Fragging off zoas

[MMcKenna1029]

Back story... About a year ago my I made some very unwise zoa frag purchases at a frag swap. Although they seemed to be nice multi head frags, the zoas were not directly attached to the plugs but rather porous rubble which was then glued to the plugs. Turns out this porous rock was filled with aptasia and bubble algae.... Whatever, is what it is. At this point I am setting up a new tank and intend to save as many types of zoas as possible without bringing over any unwanted guests. I know... many will say that is impossible but we're going for best efforts.

My thought currently on the best way to do this would be to cut off a small amount of heads, whatever I can get flesh only, dip and rinse thoroughly and then glue to a new plug. Can zoas be fragged as a single head? Do i need much flesh behind the head for it to survive? Even if I could get a single head of each variant but pest free I would consider that a huge win.

Thoughts?

Best regards,
Matt

 

[adpuls34]

Back story... About a year ago my I made some very unwise zoa frag purchases at a frag swap. Although they seemed to be nice multi head frags, the zoas were not directly attached to the plugs but rather porous rubble which was then glued to the plugs. Turns out this porous rock was filled with aptasia and bubble algae.... Whatever, is what it is. At this point I am setting up a new tank and intend to save as many types of zoas as possible without bringing over any unwanted guests. I know... many will say that is impossible but we're going for best efforts.

My thought currently on the best way to do this would be to cut off a small amount of heads, whatever I can get flesh only, dip and rinse thoroughly and then glue to a new plug. Can zoas be fragged as a single head? Do i need much flesh behind the head for it to survive? Even if I could get a single head of each variant but pest free I would consider that a huge win.

Thoughts?

Best regards,
Matt

I have fragged zoas with only a single head and not much flesh. Just make sure that they are firmly glued to the frag plug. Preferably let the glue dry outside of the tank first to ensure that flow or a snail will not dislodge the polyp. Always wear gloves and safety glasses! Good luck!

 

[Rawsreef]

Not sure how to deal with the aptasia, I've never dealt with them to this extreme. Im usually inspecting my frags really closely, especially the first few weeks. whenever I see something that looks like it may be an aptasia, I grab the frag plug out the tank and scrape the unwanted stuff off with my fingernail. Probably not the cleanest way, but it works for me.


As for the unwanted algae, I think giving them a peroxide dip would solve that.

 

[RedFrog211]

Definitely possible, it’ll just take dedication. I’d recommend fragging what you must, then treat aiptasia if possible, and dip all frags in a coral dip before introducing into new tank