Fragging soft coral?
- Thread starter shawn
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
Razor blade will work fine. Super glue will not hold it. It will just slime and come lose. Either hold it to a rock with a rubberband "loosely" or stick a toothpick through the "trunk" and attach it to a rock with a rubberband. In both cases do not attach the rubber band to tight or it will just cut the coral in half over the next few days. Make it just tight enough that it is holding the coral to the rock.
toothpick through the base and rubberband the tooth pick to the rock. After a few weeks, remove the band and toothpick. Works everytime 
I bought some titanium blade scissors to do my softie cutting. Razor blabe will work too though.
I bought some titanium blade scissors to do my softie cutting. Razor blabe will work too though.
liveforphysics
Banned
I see an easy 20+ frags available to make from that colony. In about a month, you would never be able to tell you had even taken any frags from it.
I use rubber bands for most of my frag mounting, but lately I have been trying out the sewing method, and it also seems to work great. Just thread a needle with some thread (some people say its gotta be nylon thread, but I've just been useing the cotton thread that came with this little button sewing kit), poke the needle through and run a bit of thread through the coral. You want the most healthy surface to be faceing a piece of clean algae free rubble/rock/whatever.
I dont like tieing small thread, so i just stick a drop of superglue on the rock on each side and touch the thread into it. Let it sit for a minute or two, snip off the extra thread if you like, and put back in the tank.
I use rubber bands for most of my frag mounting, but lately I have been trying out the sewing method, and it also seems to work great. Just thread a needle with some thread (some people say its gotta be nylon thread, but I've just been useing the cotton thread that came with this little button sewing kit), poke the needle through and run a bit of thread through the coral. You want the most healthy surface to be faceing a piece of clean algae free rubble/rock/whatever.
I dont like tieing small thread, so i just stick a drop of superglue on the rock on each side and touch the thread into it. Let it sit for a minute or two, snip off the extra thread if you like, and put back in the tank.
Last edited:
JRBear5658
Well-known member
I have always sewwed my frags on to rock then when attatched cut the string and pulled it through never hurt the coral and always recovors greatly
JRBear5658
Well-known member
I just pull the coral out of water for a tiny bit of time while sewing then place it back in to the tank, What kind of softy is that? I really like it if you frag would you be able to sell me a piece or two?
When you do the actual fragging I would place the entire coral in a small tank/ bucket and do the cutting iin there submerged along with however you choose to attach it to the rock (like the sewing idea).
During the process the coral will slime which is why you cannot use super glue as Brenden mentioned. By using the seperate water it will reduce the amount of waste released into main. Once done let it sit for awhile and then just place it back in the main.
You could easily get several frags out of this if you did not mind disecting the larger coral a bit more.
If you do have an extra tank around (10g-20g) setting up a coral frag prop tank can be fun as well. I just did this and hope to get multiple frags going for placement back into the main and trading.
All you really need is tank, some sort of shelf to get the coral up on, LR rubble, PH with sponge and of course lighting (I am using 2x 18w corallife fixtures). Real easy to do small PWC without a lot of effort and accelerates coral growth.
HTH,
During the process the coral will slime which is why you cannot use super glue as Brenden mentioned. By using the seperate water it will reduce the amount of waste released into main. Once done let it sit for awhile and then just place it back in the main.
You could easily get several frags out of this if you did not mind disecting the larger coral a bit more.
If you do have an extra tank around (10g-20g) setting up a coral frag prop tank can be fun as well. I just did this and hope to get multiple frags going for placement back into the main and trading.
All you really need is tank, some sort of shelf to get the coral up on, LR rubble, PH with sponge and of course lighting (I am using 2x 18w corallife fixtures). Real easy to do small PWC without a lot of effort and accelerates coral growth.
HTH,
liveforphysics
Banned
Ok, first, I would never recomend putting new cuttings into different lighting or water conditions. (like in a different tank) Let them at least grow to the rocks in the tank they are aclimated to before switching to a frag grow out tank.
Now, for a leather like this, it likely wouldnt make a bit of difference due to how hardy they are, but it would be bad practice to get into.
You definately do not need to worry about leaving it outside the tank. You could set that coral on your kitchen counter for a couple of days before sticking it back in the tank and it would be fine. That slime coating permits them to exchange gasses effectively when exposed to air, along with preventing the coral from drying out.
Lastly, its not the slime that makes the superglue not work. The problem is that the imeadiate tissue the superglue contacts is killed, and looses stregnth since its dead tissue. Then you are left with a maybe 5cell thick wall of dead tissue stuck to a superglue spot, and a floating live coral that sluffed that dead tissue. Corals with skeletons cant dump the skeleton, and its allready dead, so superglue works like a champ.
Now, for a leather like this, it likely wouldnt make a bit of difference due to how hardy they are, but it would be bad practice to get into.
You definately do not need to worry about leaving it outside the tank. You could set that coral on your kitchen counter for a couple of days before sticking it back in the tank and it would be fine. That slime coating permits them to exchange gasses effectively when exposed to air, along with preventing the coral from drying out.
Lastly, its not the slime that makes the superglue not work. The problem is that the imeadiate tissue the superglue contacts is killed, and looses stregnth since its dead tissue. Then you are left with a maybe 5cell thick wall of dead tissue stuck to a superglue spot, and a floating live coral that sluffed that dead tissue. Corals with skeletons cant dump the skeleton, and its allready dead, so superglue works like a champ.
Thanks everyone for your help. I checked out the videos they have on garf, and it looks real easy. It's just I have never done it to any of my corals and I would hate to hurt them. I never thought I could actually frag something. I am going to give it a try though. Soon I guess I too will have some frags to trade.
liveforphysics
Banned
I'm glad to hear it. Fragging is something we all should be doing, and doing on a regular basis. Supports the hobby from a grassroots level, while dropping the amount of corals taken from the wild.
Fragging is the best thing a reefkeeper and do with aquariums.
Just a side note, I highly recomend sisscors when cutting leathers. I never get as clean of cuts with razor blades, and it often requires smushing the coral a bit (the coral likely doenst care though). It also seems to be a lot more dangerous to the reefkeeper to be working with razorblades covered in coral toxins in a slippery akward enviroment.
Fragging is the best thing a reefkeeper and do with aquariums.
Just a side note, I highly recomend sisscors when cutting leathers. I never get as clean of cuts with razor blades, and it often requires smushing the coral a bit (the coral likely doenst care though). It also seems to be a lot more dangerous to the reefkeeper to be working with razorblades covered in coral toxins in a slippery akward enviroment.
steve-s
Well-known member
I wouldn't really agree with that. For goo majority of coral species, it is best placing the frags in a new system. Cladiella like most corals release toxins and will do so for some days after the cutting especially. Depending on what other corals are kept in the tank, you can do unseen damage quite easily.liveforphysics said:
If the mother colony is left in the main, lots of water/carbon changes daily will cut down on toxin levels.
Cheers
Steve
liveforphysics
Banned
Steve S- So you recomend placeing a stressed frag thats releaseing toxins into a less filtered and smaller water volume enviroment with other corals also at delicate/stressed times? And to top it off, giving them new water parameters, lighting, and flow to get used to in this new enviroment? And yes, in this case with this leather I dont think you could kill the mother or the frags if you tried, so it wouldnt matter (like I mentioned above). Seems like very bad form to me.
This is Anthony Calvo's advice with reguards to leather fragging.
"All propagation is best conducted in a dedicated basin or remote aquarium to isolate the noxious compounds produced by corals under duress. Temperature stable (heated) water baths and holding tanks are necessary for extended periods of work. Let me be clear, too, what I mean by "heated" water baths. I have been kindly reminded by my friends and the science editors of this format, Borneman and Shimek, that from the fields of scientific discipline, a "heated water bath" is an inhospitably hot environment in laboratory applications. From an aquaristic point of view, however, I mean only to suggest that the bowls or other prop vessels should not remain unheated if procedures will take more than a few minutes. A sharp temperature drop can be very stressful for marine life as many folks are sadly aware from experiences with receiving shipped animals. So, for the purpose of this article, let me proffer that any reference of mine to a heated water bath refers to a larger vessel in which the prop buckets or bowls are immersed; the water in said vessel is to be heated with a thermostatic aquarium heater to maintain a temperature similar to the system from which the coral was taken. The propagated parent is to be returned to the aquarium system in the exact same place and position that nurtured it prior to the farming technique. A run through a series of holding baths for the purging of mucus and noxious compounds prior to reintroduction is recommended with propagated coral. A small amount of iodine may be added to the bath water with the hope of antiseptic benefits (one drop of undiluted Lugol's iodine per five gallons of heavily aerated water will provide a solution for short baths of ten to fifteen minutes for coral). All bath water is to be discarded. The fragmented divisions may then be placed into a rubble trough for natural settlement and growout, or secured individually.
Ultimately, there is no single, ideal technique or size of division for severing tolerant soft corals and reef invertebrates. For producing a second, full-sized clone of a soft coral in the shortest possible time, a longitudinal or transverse cut may be employed. Basically, a "Leather" coral, for example, can be cut exactly in half lengthwise to produce "mirrored" divisions, or transversely by removing the capitulum with a small portion of the stalk. In the case of the latter, the headless trunk will heal and begin to form new polyps and a full capitulum within weeks. The severed capitulum will attach even sooner with a proper securing technique. Such decisive action produces two full sized colonies within months; it is a process that would otherwise take small fragments the better part of a year or more to realize. The harvest of smaller fragments is generally safer for donors, however. The longitudinal or transverse split of a coral is somewhat more of a risk. After any act of fragmentation, success may be assured if the participants show no signs of deteriorating tissue (necrosis) within several days to a week. Indeed, pathogenic conditions are expressed and develop quickly in such cases rendering infected tissue effectively into "mulch" in a matter of hours (that is to say, a rotting pile of tissue... which is more like compost, than mulch, on further consideration <G>). As an illuminating bit of humor for the new coral farmer who is concerned for the piqued, polyp-less state of a freshly propagated coral, I offer the following wisdom: if you are not sure if the fragment or parent is dead or not... it is not dead! Within hours, a dead octocoral transforms into a dissolving, foul-smelling slurry. Let there be no doubt that such an animal is dead, and be sure to remove any dying coral promptly! It should go without saying that the handling of any living coral tissue in aquariology should be kept to a bare minimum, and conducted with a gloved hand as often as possible.
That entire article is great, and gets pretty advanced with fragging technique. Good read for anyone.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/ac/feature/index.php
This is Anthony Calvo's advice with reguards to leather fragging.
"All propagation is best conducted in a dedicated basin or remote aquarium to isolate the noxious compounds produced by corals under duress. Temperature stable (heated) water baths and holding tanks are necessary for extended periods of work. Let me be clear, too, what I mean by "heated" water baths. I have been kindly reminded by my friends and the science editors of this format, Borneman and Shimek, that from the fields of scientific discipline, a "heated water bath" is an inhospitably hot environment in laboratory applications. From an aquaristic point of view, however, I mean only to suggest that the bowls or other prop vessels should not remain unheated if procedures will take more than a few minutes. A sharp temperature drop can be very stressful for marine life as many folks are sadly aware from experiences with receiving shipped animals. So, for the purpose of this article, let me proffer that any reference of mine to a heated water bath refers to a larger vessel in which the prop buckets or bowls are immersed; the water in said vessel is to be heated with a thermostatic aquarium heater to maintain a temperature similar to the system from which the coral was taken. The propagated parent is to be returned to the aquarium system in the exact same place and position that nurtured it prior to the farming technique. A run through a series of holding baths for the purging of mucus and noxious compounds prior to reintroduction is recommended with propagated coral. A small amount of iodine may be added to the bath water with the hope of antiseptic benefits (one drop of undiluted Lugol's iodine per five gallons of heavily aerated water will provide a solution for short baths of ten to fifteen minutes for coral). All bath water is to be discarded. The fragmented divisions may then be placed into a rubble trough for natural settlement and growout, or secured individually.
Ultimately, there is no single, ideal technique or size of division for severing tolerant soft corals and reef invertebrates. For producing a second, full-sized clone of a soft coral in the shortest possible time, a longitudinal or transverse cut may be employed. Basically, a "Leather" coral, for example, can be cut exactly in half lengthwise to produce "mirrored" divisions, or transversely by removing the capitulum with a small portion of the stalk. In the case of the latter, the headless trunk will heal and begin to form new polyps and a full capitulum within weeks. The severed capitulum will attach even sooner with a proper securing technique. Such decisive action produces two full sized colonies within months; it is a process that would otherwise take small fragments the better part of a year or more to realize. The harvest of smaller fragments is generally safer for donors, however. The longitudinal or transverse split of a coral is somewhat more of a risk. After any act of fragmentation, success may be assured if the participants show no signs of deteriorating tissue (necrosis) within several days to a week. Indeed, pathogenic conditions are expressed and develop quickly in such cases rendering infected tissue effectively into "mulch" in a matter of hours (that is to say, a rotting pile of tissue... which is more like compost, than mulch, on further consideration <G>). As an illuminating bit of humor for the new coral farmer who is concerned for the piqued, polyp-less state of a freshly propagated coral, I offer the following wisdom: if you are not sure if the fragment or parent is dead or not... it is not dead! Within hours, a dead octocoral transforms into a dissolving, foul-smelling slurry. Let there be no doubt that such an animal is dead, and be sure to remove any dying coral promptly! It should go without saying that the handling of any living coral tissue in aquariology should be kept to a bare minimum, and conducted with a gloved hand as often as possible.
That entire article is great, and gets pretty advanced with fragging technique. Good read for anyone.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/ac/feature/index.php
steve-s
Well-known member
Nice article, doesn't alter my choices when it comes to soft coral fragging though. Typical garden reefs (like mine) would end up being a battle ground of toxins. The mother colony is one thing but I would not do the same with the frags. That aside, I see absolutely no reason why parameters of a frag tank cannot be easily matched to that of the tank they came from.
Cheers
Steve
Cheers
Steve
Similar threads
- Sticky
