Rhodactis propagation techniques, what's best?

[Ryno]

Hello everyone. I've been reading your (Anthony's) Book of Coral Propagation and am completely addicted! I just got through reading about his (your) experience with "giant palythoa", which has crossed my mind a few times when cleaning tanks with a open wound. Your experience would have sent me into an all out panic attack, which in turn, would have taken me to the hospital......try explaining that to the ER, "um, I was poisoned by a coral called Palythoa"....makes me laugh just reading it. To the point I have a VERY large Rhodactis mushroom that is getting way to big for the tank it's in and rather than get rid of it I would like to try fragging it so I could possibly just setup a Rhodactis mushroom tank. I already have everything I need to setup an additional tank. Still not to the point, OK, here it is, I have read many times that simply slicing the mushroom in half or quarters or even 1/8ths is a good method of propagation for this type of coral. Here is my question, would slicing it in half promote faster healing? I know that I can cut it up into smaller sections creating more mushrooms but is it worth while considering the healing time? I was also wondering about simply cutting the foot of the coral, kind of like the coral "leaving" babies without moving, if that makes sense? Lastly would constriction work on a coral like this? I am able to wrap a rubberband around the rock and the coral without a problem, but am worried that this would prevent it from feeding because it has a rubberband across it's mouth.

Just to let you know how I ended up with this coral. I bought a Live Aquaria combo mushroom rock, which I cut apart to prevent competition between the mushrooms. Well the Rhodactis went nuts, I has gone from a 2 inch mushroom to at least a 8" mushroom in a matter of 5 or so months. This mushroom is in a 29 gallon BioCube and is taking up half of the tank.....lucky for me I have 3 extra 20 gallon tanks, some powerheads, and 130 watts of PC lighting.

Wow that was long!!!! Thanks all.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

play it safe, my friend... a simple, single bilateral split with a razor blade or scalpel. Wear eye protection... keep your mouth closed <G>... and wear latex gloves (if you are not allergic)

 

[Ryno]

Thanks Anthony. I guess getting a mouthful/eyeful of mushrooms juice wouldn't do a whole of good.....and even after reading your story I wouldn't have thought about it, thanks for bringing it up! As for the gloves, great idea, and something I haven't invested in yet. I may just buy a pair of those long aqua gloves to prevent adding oils and whatever else into my tank. Sounds like an easy task, cutting the mushroom I mean.........I'm sure it will be a little more difficult than I imagine. If only I could tell the mushroom to lay nice and flat, and remain still. Thanks again!

 

[Anthony Calfo]

the full length gloves are too cumbersome to do fine cutting work with. Do just get some latex gloves at the pharmacy