Question about tools for propagation

[dubbly]

Hi All,
I have had my tank for a bit over a year and some of my Zoes and mushrooms are ready for propagation. However, I am not sure what tools to get and where to get them. I currently only have softies. However, I am interested in moving into more advanced corals down the road. I have seen offers on ebay for fragging kits on ebay.

http://shop.ebay.com/Frag kits?_from=R40...kits&_naf=1

Are any of these worth it? What do you recommend getting and where?

Thank you,
Dubbly

 

[estanoche]

I get a most of my fragging tools here: http://www.sciplus.com/

With softies probably all you need is an x-acto knife (or a utility knife, doesnt matter), some tweezers for grabbing their feet and pulling them offa rocks, and a hammer and a screwdriver or chizel if you are just breaking them offa rocks.

SPS just needs a set of bone cutters

I like to have a lil tray that I can put some water in and glue the frags and let them rest in while the glue is curing... usually 20 minutes or so that way they don't get blown off when I put them back into the tank

It sucks trying to find a tiny frag blowing around, it usually ends up behind the rockwork where you can't reach it :badgrin:

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
I moved this thread to this forum to get more exposure since it deals with soft corals.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[dubbly]

Thank you for the site refrence. However, it isn't clear from the site if the x-acto's are stainless. I thought that stainless was required for fragging tools?

Ben

 

[travis_]

Thank you for the site refrence. However, it isn't clear from the site if the x-acto's are stainless. I thought that stainless was required for fragging tools?

Ben

I don't see why stainless is necessary. I use whatever I have, which includes a lot of tools out of my tool box, like my needle nose plyers and wire cutters. They are both rusty but do the job. I lube them up from time to time with garlic or fish oil, therefore I don't care if a little gets in the water.

 

[estanoche]

Main reason for stainless is to reduce the rusting action of the units - although I always have to totally clean even my stainless items as they will corrode a little under the saltwater if I don't...

You may find that some items which say they are stainless are made with sub-par materials and corrode anyhow

 

[returnofsid]

I've found that some of the expensive stainless steel tools I've used for fragging rust just as quickly as the cheapo stuff I buy at the Army Surplus store. I have found that I actually get the most fragging use out of my electrical stripping, cutting crimping tool...lol. I also use needle nose pliers, dremel tool and occasionally the surgical steel tools I purchased at the Army Surplus store.

 

[brandyrb]

Can you pull mushrooms off of LR with tweezers and glue them to another piece of LR? I have a mass of them growing on the same rock as my bonsai colony and I want them removed. I'd prefer not to break the rock as it's a big display piece.

 

[returnofsid]

Mushrooms are pretty tough to glue, as they slime up too much. It's also pretty likely, that if you pull them off the rock, some will grow back. They're determined lil' buggers!!!

 

[brandyrb]

:doubt: That's not what I wanted to hear. I'm going to try and get them off anyway. I may even pull the rock out and break em off. Not sure which course of action to take yet. Pulling the rock and resetting it could be a pain.