Fragging coral??

[arussell]

I have been looking at various coral and reading articles about it. What I am not too sure about is how do you frag a coral? Also how can you tell if it is big enough to frag or is there a suitable size?

[Woodstock]

The method of fragging depends on the coral type. Soft corals require sharp scissors or a razor blade. LPS or SPS usually require needle nose pliers or a hammer and chisel. Corals are quiet resilient and recover quickly after fragging if given excellent water/flow/light conditions As far as knowing when a coral is 'big enough' to frag, that depends on you and how large you wish to grow it. I recently fragged a frog spawn down to 20 or so heads (used to have 30) so I think I will let it grow out to 30 again before the next frag. Just a personal preference that I like large colonies

[lcstorc]

Just did my first fragging about 2 weeks ago. It is a gorgonian and I just used scissors to cut off a piece and marine superglue gel to attach the new frag to a piece of shell. So far so good. Both the parent and the frag are opening nicely so I guess I did good.

[ghostwolf]

I too am interested in fragging some of my pieces as they get larger. Have you looked at the Book of Coral Propagation by Anthony Calfo? I am in the process of reading it. It have very useful information in it.

Lin

[arussell]

I think I'll pick up that book ghostwolf..

[ghostwolf]

Keep us posted and upload pics as you frag so we can enjoy your success!

Lin

[Witfull]

when ever fragging, wear goggles, chips and such can get in your eyes, and more importantly some corals are very dangerous, such as zoanthids. they contain a very powerful neurotoxin.

[arussell]

It will be a while before I frag anything but I will be sure to post pics when I do....

Adam

[coraldynamics]

In addition to Goggles or Safety Glasses, ALWAYS wear rubber gloves when working with corals.

1. contact with your skin can harm the coral
2. most corals are toxic to some degree, any open wound can be an entry point. Always wash up well BEFORE anything goes near your mouth- food, drink, cigarette, candy....anything!
3. Bristleworms and sharp edges.

Hammers, Chisels, Dremmel Tools, Siscors, Razor blades all work well depending on the type of coral you are fragging.

[boozeman]

fragarific!!!!!

[iluvzigz]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

Just did my first fragging about 2 weeks ago. It is a gorgonian and I just used scissors to cut off a piece and marine superglue gel to attach the new frag to a piece of shell. So far so good. Both the parent and the frag are opening nicely so I guess I did good.

on my gorg.dying gorgonia??
It is def dying the brown is appearing more..i was just thinking if i could frag it ...
then i came across this tonight ...can you explain to me how you did it ..i mean Lynn,i just cant think taking a razor to my coral can be good.
if i get rid of the dying part and just leave a peice that is alive, will that peice be ok ?Or will it eventually die anyways with the rest of it..?

[lcstorc]

Well, I am still really new so hopefully someone else will chime in. In my mind though I would think cutting the "dead or dying" part off would be a good thing and the rest may come back. I'm really kinda thinking along the lines of a plant here and what you would do with that.
If I remember your thread correctly, the damaged part is at the base and that would make it more difficult and/or risky. Yup just looked at the thread and I am remembering correctly. LOL
Depending on what others say, my first thought would be do cut some of the "branches" off and try for a couple of frags instead of just one. It would give you severall chances for success and with the damage at the base I don't think it would be any riskier.
Mine is a different type of gorg altogether, and was not damaged just getting really big (like growing out of the water big. lol). I just used scissors to almost prune it like a plant and took the branch I had cut off and glued it to a piece of shell. I have another gorg (again different kind) where the ends of many of the branches were dying. Several branches broke off on their own and I just kind of stuck them in the sand and hoped. Several are opening again and look a lot better. Again, I cut the "dead" parts off during the process and I have not seen any additional die off to date.
Hope this helps some. Feel free to PM me if you want any more info on what I did, but hopefully someone more experienced will chime in as well.
My first sw tank was set up about a year ago and first coral only about 8 months or so ago so again I am really new. Most of my (hopefully) helpful posts are me playing parrot for things I have learned from the other great people here with lots more experience.
Hope all goes well.
If you want Palm Beach is only about a 2hr drive for me so I could make a road trip one weekend and try to help in person.
Best of luck.

[coraldynamics]

Based on the image in the other thread.... If the brown areas are the ones circled in Dark Blue, then I would cut where the light blue lines are. Basically making two pieces.

If the area circled in green is also dying back, then keep a very close eye on it and be prepared to cut some more, and maybe move some to others tanks to see if they can keep it going.

Micro vert type foods will help, not the synthetic kind, real micro plankton. Several mfg's make good stuff. (not MWI though)

Hope this helps!

[lcstorc]

Wow! I asked for experts to chime in and we certainly got that. Grin
Thank you Coraldynamics for the expert advice.

[coraldynamics]

I am no expert on Gorgs, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once. I think it was where Sister Sledge was staying so it was pretty noisey at the bar.