Dear Blue Ranger,
It has been almost three weeks since the last update, and a lot has happened since then. Time for another update!
In the last update, we wrote that we wanted to have the lab up and running by the 6th of January, and we reached that goal!
The building process went very fast the first days of the new year. As a result, the lab was pretty much complete on the 5th of January. On the day after, we did a final check on the build with the contractor, Indonesia Biru Foundation, and the student designers. Here and there were some small things to be improved, but overall, the result was amazing. Thick wooden beams carrying a strong roof, transparent walls allowing for a quick peek into the lab and a natural finish made the building a success.
In the meantime, the reef tanks were also designed. They have a strong metal frame, with wooden carrying plates in between on which the tanks will be placed. Between the frame and the tanks, is a layer of foam, protecting them against shock and impacts.
The first of the tanks was done and delivered to the lab on the 6th of January. The idea was to immediately install all the equipment and run the first test, but we ran into a slight problem. We had no hoses to connect all the equipment. It was already late afternoon, so we decided to get them the following morning and continue then.
The day after, we got the missing hoses. Finally, we were ready to connect all the equipment. We were planning on also filling the tank that day, but the sea was rather cloudy. Therefore, we decided to wait a day. The day after, the sediment sunk a bit and the water was a lot clearer. We filled the tank and performed a test run. Everything worked perfectly, except for that there seemed to be a leak in one of the drain holes from the tank.
We decided to stop the test run and see what would happen to the leak. The day after the leak was completely dry again, so we continued the test run. This time it did not start leaking and we realized what the actual problem was. The foam beneath the tank had soaked up some of the water during the filling process, which made the drain hole wet on the outside, appearing as a leak. A few days later, there was still no leakage, and everything was working fine! When the tank has run and filtered for about two weeks, the corals will be put in place!
We hope to update you on the first restorations in our next post!
