Saturday, March 14, 2009
D-Day: The Experiment Begins
Today at 7:00 pm I threw these PVCs loaded with potential substrate into the catchment pond. The aluminum, fiberglass, and rubber squares are attached with picture wire. The vinyl and weed guard mat (which I attached at the last minute purely because it was sitting in my garage) are attached with duct tape since the wire cut too easily through those materials. The PVC pipes are held to the bank by fishing line and stakes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That looks really cool. How far apart have you placed them? And how is the sun exposure for the pond? I noticed in the pictures that there are some trees in the vicinity that may cast quite a bit of shade.
ReplyDeleteAbout the issue with the wires cutting through the material: What if we used some sort of a clamp to hold the material in place (ie. those black ones used for paper or those used for squeezing opened snack bags)? These might be a little more expensive but would work better for material that are a little more fragile. However, we seem to run into the problem that if the material is too easy to tear, would it be difficult to remove the biomass without damaging the substrate?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThey're a few feet apart; sun exposure is pretty good, the only time the trees are going to affect lighting will be in the late afternoon.
ReplyDeleteClamp might be a good idea. I will probably have to replace/back up the duct tape soon, but the clamps you refer to wouldn't fit around the circumpherence of the PVC.
Though knifing a hole and scraping organisms off the material are significantly different, we will have to consider the fragility, especially of the shower curtain, which I already managed to tear slightly by stepping on it.
With a clamp, it may rust. Most are made out of plastic, but often have a metal wire somewhere on it.
ReplyDeleteHow has this been going? Any photos or comments? How much biomass did they accumulate?
ReplyDelete