New way into growing corals

[Daniel]

Now this is the way I think most of us would like to grow corals.
http://seawayblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/coral-propagators.html

 

[Brian]

Damn, that's pretty freaking cool! Who's going to be the first to try it out on a smaller scale??

 

[Phyl]

That is REALLY cool. It looks like a metal frame covered in concrete? The structure looks like it would make for a really cool reef structure in our tanks (once it filled in).

Hmm...

 

[Daniel]

When I saw that I could not belove the growth. They make it look so simple. Can you imagine having growth in your system like that. ;D

 

[Phyl]

In the right place in the ocean it is just about that simple. Unfortunately that doesn't generally happen in our tanks!

It would be really cool to build a structure like that and mount caps all over it though... wouldn't it?! I bet that would look AWESOME!

What could we build it with... hmmm...

 

[Daniel]

You should also check out the photos on the right in the boxes.

 

[Brian]

I wonder if you could use that rigid airline tubing. It's fairly flexible....although I don't think you could make a small circle out of it.

 

[Daniel]

Brian you could use a heat gun to get it flexible enough.

 

[Phyl]

Makes me wish I still had a frag tank running!

 

[Anthonyjiz]

That looks AMAZING, I think if I actually get enough frags I might do something like that, the downside to doing that in our tanks is that you concentrate most of the coral/colors/view on one part of the tank, and the rest seems to look just rocky..

 

[mfisher2112]

Couldnt you use the multiple "aragocrete" methods out there to form smaller rings and attach them together with the rigid airline tubing? Cover them in aragocrete maybe. And then "slip" the dome over some existing rock?

Or something like this, they have multiple different diameters:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-CLEAR-ACRYL...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c5116cd01

Gets the mind working...

 

[gogol]

I am still figuring my way out in this hobby, so dont chastise me bad if I am completely off on this one.

I think, the structure has very little to do with coral growth. It was made the way it was, to create the lightest structure that provides least resistance to strong water currents albeit being strudy enough to house a dense population of calciferous corals. It was quite ingeneous actually, as the corals colonies grew the resitance to water flow increased, but so did the weight of corals balancing the stability issue. (no pun intended).

If you want growth like the ones in the article, you have to rent a part of an ocean or at least convert a swimming pool into a monster tank. Sunlight and seawater is the magic sauce the rest is force of life.

 

[Phyl]

Yes, you do need the ocean/sun for growth like that but the part that intrigues me is the water flow capable through the hollows of the structure. That structure provides for better water flow and water flow is the key to coral respiration, which is key to increasing light, which is key to speeding up growth.

Jake Adams gave a great presentation to us at a swap a couple of years ago that talked about growth and respiration of corals. Very interesting stuff right there. Turns out the more light you have the more flow you have to have. Corals need the increased flow to help their respiration. Without added flow the additional light actually becomes a detriment to the corals.

So to that, my point is that I would like to see what effect that type of structure could have on captive coral propagation!

 

[gogol]

... this is the only place where there is joy at being humbled . Thanks a lot for the info Phyl

 

[Phyl]

... this is the only place where there is joy at being humbled

I think I'll change my signature. What a great line.

 

[concept3]

So to that, my point is that I would like to see what effect that type of structure could have on captive coral propagation!

minimalist rock structures? oh boomer......

 

[BobCReef]

What ever you use you want to be heavy enough not to float away and support the weith of the corals as they grow