MACNA 2018 Talk – dig through reef BS and come out clean

31. October 2018 · Write a comment · Categories: Meta Saltwater Hobby/Industry, Video

Local copy of the video here:

There is a lot of BS in the world, and reef keeping is no exception. This talk will go over the different flavors of reef BS and how not to get it all over you.

Richard Ross is known for his “Skeptical Reefkeeping” article series, his groundbreaking work with cephalopod husbandry, coral spawning & restoration, entertaining and informative talks, his ultra high nutrient home reef, for managing the ambitious 212,000 gallon reef tank and the Coral Spawning Lab at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences. Richard was presented with the MASNA Aquarist of the Year award in 2015, and his work has been covered by Scientific American, National Geographic, Penn’s Sunday School, NPR’sScience Friday, Animal Planet, Discovery News and Fox News

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A Love Letter to the Hobby, Trade, and Industry

31. July 2018 · Write a comment · Categories: Article, Meta Saltwater Hobby/Industry, Reefs Magazine

From Reefs Magazine

By Rich Ross

Honest conversation about contentious issues has always been a mainstay in my personal and professional life. I have prided myself on hitting those conversations head on…until about 2 years ago when some people involved in the marine aquarium world tried to hurt me professionally and personally over something that had nothing to do with aquarium keeping. As a result, I pulled back from head-on kinds of conversations. I am not going to go into the details here because they aren’t important – though I did, in the process, watch a few bridges burn, which is something I normally avoid, but which felt surprisingly good in this context.

The entire experience made me keenly aware of the fact that, though I pride myself on direct communication, I was vulnerable to the potential repercussions of honesty. So I pulled back a bit, all the while wondering, what I would say if I really wasn’t worried about repercussions? What would I say if I was truly free to say what I really wanted to say? What I would write to the reef keeping world if I were dying and had nothing to lose? More »

ReefThreads video MACNA 2016

18. September 2016 · Write a comment · Categories: About Rich Ross, Corals, Meta Saltwater Hobby/Industry, Reef Threads

Rich talks to Gary and Christine about dealing with a reef tank when you travel a lot for work

Click this ReefThreads link to see the entire show

 

Skeptical Reefkeeping 13: Is the Hobby Morally Justifiable?

06. August 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Meta Saltwater Hobby/Industry, Reefs Magazine, Skeptical Reefkeeping, Uncategorized

A Conversation Between Nathan Hill and Rich Ross 

From Reefs Magazine

For American readers unfamiliar with Nathan Hill, he might considered my analogue in the UK – he is a regular contributor to Practical Fishkeeping where he often tackles hobby issues from the stance of ethical, critical, and consistent thinking, while trying to get the hobby to look at itself in the mirror – he also has a degree in philosophy, which makes him super cool in my book. Nathan and I have been aware of each other for several years, briefly communicating from time to time with notes like, “Great piece, but I think I have a few disagreements – let’s talk,” but we have never found the time to be able to really dig in… until now. I have wanted to revisit morals in the Skeptical Reefkeeping series for some time now, and convinced Nathan to participate in a written discussion with me on a topic of his choosing, which turned out to be, “Is the hobby morally justifiable?” We wrote back and forth to each other in email, and then assembled the discussion below, doing some editing to make things more clear. It is important to point out that this is a conversation, not a debate. The point of a debate is to win, the point of a conversation is to hear each side and shift ones views based on good information presented from a perspective one may not have entertained previously. The point is for all of us to learn and grow together, not to try to ”win.” We hope you enjoy this philosophical conversation, and look forward to any feedback you might have (please post any feedback in this shiny new discussion forum:https://www.reefs.com/forum/skeptical-reefkeeping/ ) 

Most people think this fish is happy because it looks like it is smiling. However, this fish always looks like it is smiling, so how can we possibly tell when it is not happy? Photo by Google Search.
More »

The Reef Table: Ret Talbot and Rich Ross on Sustainability and Conservation

05. April 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: About Rich Ross, Meta Saltwater Hobby/Industry, reefs.com

From http://www.reefs.com/blog/2015/01/19/reef-table-ret-talbot-rich-ross-sustainability-conservation/

WAIT! Don’t tune out – this will be interesting. Is it a glamorous topic? Not at all. I sat down (giddily) with one Ret Talbot and one Richard Ross to talk about sustainability, conservation and what it means to the hobby. We talked about just how sexy it is (spoiler alert: it’s not even the tiniest bit sexy).

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