Materials Not Permitted In RBDG Projects
Unsuitable Reef Materials
We are constantly being asked about other types of materials
and what makes a good reef. The first question that must be asked is
where the materials are being placed. If placement is to occur in
waters that support corals, the range of useful materials is greatly
reduced.
Not Suitable For Any Location
Tires
-they leach toxins and very little grows on them plus they move in
storms tearing up the natural reef
Cars/Airplanes-Too light to be stable in storms
Copper, Zinc, Brass-Toxic to several forms of marine life
Wooden materials-generally unstable but okay in certain areas
(low energy cold waters)
Toxic materials or materials that contain toxins
Most plastics
Not Suitable For Waters With Corals
(Not recommended for other locations but acceptable)
Iron/Steel/Aluminum-Not suitable for coral growth and
reproduction (Iron is biologically active and harmful to corals)
Materials with embedded fertilizers
Fiberglass-flexing cause corals to fall off
Non-pH neutral concrete-Okay, but a six month delay in growth
should be expected, fouling community will not be natural
species diversity.
Acceptable For Coral Inhabited Waters
Limestone boulders
pH neutral concrete (between 8.2-8.5 for sea water)
Iron when fully embedded in low permeability concrete with a
corrosion inhibitor admixture
PVC plastics when partially embedded in concrete for
stability
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE LIST. IF YOU HAVE
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF A MATERIAL, CONTACT US AND
WE WILL GIVE YOU OUR EVALUATIONS.
Recent E-mail Response to Questions on Materials
1) Tires...not even legal with general permints in the US
anymore...they move on the bottom due to low density and tear up
existing natural reef, are suspected to leach toxins, and
importantly, the "Fouling community" (the animals and
plants that grow on the reef) is very limited and does not represent
a naturally occuring community and tires have not been shown to
support the basic food web which support reef life.
2) Other materials of opportunity.
-Anything with iron content: Iron is biologically active and
actually quite rare in the sea (in ionic form) due to the higher pH
of seawater. Therefore it is not a suitable substrate for natural
reef growth because 1) It stimulates algae growth which chokes out
hard corals and other animal life that attaches itself to the reef,
2) It eventually rusts so long term animals (again such as corals)
fall off before they reach maturity, 3) As with tires, the
"fouling community" is not natural in terms of species
diversity or population densities.
However, heavy guage steel with sufficient thickness seem to have
an ability to support natural reef growths since the fouling
community can presumably seal the iron allowing a more natural reef
to develop over the structure. The key here seems to be that the
material be durable enough to last several years allowing the iron
to be sealed. This may not, however, be the case in areas of high
scouring action where the iron can be continually exposed due to
sand blasting effects.
-Tall Structures: Fish can "hear" a reef (this is what
their lateral line is for) when a current passes over it creating
signatures in the 2-10 Mhz range. This creates a powerful
instinctual attraction function. Very tall strucutres exagerate this
sound which causes a higher than normal population density around
these materials. Even when the material has enough surface area and
complexity to support fish that "make a living" on the
reef, other fish such as grouper that are dependent on foraging the
sands near the reef for crusteans and other critters can depleat the
surounding food supplies and then presumabely growth rates could
become depressed which might result in lower egg production, etc.
-Structures without high complexity. It has been proven that
reefs with high complexity help to produce fish by protecting young
fish from predation. This is critical to most reef species that do
not suffer a shortage of food or eggs, especially when less than
about an inch. When the production / protection of young fish is a
goal in the project, Reef Balls benefit from the addition of
additional materials such as natural rocks in the center cavity.
-Concrete rubble/culberts, generally a better material when no
iron rebar is present in the concrete and when it has been several
years since the concrete was cast (this brings the pH of the
concrete down to near that of natural seawater). However, culverts
can move around due to their round shape and equally distributed
mass and if not properly sited, this has a potential to damage
nearby natural reefs. Culverts, unless special care is taken in
preparation and deployment don't generally offer high complexity,
but moderate complexity is possible. (Such as punching holes in the
sites of culverts and putting smaller culverts inside of larger
ones).
-Limestone Boulders, a superior material in terms of the fouling
community but unless piled, complexity may be low. When piled, the
cost of this material is usually prohibitive. (A nine ton limestone
bolder is roughly the same size as a single reef ball without any
complexity and when barging rates are $25-50/ton it just dones not
make good economic sense)
-Other Material Considerations
We consider a good material to be :
1) Proven stable in storms, this generally requires very dense
materials of moderate to low profile.
2) Contains No toxins (heavy metals, petroleum, PCBs, etc)
3) Contains no biologically active compounds (iron, copper,
fertilizers, vitamins, etc.)
4) Surface is rough, textured and near the pH of natural seawater
(8.3-8.4)
5) Offers high complexity (multiple enterances, exits and places
where fish can swim to shelter in at least 3 different directions)
6) Offers at least one internal cavity which fish can use to
shelter from currents
7) long lasting material which should last at least 50-100
years...longer if in the tropics.
8) The Reef creates a similar species and population density of
all marine life when compared to natural reefs in the same area.
9) And of course since the Reef Ball group is made up of
divers, we like to see things that look natural or are interesting.