Fragging coral in display tank

[Reefs and Geeks]

What do you do when you need to frag coral that are attached to rocks you can't remove from the display? Almost all of my rock in my display tank is cemented together and I want to permanently attach some new coral I have to the main rock structures. Problem is, I do intend to eventually frag the coral but won't be able to remove them from the display. For branching SPS I'm sure I can just cut pieces with bone cutters right in the display. But what about other pieces like monti caps? I'd normally use a dremal with a diamond cutting wheel, but that obviously wouldn't work in the display tank. Would you just cut with bone cutters and hope it breaks where you want, then frag up the chucks that break off?

I'm just looking to have a plan on what to do before I mount my 10 new coral frags so if there's something else with fragging that needs to be taken into account I can do so.

 

[dbl]

I have to cut monti caps somewhat frequently and do not remove them from the display. As you described, I use bone cutters as best I can and it eventually just breaks off, not always how or where I want them to.

For the softer stuff, I actually just use a scalpel under the water and do the best I can. It's not perfect but if you can't remove it, you just have to manage it!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

For montis, I score them real well with a scalpel and about 85% of the time they break off where I want. SPS is just bone cutters as usual.

 

[Joshua Warne]

SPS, Zoanthids, Shrooms can all be done with bone cutters. I would just snip under the piece you want and you're good to go. Be careful not to harm them of course, and a water change after doing so is always a good idea to remove and toxins produced from being irritated. A little carbon in a reactor won't hurt either.

Chalice, Favia, Acans, Blastos all require a bandsaw or Dremel, outside of the tank. I would recommend placing on square or circular disc on the sandbed/bare bottom for easy removal if you want to frag for sales/trades.