Getting a colt to attach

[Travis]

I already know this is tough... LOL probably the toughest coral to get to attach. I have a huge one and refuse to cut it because the frag never stays.

I've tried superglue (Ha!) and sewing the frag to the rock with no luck.

Anyone who has been successful at getting these specific corals (alcyonium) to attach, please let me know how you did it!

Thanks

Travis

[Witfull]

travis have you made a tray to set it in with rubble on the bottom? thats what i did with shrooms. i used a gladware tray and punched holes in the lid till it looked like a shotgun hit it, and covered the bottom with small rubble.

if its big,,,maybe try cylinder....just some thoughts.

[reefrunner]

if its big,,,maybe try cylinder....just some thoughts

A 2 liter bottle with the top and bottom cut off, sunk an inch into the sand bed works with Wit's method, als try using some bridal veil to cover the frag on a rock to hold it in place.

[Cougra]

I fragged my colt coral in the past and I stuck a toothpick through the base of the coral and used an elastic to succure it to the rock. It took about a week for most of the frags to attach to the rock. After a couple weeks I took the tootpicks out very carefully by cutting one end of the toothpick close to the base of the frag, then twisting the toothpick to loosen it off and then pulling it out.

I have also found that the frags stick better to rock with coraline algae on it then plain base rock. This last could have been coinsidence since I only had 6 frags and two of them were on top of coraline. The frags were in different parts of the tank with different water flows and two of the frags kept getting knocked over by Engineer gobies.

[johnlewis]

I've not tried this on colt but you might try wrapping a small piece of rubble on top of the edge of the cutting with a rubber band to sandwich it.


Good Luck,

If you don't have good luck just send it to me. LOL

[DocG]

Get one of those hatchery kits for guppy fry. Put the frag in the kit with some nice sized rubble and wait.

[wooddood]

thanks cougra i like the toothpick method.im gonna try it on my colt thanks. dave.

[Curtswearing]

another method is using two fairly large and flat pieces of rubble and making a "V" out of them. Put the colt in the middle, and use rubberbands to hold the two pieces of rubble together.

[ReefLady]

I've pulled out my hair with this coral many times. Tried glue (yeah, right). elastics, toothpicks (wood & plastic) ... nothing ever seems to work.

One method that I *finally* had success with - plastic tie wraps/aka "cable ties".

I find with these, I can "snug" them down just enough so that the frag doesn't escape the rock, but they don't tend to squeeze/cut through the coral like a rubber band does.

HTH,

[Cosmic]

My personal favorite method is the low tupperware and crushed coral/shell idea. I've tried them all, failing miserably with most, feeling ackward with others, discover missing frags with yet others. I can't think of anything easier than a shallow dish with some rubble in it If flow gets to be too much, THEN you can add the wedding veil to cover the tupperware. Mine go in the refugium until attached, so I don't have to worry about high flow rates blowing them away.

-HTH-
Cos

[Craig Manoukian]

Another good use for the refugium, thanks Cos!

[SaltyQueen]

I don't have any colt coral, but w0w- sounds liks a huge headache! Does anyplace sell them already attached to rubble or small pieces of rock? That way if I ever decide to get one, I could same myself a lot of trouble!

[Cosmic]

Any piece of Colt you buy SHOULD come attached already. The problem lies in the fact that Colt corals grow fast under good conditions, meaning sooner or later you will need to frag it down. It's the FRAGS we have so much problem getting attached

-HTH-
Cos