I just keep thinking of more and more.
12.) Mariculture and aquaculture are different methods of farming corals.
Aquaculture is underwater agriculture. Mariculture is simply marine aquaculture. In the context of the hobby, since all of our animals are marine, they are synonyms. Neither one implies anything about the culture method used or where it's done. To tell where the culturing is done you use
in situ (in the original location) or
ex situ (away from the origin) or sometimes
in vitro (in captivity). To talk about the actual method used you talk about the intensity level. Extensive culture is when you have almost no control over the growth. Leaving frags on the reef to grow is an example of extensive culture. Semi- intensive is when you have some control, such as growing corals in a greenhouse but using NSW and sunlight. Intensive is when you have control over almost everything, like in your home frag tank.
13.) Trading frags helps save the reefs.
Reducing the demand for wild corals may help some, but it won't make a very big dent in the amount of corals being taken from the reef. As large as it has gotten, the live coral trade is still small compared to other uses for the reef such as construction. Regardless of the demand from the hobby, there will always be more demand for corals than supply and the collectors will always need jobs. To truly reduce the amount of corals being taken, economic alternatives to harvesting from the reef have to be offered and simply cutting our demand doesn't do that. Eco-tourism and responsible aquaculture are two possibilities.