Bay Area Reefers

DBTC, stands for Don't Break The Chain, the idea is that it works like a Pay It Forward (PIF) type program, where someone donates a particular coral fragment with the idea that the person who gets said fragment will grow it out giving to others, who will in turn make fragment to others, etc.

I still don't get it. Why do we have this?
The idea behind it is to help spread coral species throughout the region. This will hopefully lessen the impact of taking corals from the oceans. As well as help spread diversity throughout the area. The idea was a way to push a non-greedy way of helping get corals out there to people. If you can get a coral fragment from a local farmer, that means less of an impact on the oceans. A great many of the "abundant" corals are not in any way mari/aquacultured since it's still profitable to hack them out of the seas.

Ok fine, so how do I get some free corals?
Now while you will get "free corals" this is not what this program is about, this is about sharing and be willing to share with others. While inevitably there will be a bit of a "greed" factor that seems to permeate, especially with more desirably corals, you have to understand the idea is that more will be offered, the way it works is that each coral grows exponentially (ideally), so while it may take some time the coral will be offered again. This program is NOT about stocking your empty tank with new corals for free, what it is about is helping grow a renewable resource and make it available for others for free.

Time? How much time do I need to wait?
It depends entirely on the amount of corals that are initially offered, and the type of corals. Some corals, specifically soft ones, grow quite readily so can be fragmented and dispersed quite rapidly, others like the small polyped stony corals grow relatively slowly, some grow a few inches a year! So it might take longer. Patience is the key, again this isn't to stock your tank full of corals so there should be no rush on getting one.

I don't have an Limited Edition or otherwise rare corals though.
Doesn't matter, this program is not about distributing rare corals, if that happens, all the better however what is needed is a sharing of all corals not just rare ones. You have those brown mushrooms, offer them up, just don't be sad if no one wants any.

Ok, I have corals I'd like to donate, who do I give them too? What do I do?
Alright, now we're talking! First you give them to whomever you wish they are your corals after all. Second you might want to list some rules, or follow some standard rules for who gets them. Third, start a new topic in this forum and type in all the gory details. Some advice 1) Give a brief description of the coral in the topic you make, Blue acropora or whatever 2) Give a bit more detailed of a description in the coral in the body of the message, if you don't know the exact species who cares, it's hard, it's a stick, call it an acropora, chances are you'll be correct, someone else will be most likely help you identify, besides most corals can't be accurately identified beyond the genus. Mention what lighting you have it under, how high in the tank it is, the flow conditions,fish load, or anything else that's out of the ordinary that you might think is relevant. 3) A picture is worth a thousand words! Get a camera, take a picture, don't worry if it's not the best, just give an idea of the overall color/shape of the coral. Post to any one the many online photo hosting sites (photobucket.com, imageshack.us) and then post via tags in the body of the message 4) Mention those rules, and what you would like seen with the coral as well.

What are these rules you mention??
The rules are simply a guideline, so overall call goes to whomever is offering since this is a voluntary program. However some standard rules that can easily be followed, or referred to "See FAQ for rules" are the following Must be BAR member. (you may open this up to what ever clubs you like, however this keeps it within the club, at least initially) Must be good with XXX (where this is the type of coral, this means you don't just finish cycling your tank and want to fill it up with corals) You agree to give frags to 3 more people before selling/trading of it (This is to keep the exponential growth thing going, also it helps safe guard against one person having an issue, tank crash, fell behind a rock, etc) You agree to pick up XXX (Again wherever you like, BAR meeting is useful, since it makes people go to meetings Smiley, basically it's to keep people from expecting you to deliver it) Pictures of progress ( it's nice to know how it's doing in other tanks under other conditions sometimes)

How do I find chains that have frags available?
This page lists all the chains with frags that are ready to be distributed. Take a look through that list, look at the threads, and then post to the thread or contact the people who have available frags. This only works if people keep their frag status updated, so be sure to do that!