Tough Propagation Question

[sandlot13]

Okay, there are about a bazillion threads on how to propagate mushrooms (the easiest coral to propagate other than xenia ;) ) so how about we go over something a little more difficult....... ya thats right, im talking about something other than a mushroom.

I want to learn how to frag a piece of acan lord...... i have a small rock that has about 50 heads on it, and would like to frag off some small pieces........ any tips? i have no idea how i would start, so any advice will help! thanks a bunch!

tanner g.

[kpk]

Just start cuttin!!!
I have used a dremel with a cutoff wheel, but even better is a band saw. Cuts nice and smooth.

Kyle

[tekknoschtev]

Someone linked to a video borneman did on Coral Propagation (I'll have to see if I can find it). It was just over an hour long, and really, I was floored by it. He just took the colony and zipped it through a wet saw. I almost went out and bought a wet saw right then and there as I've got some I want to frag, just because I'm curious.

Either way - wear eye/face protection. I fragged some Leptastrae once with the dremel, and got coral skeleton fragments all over myself :p Fortunately I have fragging goggles (and yes, I do get funny looks when I put on the goggles to do work with corals like that) and didnt wind up with too much on my face, but my shirt was covered.

[sandlot13]

interesting..... that video would be nice to see. Im still hesitant to just go cutting through my mini colony, as im sure there are some specifics that I need to do for it (even with the simple mushroom fragging you are looking to keep part of the mouth with each frag). THanks for the tips everyone, keep em coming though........

lets try and make this thread pretty comprehensive. If anyone has any pictures to go along with some things (or videos tekkno! ;) ) please post them! thanks!

[tekknoschtev]

http://www.zooxanthellae.com/borneman.wmv

Be warned, its a long video, and as such its a big file. According to what I have it is over 300MB.

[graveyardworm]

Awesome video, and I love my high speed internet. The video is over an hour long, and covers some amazing stuff.

[sandlot13]

it didnt work for me.......... said i didnt have the right something or other to watch it

[tekknoschtev]

Try right clicking on it and saving it to your harddrive. That way you'll have a copy for reference.

[sandlot13]

yup! just did thats as i did my last post!

[sufunk]

That is an amazing video!
Would anyone here really have the balls to do that to their favia though???? lol
Made me want to but a wet saw and some cheap corals to try it out though, thats for sure.

[graveyardworm]

Just purchased a new favia today for that purpose. Once its outa QT and healthy in my display I'm gonna give it a go. A very nice red with green centers one, also possibly called christmas tree brain.

[sandlot13]

can i buy a small frag from you when you test it out???? might as well see the product of your experiment! ;)

btw, thank you for posting that video! It really is an amazing piece of work, and well worth the download time. It is something i will refer to numerous times for the rest of my life!

;)

[N Awe]

That is a great video. It answered a lot of questions.

[graveyardworm]

pic of red/green favia under 6500k in QT. Not much to look at, but under 10000k and some actinics it should look really nice.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f326/graveyardworm/100_2027.jpg

[sandlot13]

wahoo!!! cant wait to see the results!

[Ken668]

Another good way to frag a favia is by using a flathead screwdriver and hammer. Put the tip of the screwdriver in between the polyps and whack it. This will cause nice separation between polyps and usually doesn't split too many. Once open, you will see the growth lines running perpendicular to the polyp.

My local club has done this on a couple occasions. When I hosted a meeting, we split this nice specimen 6 ways.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/74480Favia.jpg

Definately keep a couple small containers of tank water on hand to rinse them off afterwards. They will do a fair amount of sliming and you don't want to put that back in your tank.

[Ken668]

Here is a cool little video clip from our local clubs Frag Workshop '06. We are cutting up a Purple Chalice with a dremel tool. Cutting courtesy of MichaelG

Purple Chalice (http://home.nycap.rr.com/mailtokent/Movie_0001.wmv)

[AZreefkeeper]

Ken668
do you think that method would work on an Acanthastrea? I have one thats purple with light blue mouths, many have asked for a piece but I have been hessitant to frag it. Its about 8 - 10" diameter, its almost doubled since I got it.

or do you all think a dremel tool would be better? what a mess. I also have a blue favia that I would consider, that one is one of my showpieces very hessitant to cut that one up.

[Ken668]

I don't see why it wouldn't. I'm not certain about the growth pattern for Acans, so I don't know how difficult it would be to split. But I'm sure with enough force you can get it to split.

As compared to a dremmel, this method is far less messy. You don't have all the "spray" shooting all over (as seen in my video clip above).

I know the favias are tough little guys. On a couple occasions, we had them out of water for a good 10 minutes hacking away at them and they were still opening their polyps for feeding later that evening.

[sandlot13]

personally, it seems that acans would be different then a faviia, seeing as the favia has more of a skeletal base, and the acans seem more fleshy... then again, I have very little experiance with this, so I may be completely wrong....

if anyone has any footage or pictures of how they fragged an Acan, please post it for the benifit of everyone else!

thanks!! ;)

Ken - also, was wondering if you knew what type of cutting wheel they were using to cut that purple chalice.......... Im assuming the diamond cutting wheel, but I just wanna make sure! thanks!

[Ken668]

Sandlot13, like I said, I'm not too certain about the growth pattern of acans. I've never had one so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe they are completely fleshy. They should have some sort of calcium based skeleton. I think if they were completely fleshy, there wouldn't be any problem with using a scalpel or razor to cut through them. If you touch them, can you push in their surface? Like that of a stress ball? But anyway, I would think the flesh would be thinnest in between polyps so the screw driver method, even if going through a little flesh, should work. Couldn't be any worse than a tile saw. Hopefully someone with some acan experience will chime in.

As for the cutting wheel, yes, they are diamond coated. E-Bay has these for real cheap. Use them a couple times and toss them. I don't recall exactly, but I want to say you can pick up a ~3 pack for $8 plus shipping.

[sandlot13]

thanks ken! ya, i believe they have a smaller skeleton than the favia..... i guess its just a natural reaction to be worried about cutting flesh (I mean, I might be going to medical school for study in surgery, but its still scary cutting into a pricey coral!!! haha)..... Ill check out the diamond cutting wheels too....

Alright, we have some consensus on what to try for an acan, but someone out there has to have some experiance to solidfy what we should try! Come on people, share your knowledge! (please!! ;) )