MDM Pumps Powers New Seagrass Restoration Research with Sequence® Colossus 750 DC Plus
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s new Ron & Marla Wolf Seagrass Restoration Center for Ocean Sustainability has taken a significant step in advancing seagrass science. With the installation of MDM Sequence® Colossus 750 DC Plus pumps, the facility is now even more equipped to simulate, monitor, and mitigate the effects of ocean acidification and other stressors on seagrass habitats.
Seagrass Research at the Wolf Center
The Ron & Marla Wolf Seagrass Restoration Center forms a core part of Mote’s Seagrass Ecosystem Restoration Research Compound (SERRC), which was officially opened in late August 2025. The Center emphasizes greenhouse experiments and controlled environment studies designed to examine how variables such as salinity, temperature, turbidity, and carbon chemistry changes—especially ocean acidification—affect seagrass growth, survival, and resilience.
Seagrass meadows are vital for coastal ecosystems: they provide nursery habitats for marine life, buffer shorelines, improve water clarity, and act as powerful sinks for blue carbon. However, these ecosystems are under growing threat from climate change, pollution, and coastal development. Mote’s new facilities, including this Restoration Center, are designed to generate not only scientific understanding but also scalable and transferable restoration technologies.
Why the Colossus 750 DC Plus Pumps
The Sequence® Colossus 750 DC Plus pumps are an ideal choice for the MOTE Ron & Marla Wolf Seagrass Restoration Center and similar aquatic research projects because they combine high flow capacity with precision control and energy efficiency. Their variable speed, DC-powered design allows researchers to fine-tune water movement to simulate natural hydrodynamic conditions, which is critical for studies on seagrass growth under changing environmental factors like ocean acidification. Built for continuous operation, the Colossus pumps deliver quiet, reliable performance with minimal maintenance—ensuring consistent water quality and stable experimental conditions. Additionally, their IoT-enabled monitoring and remote adjustability give scientists the flexibility to respond in real time to experimental needs, making them a powerful tool for cutting-edge aquatic research facilities.
The Installation & Its Impact
With eight of these pumps now integrated into the restoration center’s systems, Mote is poised to replicate more complex, realistic water movement patterns while retaining precise control over variables. This allows researchers to better understand how seagrass species respond to the compounding stress of acidification, temperature shifts, and other environmental pressures — under conditions that more closely mirror those in coastal ecosystems.
The upgraded circulation capacity improves water turnover, reduces gradients (for example, of dissolved CO₂), and supports healthier, more robust seagrass growth. In addition, remote control and monitoring open up opportunities for continuous real-time data, enabling quicker responses to any deviations and finer experimental resolution.
“Upgrading to MDM’s Sequence Colossus 750 DC Plus pumps has been transformative for our operations. We have many of the colossus pumps installed across many of the MOTE research campuses and are extremely happy with their performance and capabilities.”
Randy Grams – Director of Facilities, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium
Broader Implications
This installation underscores a growing trend in marine restoration: pairing advanced engineering with ecological research. As seagrass beds decline globally, innovations like these pumps could be essential to both basic science and applied restoration..
Moreover, Mote’s model, including the Wolf Center, may serve as a blueprint for similar restoration efforts elsewhere. With reliable, high-capacity, controllable pumps, labs can better mirror field conditions, reducing the gap between laboratory experiments and real-world restoration success.
The partnership between MDM Pumps and Mote stands as an excellent example of how technical upgrades can amplify scientific capacity. The Sequence Colossus 750 DC Plus pumps give the Wolf Center tools it needs to push forward in tackling ocean acidification and preserving seagrass ecosystems. As the work begins in earnest, the knowledge generated here promises to benefit not just Florida’s coasts, but marine restoration globally.
