Coral propagation techniques, feeding,cutting, growing and coloring up

m and m

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So Kris dropped me a little PM convincing me to do a little write up of what I have had success doing in this hobby. In these write up I will cover 5 topics Propagation techniques I have had the best success with. I will split this into five diffrent posts because a good deal of thought will go into each one since I am very meticulous about what I do and how I do it and I think it does show in my growth and color.

With my help im going to help to show every one how I turn this

sss by matsinger2, on Flickr
Into this in a short time

IMG_9810 by matsinger2, on Flickr

First I will discuss coral propagation. I have a sweet tooth for two things in life. Good wines and high end coral in particular chalices. Now I don't sell for a profit or on a venders scale but I do sell to recoup. I dont mind spending good money on a nice chalice if I no in time ill be able to make at least a good deal of what I paid back. and this is how I do it.

Good Propagation starts on day one, Yes thats right before this coral even starts growing in our tank there is steps I take to make sure I start out on the right foot. All of these steps are past fundamentals of a reef tank. At this point I don't count rock solid parameters, good light,flow EXT that is a given. Many of us buy coral regardless of where it comes from and get a frag like this on the first day.


Tangerin Dreams by matsinger2, on Flickr

Most people might just take this and let it be. WRONGE! I have done that before people and trust me you are throwing away months if not years. Yes years. Look at how this is mounted this coral is going to have to grow down ledges in shaded spots every which way before it hits a flat surface to where it will really take off. When coral is flush I would feel safe saying it grows twice as fast. The first day I took a band saw to the bottom of it and mounted it flush to disk so it looks like this.


IMG_0424 by matsinger2, on Flickr

Now I feel this frag is set up for its best growth. Few tips for this.

- I personally like Reef Alternative disks the best out of any other brands and he is a sponsor here!
- Glue is Personal preference, I like the Ecotech just because Its bulk. 75ml not the 295ml
- Have caution when cutting under the chalice, I have learned if you cut the skeleton under the chalice the whole piece close to the skeleton will just peal away.

Part two of Propagation- The Putty technique

I do under stand some might not want to risk cutting under the chalice or heck you might not even have a band saw so how can I help you guys/girls? I must say I will cut under alot of coral but I do draw the line one some. Lets take this piece. It came in stressed out as could be, wasn't very happy. So after It was in the shade for a few weeks and felt it was time to start looking at how to get the best growth out of this weird cut I came up with this method. The putty technique, I use this when cutting under the chalice is not a option or I just dont want to risk it. SO it place putty around the frag for it to grow on a flat surface. I use just any putty and I found a fail thing at walmart and just push the putty around the frag and up under it if possible and then use it to flatten it out so it can grow smooth again. Here goes a few images show how I do that.

This is a top down of all my super low light corals

IMG_0479 by matsinger2, on Flickr

Here is a close up of one I did yesterday Remounted it and putty'd it on a new Alternative reef disk.

IMG_0477 by matsinger2, on Flickr

Just one more showing how you can get right up under there to give that coral a nice flat surface and slant down to the disk to grow on.

IMG_0476 by matsinger2, on Flickr


This is going to conclude just little things I do just to give them the best possible growth option in my opinion. Keep in mind you must find that "sweet spot" for corals which I will go over in another section and good parameters to even start these in my opinion. With out those your just going to laying the road for the coral to grow on but giving it no gas with un steady parameters.

Section two Sweet spotting and feeding your corals
 
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m and m

m and m

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Sweet spotting and feeding

Sweet spotting is key to finding great growth with any coral. Some people use Par some people use there eye's. I personally use my eyes. Sweet spotting is basically just finding where that coral is happiest. We all know what a happy coral looks like IE great polyp extension, fluffy, colorful they just generally look happy. This in a frag tank can be tricky. So this is how I do it. I use frag racks to shade some of my particular coral and low light go under and high light on. Seems very simple thats because it is. Now comes the hard part which one's go where. Some might not even fall into either of these spots because ones just not enough light and one is to much and thats when I put it into my display tank. This gets very tricky and some getting use to to determine when to leave a coral alone or move it because its not like a coral is moved and it is instantly tells you to move it again or it likes it there. Here is a example of the shaded area


IMG_0453 by matsinger2, on Flickr

If you look you can see the back left of the tan
k has low light corals. above it has high light and the frag rack closest to the glass has corals 1/4 below the water line!!

Feeding
Believe it or not I get alot a pm's about what my feeding method is or what do I do. This is where Im going to with hold a few to myself but I will give you guy's/girls a good idea on how to do it.

First I wait till about a hour too two hours after lights go out I do this 4-6 times a week. In these pictures lights are on and Im able to do this because Its my frag tank and no fish are in there. First lets start out with what I use. I use a elos test kit syringe. I then pack some Funna Marine fine dust food in there draw in some water shake and wha-laa your chalices will love you. Chalices start out like this


IMG_0459 by matsinger2, on Flickr

And sprinkle in on Dont be afraid trust me that much isnt going to wast.

IMG_0461 by matsinger2, on Flickr

This was literally five minutes later

IMG_0471 by matsinger2, on Flickr

7 minutes later, You can see it is fighting with itself to eat this stuff

IMG_0480 by matsinger2, on Flickr

IMG_0465 by matsinger2, on Flickr

After all this is said and done 90 percent of my chalices still want more, this is when I go in with tweezers/tongs. I personally like to use Reefkoi's tongs they seem to last the longest and be the best made and feed them some tank warm fresh prawn. Yummmm.

I think this gives my chalices amazing color and growth. People say chalices grow slow well mine dont. I bought a one inch frag of flame thrower and in 6 months it doubled in size atleast. some people report it not going that much in a year.

Got small frags read this!

I have come across many nail clipping frags. Yea some might not agree with it but yes I buy/have bought them. Some times it's a deal some times its all you can get and guess what.... I have yet to lose one (nock on wood) I feel so young and small they are so prawn to death but how do you stop that. One make sure it is fully healed. Ask the seller to keep it for two more weeks till it has a full rim I think that is a Very big part. Second I feel frags so small can't make it most the time without human assistance. I think feeding them is a must. Take some prawn and a razor blade and make it as small as posable. and hand feed the eye, trust me it will make a difference, and that difference is either that 300 dollar frag dyeing or living. I also have a super low light section. A frag rack one inch of the surface about 8 inches offset from my light fixture so they get no light but easy to feed.
 
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m and m

m and m

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Cutting your prized possessions

Fragging is a big part of this hobby, Acros and most SPS is easy, Take needly nose and bend do not crunch, but chalice they are a whole diffrent story. This is my baby a V12, 800 rear wheel horse power turbo charges chalice cutting machine.


IMG_0467 by matsinger2, on Flickr

As soon as I got into high end chalice frags I noticed a month into it I cant afford all of these frags with out seeing some sort of return on them to fund the next one I like. So I got a inland band saw.Its been about two years and I have not changed a blade on it but I do see the motor starting to not give as much kick as it us to but I think it will be good for another year. That was a 200 dollar investment that lasted three years. I have yet see one properly cut frag from me die when using my band saw. Now using a razor blade or any other made scientist way to cut chalices I can guarantee you will lose a good amount. If you lose one frag this saw pays for it's self. Plus you can cut around acan corners around eyes and lot more with this, It is a must I my honest opinion if your chopping up coral.

Few tips
- Use salt water in the drain cup
- wash it down with the hose after use
- have alot of glue and AR reef disk ready
- dont cut to small share the coral with others dont make them wait 3 years before they can see the actual color

Up next Growing/coloring up/ planning for the future and conclusion
 
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m and m

m and m

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Growing/coloring up/ planning for the future and conclusion

Growing chalices in my opinion is super easy. They do like stable parameters but unlike SPS they dont need super rock solid parameters to thrive. I do believe in heavy feeding but in my opinion I think the best part is finding the spot for them. I was amazed about 20 mins ago I was looking in my tank and I stared at my JF Electric coolaid. I just saw it was super fluffy almost to the point where I saw the skin flowing with the current (hard to describe but you know it was happy). Coloring up I think all ties into my feeding schedule,lights,flow when all of them are on par your colors are really going to shine threw.

My thoughts and tid bits one what I think are best for chalices.

- I think chalices/acans do best with T5's. The spectrum with them is very wide and also the blue that T5's make the chalices/acans Pop unlike any other lighting fixture I have owned and I have owned MH/LED/T5 fixtures and I feel T5's deliver the best pop and color.

-Im a strong believer in flow in my sump. I have two vortech's in my sump just to keep anything off the bottom up in the water colom.

-If you want to feed like I do 5-6 times a week you need some heavy skimming. I skimm about a collection cup every 2-3 days

Now Ill share my system and what I do
 
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m and m

m and m

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System Overview:


Tank: 93G mainland
Sump: 30g Custom made sump
Protein Skimmer: Bubble King Mini 180 Gen2
Carbon/Phosphate Filtration: I have a manifold plumbed into my return that runs two seperate Rex one Carbon and one phos changed every 3 weeks
Return Pump: Ehiem 1260 (The 1200GPH one)
Water Circulation: Two MP40's one on each side of the DT, one MP1O in the 20g Frag and two MP10's in the sump on for 15 mins every hour on full throttle.
ATO: Typhoon since my tunze burnt out
Heating/Cooling: No cooling due to the central air keep house at a good 65 dagree's 24/7 heaters I cant even tell you
System Control: Neptune Apex
Lighting: ATI sunpower 8 bulb for the display and 6 bulb for the Frag tank

Bulb Combo​
Blue plus
Blue plus
FIJI
Blue plus
Blue plus
FIJI
Blue plus
Blue plus​

Parameters:
Temp: 75-78 F
Salinity:1.026
pH: 8.3
Calcium:450
Alkalinity: 140PPM to be honest I forget what DKH that is
Magnesium: 1450ppm
NO3: above one but below 5 I think chalices really like some
NO2, NH3, PO4:0,0, PO4 .08 again I think they need some and after all my heavy feeding its aloud lol

New people or any one shouldn't think shoot for my parameters because I will only create a hassle for you let your parameters stay where they fall and work on you PO4 and NO3

Routine Maintenance

Along with heavy skimming I do 25 percent water changes weekly. Make sure when you do water changes that size you are making sure the temp and salinity are on point with your system so there is no conflation. Every three weeks I change phos and carbon with a good rinse on both. I also dose ALK daily using Bulk reef supply two part solution. I have fell in love with my hanna meter (alk only) I have found it very reliable.
 
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m and m

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Thanks guys second section is up with a bonus "Nail clipping frag section"
 

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great thread!and great advise with alot of detail keep it up I can read this stuff all day!
 
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m and m

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Thanks every one, and gumby I can wright this stuff all day. I going to do one last section then another section or two of of crap I forgot then some key things I use/do in my maintenance that I think make a big difference. Heck maybe ill even share my secrete blend of coral food. Home made chalice yum yumm's.
 

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I can't Spot feed my pieces. I have cleaner and blood shrimp pairs that steal food right outta the mouths of my lps. Any ideas? Should I just try to net the shrimp and get them outta there?
 

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Home made chalice yum yumm's?? quit playin,whats the recipe?
 
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m and m

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how about some info on the actual tank, lighting, dosing, etc.

Thank for all the info, great thread.

Like my tank lighting and dosing? I wasn't trying to make this about me but more a way to help you. I was going to do a recommendation part.

I can't Spot feed my pieces. I have cleaner and blood shrimp pairs that steal food right outta the mouths of my lps. Any ideas? Should I just try to net the shrimp and get them outta there?

Have you tried feeding after lights go out?

Home made chalice yum yumm's?? quit playin,whats the recipe?

Yes, I do have a custom blend lol I only use it as a second feeder once sweepers are out thought.
 

Cjscott

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Great thread. Thank you for sharing your experience. Now if only I could find a thread like this for acans.
 
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m and m

m and m

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Great thread. Thank you for sharing your experience. Now if only I could find a thread like this for acans.

I think this would go hand and hand with acans. they eat just like chalices, im sure once they they start growing it will be better flat. Off to start righting the next section.
 

Just Clownin Around

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nice write up. my chalices grow quick under leds but you have to be real careful. do you feel the t5's are more forgiving or just like the spectrum better
 

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I can't Spot feed my pieces. I have cleaner and blood shrimp pairs that steal food right outta the mouths of my lps. Any ideas? Should I just try to net the shrimp and get them outta there?

Another thing to try if your shrimp are robbing your chalices is to cut the top off of a bottle and place it over the coral. Then, you can squirt to food through the opening of the bottle with a turkey baster and the shrimp are unlikely to climb through the hole.

Great write-up by the way, m and m!!
 
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m and m

m and m

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nice write up. my chalices grow quick under leds but you have to be real careful. do you feel the t5's are more forgiving or just like the spectrum better

I feel right now the spectrum of T5's are far past LED's. Yes you can get great colors from LED's but I feel you will only get specific colors out of them. T5's you will get more colors and brighter. They will both POP because they both are heavy in the blue area but since a close freind of mine uses AI's I think I get alot better color in chalices then him, sorry Darren since youll most likely see this. They get the job done and do it good I just feel T5's do it better.

On the forgiving part I will say without doubt T5s are more forgiving. The same guy bleached out a few chalices on the sand bed. Granted his SPS are some of the best I have EVER seen but I feel there is trouble keeping both because they are so strong.

Keep the questions coming and anything else you wonder please ask, I feel talking and questions raises my eye brow and gets my brain running to more ideas
 
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