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GEOTHERMAL AQUACULTURE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

CAN OUR REEF HOBBY MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HELP THE WILD REEFS? The most important thing that our reef hobby can do is to educate people and give them a love for the animals that make up the wild reefs. Many people have never seen a living coral so it is hard for them to understand how delicate and beautiful reefs are.

I think the rainforest is easier to fight for, at least you can see her but the animals living underneath our ocean currents go unseen.

It is our feeling if the right information is out there and animals are living and tanks are thriving people will stay in the hobby. For who stays in a hobby only to spend money and watch animals die? There are so many causes for all of us to get involved in and so little time to get all the work done.

I could go on and on. We feel that the more education we can feed everyone the greater difference we can make. Each day I learn more about our human impact on our wild reefs. Sometimes I feel the fight is so overwhelming we will never win the battle. At other times I never want to shut up in hopes that it will never be too late to save these animals and open up the eyes and hearts to all of those who can make a difference.

The gift of caring for these amazing animals in our homes and being able to watch them 24 hours is probably the biggest saving grace to our remarkable wild reefs. We can watch them 24/7, we can share, we can explore and never stop trying to meet the needs of the animals that can give back so much love to all of us.

We can learn which animals can live next to each other, placement in tank, lighting needs, perhaps someday even spawning. If we can go to the Moon I think we should be able to save these amazing animals that live under our waters.

No way can the Scientists play in the wild reefs 24/7 learn as much as we can, ask questions and seek out answers. Again I say we have such a huge responsibility and we can take such pride in the accomplishments we are making. It is time now for the hobbyist to reach out to the Marine Biologists, to begin networking, building teams, and farms both wild and captive.

I say this because I want all of you to understand it does not take a million dollars, a Ph.D., or a vast amount of experience. I want you all to understand this simple message, if I can do this so can you.

This is everything every one told me could not be done. I do not share this because I am better than you or better than anyone I want to give you the priceless gift LeRoy gave me when he gave me the empty tank so many years a ago.