Biorock

Has anyone here read about this? A small electrical current flowing through a steel "rock" frame. They claim corals are growing three to four times as fast as normal. I wonder if anything like this could be implemented in an aquarium??

Biorock

 

I'm sure its alot more difficult than one might think... If I tried it, I'd probably get knocked on my butt.......

 

I don't know the exact specs, but considering some of them are solar powered I'm assuming it only requires a very low voltage.

 

It is intersting.. Would like to see a documentary on that... IN HD>>>

 

OK! (Sorry, not in HD - )

(repost - updated)

I have visited the Pemuteran Reef Restoration Project three times. Since just after it was started, to as late as last year.

Absolutely marvelous to see the changes over time.

Pemuteran Coral Restoration Project​

"Mineral Accretion Technology" ​

(BioRock Technology)​

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"Pemuteran" is a small fishing village on the Northeast side of the island, Bali, Indonesia, located about as far away as one can get from the crowded, urban population centers of the South (Denpasar, etc.)

Over several years of visiting I have witnessed the development of an amazing coral restoration project that is being carried out there. It using a technology which I believe is being overlooked by most coral propagators here in the US.

I would be quite easy to duplicate in any small coral propagation'growing activity.

The project involves the running of a low voltage current out to large man-made rebar structures out in water that have been "seeded" with coral frags.

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The speed of growth of these corals is nothing short of spectacular. In just a couple of years, an amazing and beautiful artificial reef has quickly been developed in an area that was nearly a coral dead zone previously. (Due to high temp coral bleaching during El Nino years.)

The Most Unique Reef in South-East Asia​

(Scuba Diver Magazine - February 2004)​

"...There are no other coral reefs quite like it and it is nothing like anything else you have seen before underwater. In the shallow bay 45 specially built steel contraptions in the shapes of caterpillars, Mexican hats, Eiffel towers, sugar loafs and tunnels are the rehabilitation platforms for broken corals.My first impression was that of an underwater educational theme park, a Disneyland coral reef, a new-age reef system!This unique reef system is the brain-child of scientists Professor Wolf Hilbertz and Dr Tom Goreau.Artificial reef construction by means of mineral accretion,also known as “third generation” artificial reef systems (first reported in Asian Geographic in 2001), is a novel technology which uses electricity to “grow” limestone rock on artificial reef frames and increase growth rates of corals and other reef organisms. Two electrodes supplied with low-voltage direct current are submerged in seawater.Electrolytic reactions at the cathode cause minerals naturally present in seawater to build up. At the same time a wide range of organisms on or near the growing substrate are affected by electrochemically-changed conditions, shifting their growth rates.Stray or loose living corals are carefully collected from nearby destroyed reefs and transplanted onto the structures. They are attached with wires or wedged between steel bars. These coral bits are quickly cemented into place by the growing minerals forming over the structure’s surface; the reefs are electronically charged to grow..."

What is a "BioRock Reef?"​

"...Biorock technology applies a safe low-voltage electrical current through seawater, causing dissolved minerals to precipitate onto cathodic surfaces growing into white limestone/brucite structures similar to those that make up coral reefs and nourish tropical white sand beaches. Biorock methods speed up coral growth even where excessive temperatures, pollution, sedimentation and other stress-inducing factors have damaged reefs and other marine habitats..."

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Biorock Technology​

Since 1988, Prof. Wolf H.Hilbertz, and Coral Ecologist, Dr. Thomas J. Goreau, of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, have collaborated in research and development of Biorock with a focus on coral propagation, preservation of corals, coral reef restoration, shore protection structures, and mariculture.
Demonstration projects conducted at number of locations around the world have involved the grafting of salvaged coral fragments to Biorock Reef Structures.

Enhanced growth rates of the salvaged corals were monitored and documented.

Survival of corals on Biorock Reef Structures exceeded the survival of corals on adjacent natural coral reef formations under severely degrading environmental conditions.

Biorock Reef Structures immediately became integrated, living parts of their marine environment, providing additional substrata available and conducive to further natural settlement of wild corals.

Biorock Reef Structures have been termed "Coral Arks", which ultimately hold promise to augment repopulating of corals on natural reefs that have suffered degradation and devastation from numerous human related and natural causes.

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Would be cool if someone here at 3Reef would give it a try and let the rest of us know how well it works...(or keep it a secret & get rich...:)

(Just for Fun...To spark interest in going to visit)


The restoration project is right off the beach from a resort called the "Tamin Sari" in Pemuteran.

A typical "room" at the Tamin Sari looks like this...

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(Breakfast that comes with room price, served on your own little patio)​

(Cost: $25-$30 NIGHT!!! )​

Think about it...go to Caribbean, Hawaii, or elsewhere...or spend an extra $100 or so to fly to Bali. You will more then make up difference in airfare after 1st or 2nd day stay. (FYI)



;D
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(Sailing Bali Style - 2005)​

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Yup! I remember You have posted it some time ago omard. A very nice initiative! However, scaling down could be tricky a bit ... :/