Acan Fragging went wrong-Suggestions

[gavij012379]

decided to frag 2 of my acan pieces on the 6th two weeks back. None of the frags survived, it all disintegrated but I was hoping the mother colony will be all right. But I am seeing the same symptoms in the mother colony too. The edges starts to get cloudy all around and then the same thing happens to the middle part. And it doesn't help when the crabs. shrimps and fish all are having buffet on it. I used dremel to do the fragging and spent about 45 mins but it was not exposed all the time. I put one in water and worked on the other piece.
I had fragged another acan using hand saw and clippers previously with no bad result. Even the smallest piece I had that you could see has grown to be 2-3 heads now. That is why I decided to frag this too but this one has gone tremendously wrong. I am adding pics of the corals. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. I am thinking about dipping these in some coral dip but I think it's too late.

[5h3rW1N]

did you coral dip them with iodine?? or lugol solution?? it helps regenerate the tissues from falling apart

[5h3rW1N]

nothing is too late start dipping them

[whatcaneyedo]

Dremels tend to be more traumatic than other cutting devices because they heat up very quickly and burn the coral's tissue.

Tell us more about your tank. Age, light, flow, water chemistry etc.

When a coral gets infected it usually works to blast off the affected tissue and bacteria with a turkey baster in a separate bucket of water.

If you can isolate the damaged coral from fish and other inverts that pick on it that could certainly help in its recovery as well.

[returnofsid]

I agree that Dremels are really not the way to go. It takes too much time, and creates too much heat. When fragging Acans, I use a wet tile saw. It's quick, keeps the frag bathed in saltwater, and is over in seconds. The only losses I've ever had, were to a Lavender Tang, that acquired a taste for newly fragged Acans. He's since been rehomed.

Iodine dips will help the cut edge heal faster, and inhibit bacterial growth, which could infect the cut edge.

[star27624]

What blade on the dremel did you use? I have seen this happen when the metal cutting blade is used instead of a diamond blade.

A dip in lugols or revive asap is important at this point.

[Nereaga]

I agree using a diamond blade is keywhen using a dremel, cuts like butter. I always cutthe rock on the back side ofthe acan frag, then using a sharp bladeto cut the flesh.