[Coral-List] Coral Larvae Settlement on Glass

[Todd Barber]

Reef Ball Foundation has often used glass bottles inside of Reef Balls
(with just the opening exposed otherwise fully encased with concrete),
and have found that they make excellent habitat for octopus lairs when
the bottle is angled downward (so that it does not fill up with sand).

Additionally, crushed glass can be used as a type of aggregate in concrete.

We don't recommend bottles to be used alone without some form of
additional long term anchorage and protection from breakage which
could create sharp glass which might be a hazard to divers or beach
goers.

Thanks,

Todd R Barber
Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
3305 Edwards Court
Greenville, NC 27858
252-353-9094 (Direct)
941-720-7549 (Cell & Goggle Voice)
toddbarber Skype

www,reefball.org (Reef Ball Foundation)
www.artificialreefs.org (Designed Artificial Reefs)
www.reefbeach.com (Reefs for Beach Erosion)
www.eternalreefs.com (Memorial Reefs)
www.reefball.com (Reef Ball Foundation)




On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 9:33 AM, Bill Allison <allison.billiam at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Joe,
>
> It is common to see corals growing on bottles especially old bottles that
> have been abraded by sand, but usually the sand and bottle mobility
> constrain growth. Perhaps both attracting larvae and their subsequent
> adherence would be improved by etching or abrading the eternal surface but I
> wonder if it could be economically done (e.g., by sand-blasting). If bottles
> of various types - not just wine (think mouth openings) - were used and
> organized in an appropriate manner you might have a experiment by which you
> could learn about the effects of cavity opening size on the community of
> coral associated mobile fauna.
>
> A downside could be the usual for such structures, a significant physical
> disturbance smashing gabions and bottles and littering the reef, posing an
> aesthetic and possibly physical hazard, especially in the shallows.
>
> Bill
>
> On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 8:36 AM, Joseph Marlow
>  <joemarlow_2000 at yahoo.co.uk>wrote:
>
>> Dear Listers,
>>
>> Does anybody have any information on coral larvae settlement on glass? I
>> work for an environmental education organisation in Peninsular Malaysia
>  and
>> we work in conjunction with a beach resort that produces a large amount of
>> waste wine bottles but has no means of recycling them. The suggestion is
>  to
>> sink the bottles in Gabion baskets on damaged areas of the reef in an
>  effort
>> to encourage new coral growth, however there is some suggestion that coral
>> larvae will not settle on the glass. Do any listers have any experience of
>> creating artificial reefs using old wine bottles?
>>
>> Thanks and regards
>>
>> Joe Marlow
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>>
>
>
>
> --
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> and combining as he pleases, each man reads his own peculiar lesson
> according to his own peculiar mind and mood.
> - Herman Melville, 1852. Pierre, or the Ambiguities
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