Ring around the coral., what to do?

[Smoker]

The base around my finger leather has been slowly shrinking for months. It hasn't grown any since this ring started. It behaves normally with lights on/off/close/open. I can wipe away the dark outer coating of the ring, exposing a normal looking but thin base, and the dark ring quickly returns.

I'm afraid to let it go on like this as someday it may suddenly die. I've been tempted to cut it off and glue it to another rock. I've never fragged before. If I cut off a branch or the entire base and glue it to a rock would it grow? Does super glue gel dry and hold even if the coral is wet?

 

[DaveK]

Your on the right track. You frag the coral. However it's got to be gone carefully.

First frag soft corals outside the tank. When being fraged they throw off a lot of stinky slime. Second wear rubber or latex gloves for the same reason.

You will need a very sharp knife, a bucket or tray, some live rock pieces for mounting the frags, some plastic toothpicks, and some rubber bands.

VIP note - superglue is not a good choice for fraging soft corals. Since these corals can change size and shed, superglue gels do not stick well to them.

How to do it -

Fill the tray about 1/2 way full with water from the tank.
Remove the coral hopefully the bucket covers the coral, but it's ok if it doesn't.
Cut off the frags. Make the cuts as clean as possible. You want frags to have a good size base, not a single small branch.
Push a plastic toothpick through the base of the coral put it far enough up so that it will not be torn out.
Position the coral where you want it on the rock and use a rubber band around the rock and each end of the toothpick to secure it. Do not get this too tight, just enough to hold it in place.
Return the mounted frags to the tank.
Discard the water you cut the frags in. It will be really foul, and smell bad.

Other notes -

You could frag the coral in one piece by cutting across the stem, and mounting that, but usually your better off making multiple smaller frags. That way if one dies, you haven't lost the entire coral.

Keep an eye on the new frags. they may be limp for a few days, but if they start to rot, you will need to discard them.

Once the coral has really got a hold of the rock, usually in a few weeks, you can remove the rubber band and toothpick.

In time you may have more of these corals than you want. Sell, trade or give them away.

 

[Smoker]

Your on the right track. You frag the coral. However it's got to be gone carefully.

First frag soft corals outside the tan.

Thank you very much Dave. So helpful. I haven't done it yet but soon I hope.

 

[StirCrayzy]

I've used superglue on base of softies , guess that's not ideal? The physics of motion and shedding is a valid point I'm sure, but I can definitely vouch for superglue's tendency to stick soft tissue too well. ( on Both aquatic, and terrestrial creatures )
Of course I'm no fragging expert, I defer to the pros for their wisdom.
Maybe @jjmoneyman can share some experience.