Nursery Assembly and Installation continued Table Assembly : Refer to photos A-I previous page, and the training video. FoH members will assist with any new nursery assembly at least through 2020. The 10ft lengths of steel will be assembled thusly: six lengths (the table top) will have the ends bent into curves for better securing the corners (C). Six lengths are bent into U- shaped legs, four’ legs and 2’ across (B). One 10’ length is left straight, that is for the middle bar that supports the weight of the corals on the nurseries (B). The order the bars are placed does matter; the bars that support the ropes’ weight should be placed last, on top.
Large (50lb.) mallets are necessary for pounding the legs into the substrate at least 2’ deep. Junctions are secured with two thick cable ties and/or tying wire. We use a short piece of steel to probe all corners first, to ensure the nursery will be installed evenly. Water movement at the site should be taken into consideration for orientation of the ropes and with maximum stability of the table in worst-case weather conditions. Ropes: Three-strand, twisted (not braided!) 1/2” marine polypropylene ropes are used. Cotton ropes snag on the corals.
If different colors can be sourced, that is useful for separating different genotypes of the same species, but tags (G, H) should always be used (color coding with plastic cable ties does not work as their color fades over time). The ropes are cut in 11” lengths and the ends must be burned so they do not unravel. Each rope should have only one genotype, than you only need tag one end of the rope, not every coral, and begin measurements from the tagged end. Starter fragments are ~ 4-10cm and placed 10-15cm apart by twisting open the rope. We usually place 10-15 fragments on each rope.
Ropes are secured toe ach end of the table with knots and/or cable ties-you want them secure but also easy enough to remove for out-planting or transfer to another nursery. The ropes should be cabled to the middle bar so they cannot swing into each other, and also placed 10- 15cm apart on the table. TLE=Total Linear Extension (I) is the best method for A. cervicornis growth rates, 0- 6months (Kiel et al 2012). This paper/method (and a sample data sheet) is provided in Annex X to the manual. Fig. 1. Coral secreting protective mucus. Fig. 2. Assembling ropes on SCUBA is easy. Ropes may be assembled in shallow water, in the boat, underwater with SCUBA (Fig. 2).
But they must be kept submerged as much as possible. Corals are living animals and secret a protective mucus when stressed (Fig.1). Use NO SUNSCREEN (no lotions, no hair products, no perfumes) and wash bare hands thoroughly before handling corals. 8