Why is it important to buy UK Grown coral frags?
Lower Carbon Footprint
UK Grown coral frags have a lower carbon footprint per coral...
Each box of up to 20 corals imported from reefs around the world creates between 820Kg.Co2 and 2,000Kg.Co2 of emissions*. That's approximately 41Kg.Co2 - 100kg.Co2 per coral. It's been widely reported that the oceans are absorbing Co2, this in turn is directly results in coral bleaching.
Each of our UK Grown frags use up less than 1kg.Co2 to be shipped to anywhere in the country. (Based on flights to Glasgow from Southampton. Shipping by road from Southampton to Manchester uses up only 0.055Kg.Co2).*
Look out for the logo!
Help Save The Reefs Around The World
When buying a coral frag, you are directly reducing the requirement for corals to be taken from the reefs around the world. It's estimated that for every 3 frags sold, you are saving a coral being taken from the reef. (It is hard to qualify this number as it varies between types of corals).
Captive Coral Frags Are Hardier 💪
It is widely believed captive aquacultured corals are hardier; all they have known is captivity and aquarium conditions and stability (water, lighting, temperature, flow etc).
This means the stresses they go through from fragmentation to arriving in your tank is much lower.
A lot of coral frags available on the market are first generation coral frags - the frag has been taken from the wild caught mother colony. Over time, these corals will heal and start to grow. It's only when captive coral growth is harvest that the coral becomes a captive coral frag and in turn carry the title UK Grown.
When buying first generation coral frags, make sure you ask the seller how old the frag is. It is widely banded about within the hobby that a coral that's been rested for 2 weeks is healed. Whilst some corals like plating Montipora and Zoas can heal in this time, the majority are still at high risk of not surviving. We keep all our corals here for a minimum of 10 weeks, but rather than worrying about time, we look for coral growth too. Coral growth shows the coral is happy and starting to adapt to captive life.
Our UK Grown promise 🇬🇧
All our corals that carry the UK grown title and logo have been fragged from captive grown mother colonies. These colonies have either been grown by us or hobbyists who have grown the coral from a frag into a mother colony and it's become too big for their system, or they're closing down their systems. (It takes a trained eye to see when a coral has grown from a frag vs a coral that was imported as a mother colony).
Only when the captive growth has been fragged and left long enough for it to heal and show signs of growth, do we put the coral up for sale and give it the title of 'UK Grown'.
We do also sell first generation coral frags and mother colonies. These corals go through the same process as a captive grown coral and won't be ready for sale until we know the coral has healed and showing signs of growth.
Reducing stress on corals helps increase the corals chances of survival. A newly fragged coral that's then shipped would be under so much stress, it's survival rate becomes very low. You wouldn't expect to be sent home from hospital the day after open heart surgery and you know the chances of survival at home would be a lot slimmer.... corals are the same.
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