Re-planting downed rods & fans

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Mike - I'll check when I get home, but a year or two ago there was an article in the Sun Sentinel regarding efforts by someone in the Broward County DEP who actually does this as part of a project on reef renourishment. He used a cement of some sort.

I d/l the article for referenceand I'm pretty sure I still have it. I kept the article because the accompanying photo showed the guy working on the coral, and an intern in teh background with her console and octo dangling free and clear as she floated over the reef! I sent him an email on it, but never heard back.

Marc

 

[FredT]

Thoroughly dry mix equal volumes portland cement, fine sand and moulding plaster. (the plaster used to repair plaster and lath walls) Prepackage this mixture in a zip lock bag with 1 cup of mix or less in the bag. Take the bags down dry and add just a little water to the bag and QUICKLY knead it thoroughly to mix. Consistancy of the final mix should be about like stiff toothpaste.

Once mixed dispense a wad of it onto the reef where you want to anchor the coral base and stick in the coral. Hold soft coral whips and fans in place until it sets up, hard coral can be set and left. It sets up in about 90 seconds from the time the water first hits it. Put fans in place so the flat face of the fan faces the prevailing current.

Personlally I'd spend the time nailing down hard coral fragments, soft corals grow back relatively rapidly.

BTW DO NOT get this stuff on your bare hands! reaction is fast enough to chemically burn the skin even under water.

 

[nlbford]

make a law requiring lobsterers
and photograghers to eat what they kill. That should sort things out. [/B]

I'm a photog . . . haven't killed anything yet. Not sure why you'd lump em in with hunters.

 

[divad]

Just generalizing. I take pictures too and have thought about lobster hunting on that reef, but because of the way its constructed (at least in front of the pier where its a big jumble), I didn't think I had the skill to get them out without damaging something. Nothing against hunters and photograghers. My mistake. Change to anyone. Then it would be a good law.

I guess you could get them out of the fringy stuff and the honycomb part okay.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

However I did find the abstract of the article.

Ken Banks, manager of Marine Resources Programs for Broward County, and David Gilliam, who is a research scientist at Nova Southeastern University are the two who we featured in the article. Also somewhere off Dania beach they have set up a nursery where they transport the broken coral.

I'd contact them to see what they use, though FredT's recipe sounds like it would work.

Marc

 

[divad]

The sand has to be really dry, ie, not from the lumber yard. Get play sand or potting sand in the plastic bag (or dry mason's sand). It needs to be fine. You don't need that much? If the sand has any moisture in it, the whole thing will go off pretty quickly.
Its not that bad on your skin for short periods (before it sets up and not all day), but if you wipe it on your wetsuit...never mind.

 

[MikeJacobs]

FredT once bubbled... SNIP...Personlally I'd spend the time nailing down hard coral fragments, soft corals grow back relatively rapidly.[/B]

How rapidly do you think fans & rods grow back? I figured a small fan was at least several years old.

Although I've seen mounds toppled by boat anchors, which I assume are many years old, I don't see a lot of broken coral out here. What I see is scarred coral at all the "wear points" where divers are apt to drag gear or brush against. I'm not sure I could do anything about that.

The idea of repairing hard and soft coral is appealing. I think your cement recipe is great. I found an article that didn't go into what was in the mix, but they also nailed the base to the reef.

I'd have to scrape some algie off the reef to get a good strong hold... and I wouldn't want to attempt that without looking into the law.

I'm eager to follow through, though.

 

[MikeJacobs]

FLL Diver once bubbled... SNIP...Ken Banks, manager of Marine Resources Programs for Broward County, and David Gilliam, who is a research scientist at Nova Southeastern University ...SNIP

Excellent... it's past my bedtime but I'll follow up tomorrow or Friday. Thx, Marc.

 

[doole]

Best possible way to take care of nature is to LEAVE IT ALONE.

These critters evolved for billions of years without human help; you guys are just confusing the issue.

 

[MikeJacobs]

doole once bubbled... These critters evolved for billions of years without human help; you guys are just confusing the issue.

Yup, but it's a confusing issue lol... we've done a heck of a lot of damage to our reefs and it might be worthwhile to try to 'undo' some of it carefully - very carefully.

BTW, I don't know if I posted it here but the reef medic program is alive and well down in the keys. They focus on repairing groundings - unnatural damage - because they feel the same way doole does about the natural issues.

If anybody is interested in becoming a reef medic volunteer PM me and I'll forward the info.