So what is in a name? A definition? A description? A trademark? A benchmark? A way to differentiate between two opposites? Or alikes?

You all know that I do a lot of web surfing,  sometimes too much.. friends add. But it allows me to get an understanding what is happening in many regions of the North American reefing industry. I can get a good feel on the pulse of the hobby in an area. So why is this entry labeled ‘Name Game Gone Berserk” and how does it relate to all of this?

Well, let me tell you. I am witnessing a vast majority of reefers AND e-tailers over-marketing every possible coral known to man to make a dollar. I am seeing SPS, LPS and soft corals getting the same treatment that a marketing firm would supply to big dogs such as Pepsi or McDonalds. I am seeing greed, and I am seeing detriment to our hobby. And I can’t stand it any longer!

Initially it was great. We would have very unique slower growing corals that were insanely colorful which couldn’t be found by many reefers. Usually, we tagged them with the farmer’s name and that would have been it. A lot of people would  use it to track lineage for originality as most likely they would command a hefty tag.  Steve Tyree, Greg Carroll, ORA are some that originally had their names on certain corals, corals that were worthy of unique names.  Now, for example, we have local e-tailers (online vendors) who cannot stop naming every coral in their possession with their acronyms. Is it necessary to label an aquacultured pink birdsnest a TNR Highlighter Pink Odyssey S. hysterix? Or a bluish grey chalice a TNR Enter The Matrix Echinophyllia? Trying to make a 20$ frag turn into a 120$ frag? Sad, really.

Not too long ago, I wrote on the whole name game and why it was ok to do so.  I think now I feel ashamed to even had thought so. Greed stewed this all up. People trying to profit from everyday corals that are seen in the hobby. Why not name something that is rarely seen? Something that takes three times as long to grow? Something that it is an immense challenge to keep?

But the problem lies with the vendors. They think all of their coral are unique and rare. Unsuspecting buyers would acquire this coral, and then see it at another location dubbed something completely different. Is that healthy for our hobby? Does anyone have any respect towards the consumers?  What about towards the hobby? Because partaking in this name game is completely and utterly disrespectful towards any member of our global community who takes a lot of pride and strives toward caring and culturing for hard to find and keep corals.

So lets keep the names on corals that need it, and discard your shameful acronyms. Unless of course you have the rarest collection known to man!

A man on the island of Pulau Weh off the coast of Sumatra is rebuilding the reef after the Tsunami of 2004 destroyed it.  It sounds like he’s fragging coral, but on a larger scale than you or I are used to.  I’m not sure that 1″ by 1″ frags would do all that well here.

I love stories like this.  He lives amongst the reefs and loves them enough to not take them for granted.

From the article:

The best system he has found is to make concrete moulds using a bucket and then embed a plastic bottle or tube so that it sticks out of the top of the concrete.

When these are set he drops them by boat onto the shallow sandy sea bed and leaves them there for a month before starting to transplant coral to them.

“This allows time for any chemicals present in the concrete to dissipate so that they don’t affect the new coral growth,” he said.

“It is just like gardening; I cut a little bit of coral from the healthy reef on the far side of the island and bring it to my new reef. I am careful to only take a little from here and there so that I don’t affect the healthy eco system.”

He then uses cable ties to attach the transplants to the plastic tubes so they are not dislodged by tides or currents.

We swam out to inspect his new reef and the results were quite stunning.

The areas that are now over 3 three years old are completely covered with coral and fishes with virtually no remaining sign of the concrete bases. He has already replanted in excess of 200 square meters of coral with over 26 different species.

Link.

I wish I had 200 square meters of coral.  I’ll keep dreaming.

Many reefers will be stuck for space over time. In fact, many loose their tanks in crashes because of this ‘phenomena’. Corals grow and expand beyond their limitations, that are set forth by their holding tanks. Over time, the will find no more space for growth and will die.. causing a chain of events (that no reefer wants to experience).

So, the end result is a practice which all reefers must abide by. Dubbed fragging, it is a verb describing a motion of breaking frags or fragments from mother colonies. Experts in this please wait patiently by Starbucks until the next installment, where I am going to touch on the actual tools used for fragging. Novices, please stay with me. By fragging your corals, you are allowing them to grow more. Think of it like a tree. You trim the branches of trees to make them grow. Those limbs that are not getting sufficient light should be cut, so the tree can displace the most efficient amount of growth into those limbs that get the most light. Its the same principle behind fragging. Cut the coral pieces that are not getting enough light, and use them as your frags. This way, the coral can promote growth into the regions where it gets a lot of light (it takes more energy to grow a big coral). By fragging lesser lighted areas, you are increasing the efficiency of your coral’s growth. I have personally experienced this theory in my SPS corals.

Next up, tools. Cutting, prying, sawing, gluing, and scraping. Lots of fun.