Updated Youtube video about 3 yr old gallon reef.
 

this video was just a brainstorm on how to make use of the longevity and simplicity of pico reefs when steps are taken to control evaporation, it makes them easier to run than larger reefs. I was thinking the mass appeal of easy reef tanks could be utilized to help instead of just deplete nature... picos can produce corals, not just keep them, so i was imagining a club of members who ship in these orbs to natural reefs when they are devastated, as seedling pods. I have pruned everything from candy corals to masses of xenia to acans over the years with these so I was thinking cheap reefing could be good in some ways, bad in others, but either way it works undeniably. it's so reliable a non reef keeper can run them off a simple procedures manual, it's being done now in my city.

I was thinking that nations could also invest coral protection monies into mass mariculture where these growth pods could be kept by aquarists and then governments could pay for mass shipping (or buy back from aquarists) to replenish natural supplies when manmade or natural disasters occur. maybe home based mariculture is cheaper in the end and could be like little arks when the next mass bleaching occurs, just messin around

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThIuQcBpHVw

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these pics are sick too, this is a detail of 18 months of growth in acropora plugs on the back wall of the palmtop sps reef. it grew out to be miniature table top acropora, it made a round table at the water surface exactly as it does in nature and this was amazing to me at the 2 inch scale and nearly two years, still electric green and yellow in places.

a powerhead aimed right into the plugs played a large role in their shaping, early on I found sps likes to grow into the flow, not away from it.
B

That's sweet. Are those pics from 2001?? If so, what's it look like now?

I've seen these before...fascinating stuff! Welcome to Canreef!