New to fragging

Edited by evan127 - June 04 2010 at 6:56pm

Follow this link he shows how to fragg alot of stuff.

Just use a straight edged razor and cut them off the rock

So I don't have to pull rocks out of my tank, I use surgical scissors and cut the frags off the rocks, the main coral you need to be careful with is zoa's and pallys as they release palytoxin, make sure to wear gloves if you can.

This is a good thread. It would be nice to see it expand to fragging coral of all kinds.

Cutting the Mushroom off the rock allows the piece of stalk that remains to grow into a new Mushroom. Cutting can be done with a sharp scissors or a sharp razor blade. It needs to be done quickly before the Mushroom has a chance to retract. if it retracts while cutting the hobbyist may be left with the outside ring of mushroom, with the mouth part still attached to the stalk. This ring can be cut into many pieces. Each piece can grow into a new Mushroom.

In a good environment, Mushrooms that have intact mouths should attach in 2-5 days. If this is not happening, I would suggest that the tank is not as healthy as it could be. First discover what can be done to make it healthier before attempting more fragging. I love taking about how to make a tank healthier. That's the main purpose of why we started the WMAS.

Mushrooms do better when they are not restricted by bridal veil. If there is a corner of the tank where they remain in the eddy's place LR rubble there and let them attach naturally.

Placing them in a bowl or other container with Bridal veil/Tulle material over the top of the container allows them to attach unrestricted.

Mushrooms can be cut into many pieces (quarters or even tenths) and be placed into the bowl above where most will attach and become new Mushrooms.

If there is a particular spot in the tank where a Mushroom frag is desired, a wooden or plastic toothpick poked through the frag and into the rock can work to hold it in place while it attaches.

I have stuffed Mushrooms into holes in rocks and seen them attach in a day.

In ideal healthy conditions, Mushrooms will send out little extensions from their foot. They usually attach 1/2 - 1" away. These become "baby" Mushrooms growing near the "parent."


Edited by Mark Peterson - June 05 2010 at 1:56pm

I would not place them in another tank. That puts the cut pieces into a new environment where they not only have to deal with the injury of cutting but now they have to deal with the shock of going into water that is different than they came from. Each tank has it's own "smell". What I mean is that the water feels different in every tank. There is a different combination of chemical levels. Organisms are accustomed to where they lived and it is a shock to be placed into different water. 

Plastic wrap with a bunch of holes is definitely not good. They will melt away inside that. They need more flow, more connection with the water of the entire aquarium. That's why the bridal veil material over the shallow bowl/container in the same tank is needed.

The white stringy stuff is their guts. Exposing their guts is a defensive mechanism. That's how they exude the maximum amount of territorial chemicals.


Edited by Mark Peterson - June 05 2010 at 2:22pm

Sounds like we need to have a meeting to teach fragging.

Never frag something and put it in a different tank! That will just increase the stress on the coral.

I still get nervous when I frag.

Yes they are usually connected or they put the frags back into the tank they were in to heal