Brown Jelly after fragging favia

[Akwarius]

Two days after fragging a favia colony I noticed that half of the frags got brown jelly. The colony had been in captivity for about 3 months prior to fragging without any sign of disease. The only other detail that I noticed was that the frags that didnt make it all seemed to have at least one corallite that was cut off center. All of the healthy frags had nice clean cuts in between the corallites.

 

[dakotasreef]

I have seen this happen. Not sure really what the actual problem is, but I would guess some type of infection due to contamination. I've seen it more often on acans though.

 

[Akwarius]

If I ever try this again how can I avoid this problem? A certain type of dip?

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Two days after fragging a favia colony I noticed that half of the frags got brown jelly. The colony had been in captivity for about 3 months prior to fragging without any sign of disease. The only other detail that I noticed was that the frags that didnt make it all seemed to have at least one corallite that was cut off center. All of the healthy frags had nice clean cuts in between the corallites.

Did you do any kind of dip after fragging?? I agree sounds like an infection of some kind of disease that needs to be dealt with quick.

 

[Akwarius]

Yeah no kidding it was an infection. I'd like to hear from someone who had experience fragging favias.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Yeah no kidding it was an infection. I'd like to hear from someone who had experience fragging favias.

I understand but i am curious how did you frag and if you did a dip...this alone could answer a few things. Also i have read favias are a little less forgiving due to the cerioid polyp structure.

 

[dougers31]

Be careful, your other lps could become infected. I'd do a good sized water change(siphon as much detritus as you can) and dip/quarantine the affected corals. Keep the affected corals in higher flow and maybe increase the flow in your display tank.... I don't know if it helped in my tank but I used mela fix in my display(I think it was half strength). Good luck!

ps. melafix will make your skimmer go nuts, so you'll have to turn it off and do a good sized water change before tuning it back on... still will go nuts;) Also, a nice side effect was that it seemed to kill some nuisance algae in my tank.

 

[Akwarius]

What about hearing from someone who frags favia on a regular basis. Is there a certain method of fragging I should be using? I cut the skeleton underneath with a dremel and "snapped" them apart, then dipped in revive.

 

[Viva'sReef]

Ouch....your method of fragging seems a little rough. If your cutting the skeleton underneath, then "snapping" them apart, your just tearing the polyps flesh on the tissue side of the coral.

Best investment I ever made for fragging was an Inland WET Diamond blade bandsaw. You can cut perfectly around the coralites, with very minimal damage to the tissue.

A quick dip in an Iodine solution, and then into a revive bath for 10-15 min

 

[xmetalfan99]

Whenever I don't use clean scalpels or dremel blades to frag, my lps gets brown jelly disease as well. I'm guess there is some sort of bacteria that spreads from the dirty tools.

 

[Akwarius]

Ouch....your method of fragging seems a little rough. If your cutting the skeleton underneath, then "snapping" them apart, your just tearing the polyps flesh on the tissue side of the coral.

Best investment I ever made for fragging was an Inland WET Diamond blade bandsaw. You can cut perfectly around the coralites, with very minimal damage to the tissue.

A quick dip in an Iodine solution, and then into a revive bath for 10-15 min

No doubt. I wont be fragging anymore favia without an inland. It's just too hard to control where the cuts underneath will match up on the surface.

 

[Akwarius]

Whenever I don't use clean scalpels or dremel blades to frag, my lps gets brown jelly disease as well. I'm guess there is some sort of bacteria that spreads from the dirty tools.

I used to think this until I realized that its impossible to have a 100% sterile environment when fragging. I think the bacteria in the water is the real culprit.

 

[Bubbles_B]

Do you use a Dremel or a Saw? Dremels tend to heat up and burn LPS they are great for fragging up Zs and Ps. The belt saw works 100 times best due in part to the fact it has a drip system that keeps the blade cool and lubricated. Also when using these belt saws you want to use your aquarium water and not water from the faucet. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Akwarius]

Do you use a Dremel or a Saw? Dremels tend to heat up and burn LPS they are great for fragging up Zs and Ps. The belt saw works 100 times best due in part to the fact it has a drip system that keeps the blade cool and lubricated. Also when using these belt saws you want to use your aquarium water and not water from the faucet. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the tip. Guess I'll be saving up my lunch money for an inland band saw.