Cool article

[kpk]

This is just pretty cool thought i would share. May have already been posted, but oh well.

http://www.artificialreefs.org/Arti...elps Build Coral Reefs - December 6, 2004.htm

 

[Russ Braaten]

They say they stick the corals right into WET cement plugs. That goes against everything I have been told. I have a really fast curing cement product that may be worth a try.

 

[captbunzo]

That goes to show that "everything told" is not always correct. I have heard a LOT of absolutes in the forums that I have later found to be incorrect...

Of course, COMAS information is always spectacular....

Also, they are dealing with COMPLETELY different factors. In comparison to the real ocean, our tanks have suboptimal lighting, a strange chemical mix of water, wierd flow, etc. So perhaps in our tanks, corals just can't take the stress of being mushed into fresh cement. However, perhaps in the real world ocean, they laugh in the face of a little cement....

 

[kpk]

Well you got to take into consideration our closed ecosystems. The chemicals in cement in a closed system with be alot more prominent than the ocean's new water washing over the corals all the time. Keeps the chemicals dilluted down, etc.

Kyle

 

[captbunzo]

988 posts, Kyle. Getting close to rollover!

 

[pwhitby]

I had the pleasure of meeting Walt Smith at a presentation he did regarding coral farming and building an artificial reef. What he showed was building a structure from rebar and then pass a very small electrical current through them (from a car battery) for several months to a year.

The results were phenomenal. The current resulted ina localised increase in calcium deposition, the corals grew like crazy and formed natural looking reefs. One project was a giant dome that became a hollow coral encrusted structure that housed thousands of fish. Another became a natural breakwater to prevent beach erosion and resulted in a neat lagoon between reef and shore.

P.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

How long was the voltage ran through the structure?

 

[pwhitby]

for several months to a year

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Wow. That's cool. I bet it was a pretty penny to just power it. Even if it is just a little voltage

 

[pwhitby]

see third page of this article.

Its cheap, very low voltage. Powered from car batteries. These reefs are often in undeveloped areas.

http://www.marineland.com/seascope/ss2001_issue1.pdf#search="walt smith artificial reef electric"

 

[captbunzo]

Hmmnnn. Are there any Oklahoma Lakes or Ponds that we can turn into a saltwater reef? This sounds like fun!