one coral (e.g. prata or blasto) and discards them (like taking poor care of the coral or selling them off once the craze is over)

Let's not speculate on corals, let's not buy out all the rare gems(more than we really need to) hoping to resell them at a profit after that. I find this behaviour uncalled for and yes, it drives the market price of the corals up. If the LFS boss know that he can sell the red prata for $60 easily...it will go up to $80 for the really desperate ones. Last I heard some reefers are already paying more than a $100 for a red prata.

Rumour's point is valid...abuses can happen quickly with this.

Last note: I myself am no saint ... sometimes I am guilty as well but I do draw a fine line about taking advantage of the hobby that way.

So, let's us not try to take advantage of situations and opportunities and abuse the hobby.

Fragging and trading is always more fun .... I have made a lot of good friends and met some interesting chaps doing that....That's why I seldom go LFS nowadays

[KingFish]

Well, I suppose DeepBlue wrapped this baby up pretty well.

Most of us have sinned, and some repented, we tend to our flock as well as we can from now on.

I'd would certainly like to see threads like:

"How much electricity have I saved from re-evaluating my aquarium power consumption"; and

"How I run a fully equipped reef tank on a 500va UPS for 9.5hours"

Now wouldn't that be the day?

[jc85]

Many thanks to Rumor for highlighting this article.

Let's hope many will read it and reflect back on what they may have or may not have done throughout this hobby.

Too me, this whole issue is down to Responsible Reefing. We can responsible to the LS we buy, to our family for support in this hobby, to the nature for its supply, etc I remember there will discussion on responsible reefing in the past. But in recent times, hardly see anyone mentioning that.

JC