Acros: Do you let them grow into colonies before fragging?

[revhtree]

Acropora is one of the easiest corals to frag. It also grows pretty fast once you get it "settled in" good! For those reasons many people like to frag their acros to sell and trade. On one hand you could have a beautiful acropora colony and on the other hand you could sell or trade frags to buy more varieties! With those things in mind let's talk about it!

Do you let your acros grow to colonies before cutting them or do you frag as soon as you can?

image via @jeffm

 

[spsick]

I used to be more excited to frag them up especially high value corals but now I just let them grow. Market is either too saturated or too thin I can barely give away Oregon torts here in MN.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I let them grow, as there aren't many options to share them. Most reefers are timid to try acros, or sps in general, in my area.

 

[Waters]

I let them grow until they have to be fragged....hitting the glass, another acro, etc.

 

[chipchipbro]

I used to be more excited to frag them up especially high value corals but now I just let them grow. Market is either too saturated or too thin I can barely give away Oregon torts here in MN.

Dang... I almost cry when I read such things..
here in my country I cannot even get my hands on a bali green slimer...
market is almost inexistent and I can only buy Maricultured stuff... its a shame..

 

[Dburr1014]

I don't like the look of tanks with little frags everywhere.
Also,
Makes me think it's a new tank and I take there advice with a grain of salt. (because I think they are new to sps)

 

[homer1475]

2 1/2 hour drive to the lfs that won't even take frags of sps. So I let them grow, and toss any trimming I need to do.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Gotta get a colony going first. Don't want a tank full of perpetual little frags

 

[jfoahs04]

I let them grow as much as possible, but I have a few that I clip fairly regularly as they're growing either toward other coral or into the glass.

 

[Alex's Nano Reef]

2 1/2 hour drive to the lfs that won't even take frags of sps. So I let them grow, and toss any trimming I need to do.

LFS cant keep sps what a shame

 

[Ef4life]

I usually clip a small frag or 2 once it’s grown out a bit, these are for back ups. Then I just let them grow. Frag as needed as they get too big and shade themselves out or touch something else

 

[T-J]

I'd prefer to wait until they have a number of good sized arms before fragging.
Having said that, does fragging frequently seem to have an effect on how quickly the colony grows?

 

[spsick]

I'd prefer to wait until they have a number of good sized arms before fragging.
Having said that, does fragging frequently seem to have an effect on how quickly the colony grows?

In my experience a healthy large colony (6”+) grows fastest from wherever it gets a trimming.

 

[DJF]

Once stable I’ll cut them into smaller chunks and glue them next to each other in hopes that they will grow together into a larger colony. It was advice I picked up from a video long ago and has worked out well.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I let them grow into a colony (by colony I mean around softball size) before I start to frag, then I only cut a couple of frags at a time. I do not butcher my colonies. I completely agree that once a frag has reached colony size, it grows fastest from areas where frags have been cut. I have found that if you frag a colony too much it seems to slow growth and can make a colony go dormant...

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Grow and then share w close friends to protect and keep the mother viable and sell reasonably to club members or reef hobbyists.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

Let it GROW~! nothing good happens quick in this hobby!

 

[BCSreef]

I let them grow until they start stinging others, then it's frag time.

 

[Dorsetsteve]

I literally would not frag anything smaller than a soft ball, not on purpose.

 

[bnord]

you didn't mention frag when you clumsily break off a branch when you have your ham hock hands its in the tank