I don't know if an out and out ban on all imports is yet warranted, but certainly some more regulation. How many times have any of us gone into an aquarium shop and seen fish, corals, etc. that we KNOW are darn near impossible to keep alive? I went into a store once that had a tank with 20 mandarin dragonets, right next to a tank with juvenile Moorish Idols, right across from the tank with the two shark eggs in it... There are so many responsible hobbyists out there, but they are dwarfed by the sheerly ignorant.
There are currently 5718 members on this board. These are people who at the very least want to know more about this hobby and are reaching out for advice. Of these, I'd say maybe 150 are actively trying to set up tanks with as little impact on the environment as possible. I know Olgakurt, James, Eric B., and others have practically pleaded with our fellow hobbyists to practice more ecologically sound reef-keeping yet even on this board I see many posts asking how to keep this shark or that impossible to feed coral, etc. It's so sad to see the the often disgusting mentality of the people who will keep an animal that they KNOW will die in their care. It's just another pretty replaceable bauble.
Now that we've talked about the people who read the newsgroups, etc., think about the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of hobbyists who don't know anything and just go by what the local PetDungeon tells them. "Of course you can keep this alligator and shark in what we call a 'predator tank.' Just throw in some rare Moorish Idols for food once a week and it will be fine."
THAT is why we need regulation. Of course, many hobbyists actually have kept these hard to keep animals. Great, you are the proud owner of the one in 5000 mandarin dragonets that lived! If you actually took the time to research how to set up a tank to keep some rare and difficult animal, then kudos to you. The problem is that many of these darn near impossible animals are simply imported as the norm along with the chromis and the hobbyists don't know any better.
So, set up various classifications of fish and corals. Anyone can buy a chromi or a tank raised anemonefish, but only 100 dragonets are imported a year and you have to be certified to keep them. That way the people who actually learn what to do can still access these beautiful fish and the 50000 others that would be imported only to die could live a few more years in the wild...
And yes, buy as much aquacultured as possible. I don't care if the rock costs three times as much and you don't get EVERY coral you want. If you want more corals and fish, trade with fellow hobbyists. You'll learn more and have access to more inexpensive corals than you could possibly buy.
/step off soap box.
Josh Fox
P.S. My personal bias is that I've spent my three short years in this hobby getting more and more disgusted with the keep and kill attitude prevalent with many people. I'm in the planning stages of a coral propogation facility and aquacultured live sand of all things. So yes, I do have an economic stake in buying aquacultured. If I am tremendously successful as a coral farmer, I might not lose much money each year...
