BIG_KAHUNA
New member
{Admin, not sure if this is the right place for this thread but I want as many people as possible to hear about this foundation and this forum seems to be the most popular on RC. And it is about reefs and all lol}
So it wasn't a huge hit on my facebook page but I know you guys will really appreciate these videos. I recently went down to the Florida Keys to help out at the Coral Restoration Foundation. In case you haven't heard, these guys (Ken Nedimyer and a handful of permanent staff along with interns and volunteers) are trying to help repopulate reefs out in the keys with native acros (staghorn and elkhorn). They do this by using PVC "christmas trees" to suspend the frags and grow them out to sizable colonies to plant back out on the reef. They do this exactly how we do in our tanks! Using industrial buckets of putty cement and ice picks though lol. Below are a bunch of pictures and video I took on my trip!
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A brief tour of the nursery. It's tough to see but the trees go on for rows and rows. I swear the visibility was way better in person. Here you can also see the original trees used which were a concern for sea life getting caught in the "clothes line" style grow outs. The the closeup of a tree has at first elkhorn (square looking) and the the staghorns.
So the first day (two dives) consisted of learning the layout of the nursery. This place is a little over an acre of underwater coral grow out heaven! The first dive we toured the place revealing a live rock aquaculture section (which is what started the whole project) elkhorn grow outs, staghorn grow outs, experimental grow outs, etc. Picture below shows the layout of the nursery. The second dive we cut the colonies ready to be planted from the trees and retied mono filament with metal crimps to the acros to hold them in one place for a quick pickup the following day.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0025_zps2b3f3434.mp4">
Hand selecting colonies to be planted on the reef.
Layout of the nursery.
The next day we picked up the coral selected the day before and headed straight for the reef. Pickle's Reef. We immediately dropped down and got to work. We used the axe to get down to the base rock, peeling away all the algae that cover the rock so that the putty can get a solid grip. This is actually the main issue facing the decline of the hard corals in the keys. The algae prevents the offspring of coral from settling onto the rock and regrowing. This is due to excess nutrients in the water, mostly from the "war on water" where we ingeniously rerouted water from the everglades straight to the ocean for development in those areas.:hmm4: Just like removing your refugium and chemical filtration from your tank, it had the same effect on our reefs. The other main issue the reefs face has to do with the local diadema sea urchin population. Disastrous decline in the population has not helped with the excess algae problem, as many know just like keeping them in a tank the love to destroy algae (and coraline for that matter). My instructor mentioned that at one point they were so plentiful that you couldn't even touch the reef without getting stabbed by one. This also helped keep divers off the reef and away from the coral. They also decided to replant these corals (different genotypes) close together in patches along the reef to try and get them to spawn, again no good unless the sea urchin population starts to rise significantly. Mote's Marine Lab in the Keys is currently aqua culturing the sea urchins and releasing them on the reefs in an attempt to get that population up again.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0033_zpsb138607c.mp4">
Me working the reefs, trying to find a good spot for planting. They wanted three points of contact on the rock to make sure the colony had a good grip. Coolest thing I have EVER done.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0039_zpsd9bf4755.mp4">
Look at all that new coral! :celeb1:
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This is a quick video showing how the coral is mounted to the rock, again just like in our tanks. And the man power possible with just volunteers, even if they're not the best diver in the world. :headwally:
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Just goes to show how important these corals are to the fish. They flock from everywhere looking for 3D structures for protection. (They really like all the algae and worms we stirred up too lol)
So it wasn't a huge hit on my facebook page but I know you guys will really appreciate these videos. I recently went down to the Florida Keys to help out at the Coral Restoration Foundation. In case you haven't heard, these guys (Ken Nedimyer and a handful of permanent staff along with interns and volunteers) are trying to help repopulate reefs out in the keys with native acros (staghorn and elkhorn). They do this by using PVC "christmas trees" to suspend the frags and grow them out to sizable colonies to plant back out on the reef. They do this exactly how we do in our tanks! Using industrial buckets of putty cement and ice picks though lol. Below are a bunch of pictures and video I took on my trip!
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0023_zps38756638.mp4">
A brief tour of the nursery. It's tough to see but the trees go on for rows and rows. I swear the visibility was way better in person. Here you can also see the original trees used which were a concern for sea life getting caught in the "clothes line" style grow outs. The the closeup of a tree has at first elkhorn (square looking) and the the staghorns.
So the first day (two dives) consisted of learning the layout of the nursery. This place is a little over an acre of underwater coral grow out heaven! The first dive we toured the place revealing a live rock aquaculture section (which is what started the whole project) elkhorn grow outs, staghorn grow outs, experimental grow outs, etc. Picture below shows the layout of the nursery. The second dive we cut the colonies ready to be planted from the trees and retied mono filament with metal crimps to the acros to hold them in one place for a quick pickup the following day.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0025_zps2b3f3434.mp4">
Hand selecting colonies to be planted on the reef.
Layout of the nursery.
The next day we picked up the coral selected the day before and headed straight for the reef. Pickle's Reef. We immediately dropped down and got to work. We used the axe to get down to the base rock, peeling away all the algae that cover the rock so that the putty can get a solid grip. This is actually the main issue facing the decline of the hard corals in the keys. The algae prevents the offspring of coral from settling onto the rock and regrowing. This is due to excess nutrients in the water, mostly from the "war on water" where we ingeniously rerouted water from the everglades straight to the ocean for development in those areas.:hmm4: Just like removing your refugium and chemical filtration from your tank, it had the same effect on our reefs. The other main issue the reefs face has to do with the local diadema sea urchin population. Disastrous decline in the population has not helped with the excess algae problem, as many know just like keeping them in a tank the love to destroy algae (and coraline for that matter). My instructor mentioned that at one point they were so plentiful that you couldn't even touch the reef without getting stabbed by one. This also helped keep divers off the reef and away from the coral. They also decided to replant these corals (different genotypes) close together in patches along the reef to try and get them to spawn, again no good unless the sea urchin population starts to rise significantly. Mote's Marine Lab in the Keys is currently aqua culturing the sea urchins and releasing them on the reefs in an attempt to get that population up again.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0033_zpsb138607c.mp4">
Me working the reefs, trying to find a good spot for planting. They wanted three points of contact on the rock to make sure the colony had a good grip. Coolest thing I have EVER done.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0039_zpsd9bf4755.mp4">
Look at all that new coral! :celeb1:
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This is a quick video showing how the coral is mounted to the rock, again just like in our tanks. And the man power possible with just volunteers, even if they're not the best diver in the world. :headwally:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http:%2F%2Fvid1213.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc479%2FBIG_KAHUNA_%2FFILE0040_zps18001531.mp4">
Just goes to show how important these corals are to the fish. They flock from everywhere looking for 3D structures for protection. (They really like all the algae and worms we stirred up too lol)
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