The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs Worldwide

[Frankie]

Story provided by BigAl. Thanks buddy

**Yellow tangs, dead at Honokohou Harbor, Kona, Hawaii.**
The average aquarium hobbyist is a 30-50+ male who spent hundreds or thousands, depending on the size of his tank, stand, lights, filters, pumps, tubing and ornaments. The tentative hobbyist with a ten-gallon tank and one anemone clownfish as seen in Finding Nemo stays in briefly, because anemone clownfish die soon in a small tank.
Topping the tank totem are corporate billionaires like Sumner Redstone (ex-chairman, Viacom and CBS), who compared his wall-to-wall-to-wall aquarium to all of Hawaii. “We went out in a boat (in Hawaii) where you could see what was underneath. They didn’t have a fraction of the fish that are in my living room,” Redstone told Kai Ryssdal of PBS.
Or Michael Dell (Computers), whose mega-tank runs about 8x8x40 and needs a maintenance crew.
When aquarium fish die (99% within a year), tanks need more fish. The fishious circle is relentless: flush & plunk a new fish. Most fish run $50 to $150 retail, with 15¢ to $15 to the collector. The Hawaii average is $4 per fish. Hobbyists may up the ante on a bandit angelfish for $400, or a masked angel for $5,000.
For the complete story please follow this link:
The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs Worldwide? - Sea Shepherd

 

[Frankie]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Just a side note. Please keep this thread clean. This is a very touchy topic. Read your replies prior to posting them.
Thanks everyone!
Frank

 

[Jeremy0322]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Just a side note. Please keep this thread clean. This is a very touchy topic. Read your replies prior to posting them.
Thanks everyone!
Frank

Crowd control before the first comment, probably the best move on this one haha

 

[Frankie]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

I must say, after reading this article I came to the conclution that is was poorly written. most likely by an uneducated tree hugger that didn't spend more then a year in college.
Most of the infomation in not accurate

When aquarium fish die (99% within a year)

(come on!) and there is very little to no information to promote better husbandry.
I am not saying that the worlds oceans are safe from humans (far from it!) But I would like to see someone write with more accurate educated data and proof of their findings. Not just the ramblings of some leftist environmentalist.

 

[florida reef]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

ANY college freshman can tell you when you make a claim such as, "99% of aquarium fish die within a year" you HAVE to provide a reputable source to back that up. I agree. It was poorly written. I like how the author uses scary terms, such as "Killing cycle". I can't take an article seriously with no documented research. All the numbers he provides are from "An aquarium fish dealer on Maui". Give me a break. Ok, sea Shepherd definitely knows how to point out problems, but do they ever offer solutions? Oh wait, actually they did offer a solution...for all of us to take down out aquariums.
If someone comes to my house and tells me to take my aquarium down for the sake of the reefs, that will surely be the last time they are invited over.

 

[GlassMunky]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

And what about all the work that people like ORA are doing to prevent the harm being done to reefs? not 1 mention...... I personally always try to buy Aquacultured frags/fish over wild caught

 

[Val]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

You have to consider the source with this article.

 

[florida reef]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Honestly not worth our time.

 

[Jeremy0322]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Val - I couldnt agree more with that comment, interesting read but you have to take it for what its worth.

The simple fact of the matter is even though they are saying they are not making any money out of this I find that very hard to believe. There is an entire show on cable television about this man and his boat, he has something very similar to a cult like following, and every up and coming "environmentalist" that is only doing it because it is trendy these days jumps on his band wagon like its on a direct route to heaven. Hes going to write stuff like this because a) It gives him the ability to appeal to a different group of individuals than the ones that dont focus on larger mammals in the oceans, the coral reef people, and b) now there is a whole new area for the show to go when people get bored watching him throw stink bombs at Japanese whaling vessels.

In this day in age its all about money, thats really all most people have focused on but its getting crazy these days, and I strongly doubt he is any different. Even if he is not rich by doing this already give it some time, he may seem like an idiot but theres also a chance hes just really good at the game hes playing. Here is something else that people reading this article should read just to give you an idea on the other side of the man in question, but again take this article for what you think its actually worth. Just a few small sentences/paragraphs that got my attention...

"In 2000 Sea Shepherd reported income of $129,749 from consulting fees however there was no indication what sort of consulting this was, or for whom it was performed. Coincidentally, in the tax year immediately following, Paul Watson, who has long prided himself in not taking any salary from the society, began doing just that."

"- In April of 1999 the Sea Shepherd Society received a donation of a "Key West Home and Land" in Florida which the Society claimed was valued at $329,500. They re-sold this property less than 2 months later for $850,000 yet claimed an overall loss on the transaction of more than $265,000 due to related costs."

"According to a recent St. John’s Telegram article, the same day this transaction took place, in fact just 5 hours afterward, Ms. Johnston gave a 66% interest in the land to the Watson’s for $10 dollars. This gift was not to the Society itself, but rather to the Watson’s directly. Also at that time, Johnston granted the Watsons another option on property. The Watson’s secured additional mortgages of $50,000 and $30,000 on April 15, 2004. Within two months all debts were paid off in full."

Full article here...

Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Society: A Financial Expose

***Again, im not saying this is any more true than the article that has been posted in the original story, but it IS from a news organization and NOT from his own website.***

 

[BigAl07]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

I just relayed the message. Jeremy0322 was the original contributor.

 

[Jeremy0322]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

I just relayed the message. Jeremy0322 was the original contributor.

haha, thanks Al, I wasnt too worried about it though. After I read it I was curious though because something didnt add up, thats when I found that news article. Its amazing to me what the masses will seem to follow with no semi-concrete evidence to back it up. I cant even imagine the amount of people that read that article and now HATE the aquarium trade/hobby

 

[GlassMunky]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

I cant even imagine the amount of people that read that article and now HATE the aquarium trade/hobby

This is exactly my point. They took "facts" from an unreliable source that they liked and fit their cause without putting in any facts to the contrary, like what IS being done in the field to help the environment. Just a bunch of propaganda.

 

[nightfire76]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

i got like a few lines into this and saw the total one siddiness of it and just started looking at all the pretty pictures,like the one of the potters angel,i forgot how beautiful they are.....btw i think i have a doctors appointment now after reading that article and im gonna have to explain how i think i have ADD2RBSIA........in other words Attention deficit disorder 2 Random Bull **** In Articles, im sorry stupid one sided things make it to print and im sorry for the people that thought about getting into this hobby and now changed there minds cause of this article..... (moves off his soap box for another to get on)

 

[wm23oh]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Before long they will be wanting to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide before it kills again.

It's amazing how something can be... twisted to read what you want.

James

 

[Uslanja]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

When the oil companies stop killing the oceans then come back and we can talk about the two fish that we keep.

 

[GeoSciGuy]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

This is not an academic article - it is an editorial rant (plugging a book to boot). Easy to dismiss.

 

[reefmadness]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

well consider it dismissed i cant beleive this tank down your tank for the sake of the reefs gimme a break

 

[Edison]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

+1

When the oil companies stop killing the oceans then come back and we can talk about the two fish that we keep.

I was going to respond to the article but there's no contact email for the author.

Gee, I wonder why?

 

[Cavinca]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

When aquarium fish die (99% within a year)

I agree with you guys that this statement is not very well err.. Stated. I do not believe the percentage is that high but i am most certain it is a high number.

I mean think about it, how often do we welcome a new reef sanctuary-ite whose very first post is "OMG MY FISH KEEP DYING!!!"
How often have you and I said "Don't Buy It", and come to find out the person being advised already had 2 of said item? Those die, and they buy more. Just here on RS i have seen the ratio of "researchers" to "beautifiers" leans heavily on the "beautifiers" side. Beautifiers being those that buy because its pretty or cool looking.

This summer i have been in about 8 houses locally that all had 1 or 2 clown fish in a single goldfish bowl, which IMO isn't even suitable for a goldfish. What really disturbed me is that these same people asked for my help cause they've lost 5 pairs of clowns.

The reality of this "99% statement" can't be to far off base.


And the whole "Tear down that aquarium!" deal...

I'm willing to bet that most advances in our understanding of the zoological and biological sciences have come from captivity.
In the hands of those who are knowledgeable, respectful, and eager to learn; Aquaria is a powerful tool in the field of Conservation Biology.

"Investigate, Implementate, Educate, Eradicate"

 

[Frankie]

Re: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs World

Excellent post Carl
You make some very valid points.