well, propagation is not just about how to clone coral frags, but also doing it economically. Less energy is less expense. and more environmentally friendly too. It seems the end goal of fraggers is to provide home grown coral seed stock to fellow hobbyists without taking from nature and/or for trade or sale.
to accomplish that in a sustainable way means it has to be economical and meet all the above agendas. Energy is the biggest cost for most of the systems i view on the forums. Yeah a lot of them look great but are energy hogs. They are like driving a tank or D-9 to WAWA for a cup of coffee to go.
If you can get the same effect and results with less energy, you have done something. For serious propagators, a green house is the best way to go. True, most reefers can't add a GH to the house or apartment, but that doesnt preclude steps to lower energy cost, with shallow tanks, and lower watt lighting and more efficient cascading flow systems, like one pump cascading through 3 tanks. each growing corals suited for an increasing nutrient range.
In the near future solar PV power will cost less. It's growing very fast, and in 5 years will cost half as much, now that the supply bottleneck has been addressed. New silicon plants going online now and more each year.
http://www.climateark.org/shared/rea...x?linkid=91120
in 5 years the annual installed solar capacity will be equivalent to 13 new nukes per year. and continue to grow. We don't build Nukes that fast, I know, i spent a good deal of my life building a bunch.
So, solar can be a viable alternative to indoor coral farmers too. In fact, less expensive than grid power. Time to plan ahead for the solar powered system of the near future. learn the terms and equipment and be cost competitive.
Samtheman, you dont need to do without. With cheap solar to run the reef and house, you can buy an AIR CAR, refill it with cheap solar power from the roof, and drive around carbon free for a fraction of the cost of gasoline, by then.
http://www.climateark.org/shared/rea...x?linkid=91148
Well, I like to think my next house will have a green house coral farm, with solar power on the roof, and ground source heat pump for heat/ac and an AIR CAR in the garage to deliver my frags to the live fish store for sale. Retired folk need some extra income too.
SOOO,,That's my coral propagation plan. And it should cost a lot less by then too. Electric utility rates have only just started to rise. and will keep on rising with fuel and transmission costs. when you install solar today, and include it in the mortgage, your power costs are fixed and frozen for the the next 30 years, giving you a big edge on the smudge pots down the road.
And hey, if it helps make the world more carbon neutral, so much the better.
My ideal green house tank would be about 10 foot wide by 15 or 20 foot long, and with soft sandbed, and 20 inches of knee-deep water with rock and corals piled in channels i can wade through, barefoot, like a tidal reef pool. it would have to be low to the ground, and be a look down pool. maybe a side view panel too.