[Coral-List] Best Non-Toxic Marine Epoxy?

[Dennis Hubbard]

In the old days, we used Portland type II marine cement. If you mix it with
coral sand, you have something that is a lot closer to the coral's make-up
than any epoxy will ever be. In a couple of years, the coral grows over the
plug and all evidence is gone. If you add moulding plater to it, it makes a
nice and firm glob that you can work into the hole. You want to make sure
there are no ways for bioeroders to get into the hole from another
direction or they will eat the colony from the inside rapidly.

I remember Gene Shinn telling me that when they were working in protected
areas they had to drill another plug from the side of the coral, glue that
into the "real" hole and then plug the one down lower and out of site. The
problem was that the corals on the lower sides apparently had either a
different density or different group of zoox and the color didn't match.
I'm sure that Gene can fill in the gaps and fix the errors in my story.

Best,

Dennis

On Tue, Mar 10, 2015 at 12:22 PM, Hannah Aichelman <
hannahaichelman at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Coral List,
>
> We are trying to find the best non-toxic marine epoxy that will be used to
> seal core plugs from recently drilled coral colonies (Siderastrea siderea
> and Pseudodiploria strigosa). Any ideas for the best options? We are trying
> not to use Z-SPAR because of potential toxicity to the coral.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Hannah
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-- 
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"