BioRock Experiment

[SmallFry]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Oh, and just to throw a monkey into this even more... this does work with softies as well! Just something to think about.

I recall reading something about it (or something similar) a couple of years ago. I think, if I remember correctly that the way it helps things grow faster is that it puts the cathode (and anything attached to it) at a different (lower?) potential than it would otherwise be at. This makes it easier for the coral to build the calcium carbonate structure that makes up the hard part of the coral. The calcium actually wants to come out of solution which makes the corals life a lot easier...

In the article I read it was being investigated as a way to keep corals growing in conditions where the ocean was being acidified such that they'd normally have problems building a skeleton.

Presumably then, it would have a similar effect on the growth of any stony coral, though this assumes (maybe a big assumption) that it is the ability to grow skeleton that is the rate determining factor in the coral growth, not food or something else.

Dunno whether that helped or made it more confusing..
Rob.