reef restoration pics - method to be applied to captive coral propogation?

[ravenmore]

Hi guys,

I've been reading about a reef restoration method that has actually been in practice since about 1976. It involves sinking iron rebar structures and passing a low voltage electrical current through them. Because of a reaction between the electrical current and dissolved calcium - corals are reported to grow up to 10 times faster and appear to be hardier, in terms of apparently surviving events that nearby natural reefs do not. For more details, see this thread: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=128013&highlight=electric+structures

here's a couple of pics of the method in practice:

http://globalcoral.org/Bali%2019.jpg

this pic shows calcium forming on the metal

http://globalcoral.org/Bali%2013.jpg

corals growing on the frame

http://globalcoral.org/Bali%203.jpg


It seems to me that this would also be extemely usefull in captive coral propogation, as the corals are reported to grow much faster as stated above. Just wondering what you guys thought and if you had heard of anyone else experimenting with this.....

[geshields]

We could all just put rio's in our tank..maybe that's why all my corals grew so fast....

Greg

p.s. all joking aside, it seems like it would be a great idea as long as it was under very controlled circumstances. Most people think 120V is low voltage...

[musicsmaker]

Do a search in the advanced topics forum. There was a thread... Hold up. I'll just find the thread and link to it. Here (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130218) you go. The method produces a toxic byproduct from what I remember. It is not a problem in the open ocean. In a tank however it has nowhere to go, so it builds up. More info is in the thread.