Are Aquacultured Acros a Lost Art in this Hobby?

This thread is for the best intentions and is developed in hope of advancing the knowledge of acropora keepers. By no way am I trying to name call or anything else but I hope that my knowledge and experience can help improve the quality of corals that are being distributed to new acro keepers.

After seeing several changes in this hobby over the years, it makes me wonder if aquacultured acros are a lost art. It just hurts me to see starved and half dead wild acros being sold as frag packs. Several years ago it was nearly impossible to culture wild acros but it can now happen with the new changes in technology. The issue rises when wild acros are fragged up and sold as frag packs before they are adjusted to captive parameters.

I think we need to inform new sps keepers (less than 1 year of experience in growing acros) the advantages of buying aquacultured acros vs wild ones. Hobbyist that are new to acros tend to jump on wild acro frags because of the bright colors. Little do they know but they are purchasing frags that are half dead.

Although there is still a lot of variance in the definition of an aquacultured coral, I have found that acros are much healthier in our systems after it has been in captivity for 1 year (give or take some). Some will say that it needs to be propagated 3 times before it is aquaculture and that may be true to a degree. The main thing is that the coral is able to prove that it can encrust and show new growth.

It is much harder for the acro colonies to grow in our aquariums with the type of water movement that we have (flow). In the wild, our oceans currents allow for nutrients to reach the polyps in areas where our aquarium currents cannot. The main reason why I have found that wild acros should be propagated is so that they can grow naturally in our flow patterns and eat the zooplankton in the water column.

Any Thoughts?

 

Continuing this conversation over here eh?

I didn't jump in over there, but I'm of agreement with whomever said the art now lies amongst hobbyists. The best aquacultured frags I see are amongst the local community here. However, those who don't live in a large metro and/or don't have access to a local club are at a big disadvantage now.

On another note, I don't believe the value of an aqucultured frag can be understood until one begins to keep SPS corals from a variety of sources.

 

LMAO. Trying to spread the word the best I can.

Yes, ReefnRod said it best

 

Agreed, wild are so difficult to keep and your statement about half dead is spot on since they will no doubt be treated the same way fish are when wild caught.

 

I honestly wish I had access to more aquacultured corals locally! I know DFS liveaquaria has them frequently, but it'd be nice if I could get them without the $35 shipping tag on an already pretty pricey coral. That is why I love frag swaps! I really thing they should happen more often for us to share what corals we do have with each other!