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Unread 04/20/2017, 08:00 AM   #1
Grimreaperz
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Advice on fragging "Harder" LPS

Okay so I have a 10$ plate coral.
And a Trachy with 2 mouths. (Probably won't be touching this one from what I have been told so far)

I posted on another forums and all they said was don't do it.....not really what u am looking for I am looking for advice from people who has successfully done either of these corals and had them heal successfully.....what equipment did you use? What was your husbandry during healing? And type of videos on how you performed the cuts?

I know this can be done....i know it may not be simple like GSP, zoas, Acropora, etc. And will definitely be risky and take time to heal....but Propogations really interests me as where I live i can't just com across gorgeous species for good prices and I would also like to give back to the community as much as possible....1 plate coral I frag is 1 that doesn't need to be taken from the wild.

Again...i know the risks. I know the time it takes to heal as I am doing my research but really just want other people's experiences and how they succeeded...i can watch all the YouTube video and read all the articles I want but I find people with real world practice have the best advice.

Thanks in advance.


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Unread 04/23/2017, 05:20 AM   #2
Moort82
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In truth I think the lack of response is because people don't think it is the easiest thing to do. We used to see lots of fragmented plate corals (fungi, cycloceris), like a quarter or eight of the mother but that stopped years ago because people found the time it took for them to grow out wasn't worth it. I'd imagine it's the same with trachys which don't grow massively fast either.
I've seen plenty of cataphyllias cut as well as other fleshy polyp species and water quality is the most important thing. There are people who advocate an iodine dip straight away but I always find leaving this a few days give for better success. I also run carbon on the tank and leave them in a lower flow (but still enough to gentle take any excess mucus away) area for a few days to a week, depending on how they heal, and then to a higher flow area.

With plates I have chopped a couple but only when there was damage to coral. A clean cut has worked well and I've often saved the coral like this. It was in a shop situation so I never kep one to see how quickly they regrew. I have at home however flipped a plate over diliberately to kill it off, so I could watch it come back rom a dead skeleton. So far that particular coral has produced a hundred or so babies.


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Unread 04/23/2017, 07:42 AM   #3
Grimreaperz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Moort82 View Post
I have at home however flipped a plate over diliberately to kill it off, so I could watch it come back rom a dead skeleton. So far that particular coral has produced a hundred or so babies.
First of all THANK YOU!!! First honest response....personally the time it takes to heal doesn't bug me not really in it for the money portion of it with these types it's more about making them more readily available where I live for other people....i have zoas SPS and mushrooms for making money.

I live in a small town call Chilliwack BC Canada...the closest clean LFS is 1hr away and they prices they want for the most common corals is ridiculous. I have found a community but lots of them are the really rich people which I am not....i afford the hobby but sometimes I don't know how lol....and when I get a beautiful specimen such as my Trachy with 2 mouths or plates that don't come around often I would like to be able to propagate that so other people can have it too without paying ridiculous LFS prices..

And as for the quoted section above....explain?! Or maybe point me to a thread so I can start researching? That sounds a lot easier and less risk then propagating!



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Unread 04/24/2017, 05:52 AM   #4
Moort82
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With trachys or other fleshy polyps like homophyllia (formerly scolymia), the trouble is you risk loosing the mother colony with fragging so you might end up with nothing, two smaller ones or just one smaller. It's for this reason that although your reasons are honourable, I don't think the chances of success are high enough.

With my fungia the theory was to try and replicate what happens naturally. The mother was a 5-6 inch specimen that I'd grown from a pin head sized hitchhiker (they are very common on Vietnam zoas and I've grew dozens on in this way). You will sometimes see that as the mother dies off and you are left with a dead looking bare skeleton that after a few months you will see baby fungia sprout as if from nowhere. My theory was to replicate this by annoying a fungia to death essentially, so I kept flipping it over each day. It's not something I think is guaranteed successful and I'm not sure how other species will react to this. I've also seen it from dead areas on colonies that remain healthy and it's a reason I kept the pieces I cut off the ones I was trying to save (most didn't do anything but a couple did). You will also see this with bubble corals so save any dead skeletons if you lose them.

This picture is just from Google but you can see just how many offspring can be produced. As they grow they walk off the mother and normally more grow in their place. This is why from one you can have dozens, if not a hundred or so within a few years.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...oralbabies.jpg


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Unread 04/24/2017, 08:25 AM   #5
Grimreaperz
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Yeah I was looking it up. Definitely worth getting a second $10 plate to experiment with.

Thanks for all the info and yeah as much as i really want to frag my trachy it's probably not going to happen as it is my favourite coral

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Unread 04/24/2017, 05:18 PM   #6
Reeferz412
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i have seen heliofungias, diaseris, and cycloseris successfully cut in half and glued together with species alike. I have never done this personally but have seen them come in from indo this way. Sorry i cant be much of help, but I know it can be done with fungias.


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Unread 04/24/2017, 05:19 PM   #7
Reeferz412
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Current Tank Info: 400 Gallons of frags... 30 gallon Deep Blue mixed reef ... 70 other tanks throughout south FL
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Unread 04/25/2017, 04:34 AM   #8
Moort82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reeferz412 View Post
i have seen heliofungias, diaseris, and cycloseris successfully cut in half and glued together with species alike. I have never done this personally but have seen them come in from indo this way. Sorry i cant be much of help, but I know it can be done with fungias.
Interesting, I thought that this was a natural feature and that these chimeras were a result of two coral larvae settling next to each other and growing together.

There is a piece about the coral above easily found on Google but blocked by this site. I just typed in building reef chimera plate coral.


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