Reef Ball's Listbot Archive
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1) Reef Ball Offices will be closed from Dec
24-Jan 2nd for Christmas Holidays. We will still be monitoring our email
in case of immediate need.
2) Florida Aquatic & Marine and Danny Grizzard
will be acquiring molds for a project next year in Panama City, Florida.
More details soon...
3) From Maryland DNR, "Maryland has recently
implement a major program to restore oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay.
The
availability of oyster shells from our dredge shell program has become very
limited, and their is a major commitment to look for alternative materials
that can be used to re-establish oyster reefs. The reef balls are very
interesting and we plan on using them as part of our restoration
efforts..."
Note: Reef Ball is working with Maryland
Environmental Services, a non-profit organization in Maryland, to develop
solutions for the DNR as they implement strategies to restore oyster reefs.
Some ideals being considered are 1) using the Reef Ball plug system to
"seed" oysters from spat directly to the plugs, then after settling,
the plugs will be put into the Reef Balls. (particularly in areas of low
salinity where natural settlement is rare or non-existent but the oysters are
naturally resistant to diseases). 2) Using Reef Balls "Reef
Forms" which are made with left over concrete and our Reef Ball concrete
mix design to create acres of oyster habitable bottom cheaply (they are
running out of oyster shells which have been used for the same purpose in the
past).
3) Using Reef Balls on top of shells or Reef Forms
in areas where natural settlement does occur to give oysters a place to settle
and as a bonus providing some fish habitat. 4) Continuing to develop diseases
resistant oysters for the above purposes.
4) The Reef Ball Foundation will conduct our
Annual Board Meeting and Awards Ceremony in Curacao from Jan 31st-Feb 4th.
If you are interested in attending, please contact us before Dec. 26th to get
the best rates on airfare.
5) For Reef Ball making folks...we've found an
excellent way to add surface textures to Reef Balls when rinsing to expose the
aggregates is too messy or prohibitive...just add some pelletized catfish pond
food (very cheap) to your concrete mixture...they tend to float to the surface
and are later removed by bacterial action and/or fish. (Ants if you
leave the balls on land long enough!). This technique is also beneficial
for those who are looking to make live rock substrate from our pH neutral
concrete mixtures since it lightens the concrete and adds porosity if you
add higher amounts. (it also weakens the concrete so don't add large amounts
to Reef Balls, just live rock or "Reef Forms")
(Here are some examples of Reef Forms for those of
you that have not seen them before, of course, they come in all shapes and
sizes...usually between 15-45 pounds. They are made by making a simple
form in the sand by hand and then adding Reef Ball Concrete. There are
many creative ways to shape the forms into useful micro-habitats. Please
note: only deploy Reef Forms inside Reef Balls in high energy
areas...depending upon bottom type, they may not be as stable as a Reef
Ball on their own.)
back...
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Need more information? Contact us:
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Reef Ball Development Group, Ltd.
Bradenton, Florida 34207 USA
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reefball@reefball.com
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Phone: 941-752-0169
Fax: 941-752-1033
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