We receive two Aqua Lungs Core sets, which are also suitable for cold water. There is coral in cold water, but that is difficult for us to grow. Unfortunately, that coral is also subject to the influence of human kind. Despite the cold water, I still have the dream of diving under Antarctic ice once. It is so beautiful to see. It is always enjoyable when you see the beautiful documentaries such as Blue Planet II from the BBC.

What is very useful to the Core sets is that they are equipped with the ACD system (Automatic Closure Device). This ensures that no water can enter the system when washing the first stage. This prevents possible damage. In Thailand, the regulators are rinsed after diving, in large containers with water. We wash our equipment ourselves, because not everyone is careful with someone else’s stuff. But something can always happen. Recently we found a regulator set from a diving school completely under water. The probability that the first stage is flooded is present, with all the consequences.

The regulators work wonderfully under water. The easy-to-grip venturi lever prevents unwanted freeflow at the surface while giving a performance boost at depth and provides more air supply.

Gard and Aqua Lung thanks for the donation! We use the regulators with great pleasure.

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Diego of The Old Pirate, spoke with us at the exhibition Boot in Dusseldorf and at Duikvaker in Houten. He wanted to sponsor us with new diving equipment. For those who do not know The Old Pirate yet, it is the importer and wholesaler of all kinds of diving equipment. From the smallest parts to complete sets of diving equipment. Their newly opened store is very convenient; you can view and try everything and even test a lot of the equipment. Next to the store the diving school Li-Diving is located with their own dive pond. The dive pond is ideal to test whether you enjoy diving and practice your skills. There is also cool stuff to see under water.

After the Duikvaker exhibition we went to The Old Pirate. We walked through the shop and Diego asked what CoralGardening needs. We only mention the most necessary things. But Diego insists and gives more than we can wish for. The list continues to grow and is too long to mention, we end up with 2 Tigullio T52 BCD’s, a new manometer for Veran, two reals, mesh bags, a gorgeous OrcaTorch flashlight with wrist strap, two waterproof backpacks and a backpack to transport the diving equipment itself. Very useful if you are cycling around Koh Tao. And that is not all, soon there will be more ….

The Tigullio T52 trim jackets are ideal for our work under water. They are semi-wings and therefore easy to trim. This allows you to work nicely horizontally above the artificial reef, without having to be afraid of touching something. Hanging upside down is also a piece of cake. The large pockets and many D-rings make it possible to carry a lot of tools and equipment. The trim jackets also have a big bladder, so the extra weight that you take with you can easily be compensated.

The Old Pirate and Diego thanks for the donation, we use it with pleasure.

Build a healthy sea and donate to CoralGardening.

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Support CoralGardening.

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Underwater you easily shoot dozens of pictures, it is useful if the software can quickly process those photos. And that is exactly what Picture-Fix does.

You can easily and quickly add multiple photos into the program. It then gives for each photo 9 examples how the image can be improved. You just choose the best option. After that you can correct contrast, brightness and colours.
By clicking “Reset Corrections” Picture-Fix will turn back to the 9th selection options. Are you satisfied with the result, then the image is saved under the same name with the addition, in the same folder. The original stays preserved.

Did you make multiple photos at the same depth, you can save as preferred setting. This program is highly recommended. It is very user friendly and costs a lot less compared to Photoshop. Thanks to the Onderwaterhuis.nl who have donated Picture-Fix to CoralGardening. Here are some examples:

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Some sponsors were quick to support CoralGardening. One of them is Dive Centre Nieuw-Vennep. They have donated several masks, sets of fins and wetsuits to us last year. We have brought the gear to Thailand in September, where it hibernated during the winter season. Now the gear is put to good use in the clean-ups and snorkling monitoring we have been doing. How else do you inspect the underwater world and corals? Or take away waste materials if you cannot dive for it?

We have some gear ready for you for when you come to Thailand to help CoralGardening!

Duikcentrum Nieuw-Vennep, thank you very much!

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We met Harro Cats, Sea Life Benelux, at Duikvaker 2015. Sea Life Benelux is a supplier of high-quality underwater camera’s, lights and other accessories. They are not only the best option for sport divers, but also for those who tend to do a little bit more under water, like research, or clean-ups, or building a reef! Harro Cats was very enthusiastic about our project and borrowed us a SeaLife Micro HD. So far, we can give nothing but compliments!

The first thing we noticed is that the camera itself is already waterproof. No need for a clean, waterproof housing and all that. We’ve seen people with camera’s diving down only to come up two minutes later with a ruined camera. And vacation. That won’t happen to you if you’ve got a SeaLife.

Our second observation was that the ergonomics are brilliant! Even Frank can set up the camera just right without having to use his reading glasses to see what he’s doing. You just need to tell the camera what you’re going to do (snorkling, diving, with or without lamps) and it will just do what you want it to do. The large buttons are a plus as well.

Finally, the quality of your pictures: it’s great. We just need to get some more experience in under water photography to make them even better. Certainly we also hope that many corals start to recover in the mean time and so our subjects will be more beautiful by the time we take another mugshot of them :). Harro Cats, thank you for your trust in us and support with this wonderful addition to the CoralGardening arsenal!

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Charlotte, thank you and we wish you the best in your new job!

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What has a houseboat to do with coral growth?

Bob lives on a houseboat with a metal hull. Metal and (sea)water do not go well together; the metal will rust. To protect hulls against rust, cathodic protection is used. Simply stated a current runs between the metal hull of a ship and a so called anode (another piece of metal), which prevents the hull from rusting but sacrifices the anode. This principle uses the same technique as the one that stimulates coral growth. By applying a current between 2 metal objects, on one side a more basic environment is created in which corals grow faster.

Can I build it as well?

Bob’s goal is to make new systems as simple and cheap as possible. All parts should be available through webshops. The system itself will become open source. The manual shall be put online, so everybody with some technical skills can make it. That way, it will be possible for many projects to make such a system and help their corals.

A prototype of this Coral Aid system was installed and tested on Koh Tao last month. It works fantasticly!. The first system is powered by solar panels. The main advantage is the independence from a land based power source. However, the solar panel needs to stay on the surface. This brings risks of damage (not all captains are equally capable at driving their boats) and theft. The new system that is under development, will get its power from land.

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