I'm having difficulty finding the best way to cut back one of my SPS coral colonies. It has become huge, about 80cm end to end and 60cm front to back. The coral is home to a school of eight chromis which I've had now for at least four years. It is now hitting the surface of the water and really starting to cause problems with any potential corals I would want to place on the same rock underneath due to shadowing.
Here is a picture of the coral in question:
The picture isn't great but the dark area below the growth is the same coral structure but that has died due to a lack of light... this is normal and I've seen similar in various reefs I've dived on.
However, I need to cut it back, but how? I've trimmed the top and edges multiple times but I want to lower the entire coral back onto the rock. To do that I would have to get rid of the dark dead structure. But because it's a branching SPS structure I can't just cut the top live part off, remove the dead part underneath and re-attach the live part to the rock. If I cut the top part off I just end up with a hundred frags!
Anyone with experience doing this?
This coral started with a frag about the size of my finger so of course I could start it all again the same way: cut it all away and then attach one frag back to the rock.
But then the chromis no longer have a home and I firmly believe that the reason I have been able to keep the same size school of chromis for so long with no losses is that they have this haven. I have many times seen chromis in the wild that live in the same type of SPS and always use it as a haven to dart into if threatened.
So, anybody with experience with this type of "trimming" situation? How would you approach this?
All and any suggestions very welcome!
Here is a picture of the coral in question:
The picture isn't great but the dark area below the growth is the same coral structure but that has died due to a lack of light... this is normal and I've seen similar in various reefs I've dived on.
However, I need to cut it back, but how? I've trimmed the top and edges multiple times but I want to lower the entire coral back onto the rock. To do that I would have to get rid of the dark dead structure. But because it's a branching SPS structure I can't just cut the top live part off, remove the dead part underneath and re-attach the live part to the rock. If I cut the top part off I just end up with a hundred frags!
Anyone with experience doing this?
This coral started with a frag about the size of my finger so of course I could start it all again the same way: cut it all away and then attach one frag back to the rock.
But then the chromis no longer have a home and I firmly believe that the reason I have been able to keep the same size school of chromis for so long with no losses is that they have this haven. I have many times seen chromis in the wild that live in the same type of SPS and always use it as a haven to dart into if threatened.
So, anybody with experience with this type of "trimming" situation? How would you approach this?
All and any suggestions very welcome!