[Coral-List] Artifical live rock seeding

[Tim Pickering]

Dear Jonathon

My name is Tim Pickering at the University of the South Pacific in 
Fiji, and I have just begun supervising an MSc student Dilpreet 
Kaur on a "live rock aquaculture" topic in collaboration with Walt 
Smith International Inc, with the aim of getting artificial substrate to 
encrust with corallines in the quickest possible time.  We have 
considered three approaches;
(1) a "site selection" approach, through monitoring of natural 
recruitment and growth between reef zones and seasons using 
ceramic tiles, to identify any site-related or seasonal "hotspots" for 
live-rock aquaculture;
(2) vegetative propagation, in which we super-glue coralline-algae 
fragments onto the artificial substrata before placement on the reef; 
and
(3) induction of spore release from "mother rocks" onto substrata in 
the laboratory by manipulating light intensity, daylength and/or 
temperature, as you would for any red seaweed.

Currently we are focussing on (1) and (2), and are only a couple of 
months into the study at this stage.

I hope this assists.  Why are you doing this?  Is it a scientific 
study, or a commercial project?

Tim Pickering
Senior Lecturer in Aquaculture
Marine Studies Program
The University of the South Pacific 



On 25 Sep 03, at 0:22, jon werry wrote:

> Dear coral-list members,
> 
> We are trying to looking at the quickest methods to encourage
> "seeding", i.e. rapid growth of coralline algae, turf algaes and micro
> and macro organism growth, on artifically produced "living reef rock".
>  Is anyone aware of any methods that could help in this process?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> 
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