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- May 12, 2014
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Not the standard way of fragging, also not the easiest, but in my opinion, the most viable if you have the time tools, and patience... quicker easier methods are available, but this is a way to double your polyps instead of fragging your colony down in size.
This idea came to mind a while ago noticing some random paly heads amongst a nice colony that weren't as nice looking as the the others. So i reached in there and pinched the not so nice heads off with a thumbnail and finger. Days later, problem solved....but, weeks later the not so nice heads came back... seemed weird because i knew i had severed the heads off and discarded them.
After thinking about it several times over a couple months and not wanting to try this on something fancy, it really did seem possible to use this as a method of fragging, as long as the heads i severed would open back up and become healthy enough to re-attach to a new plug.
These Palys had longer stalks which i wasn't a fan of, so thought I'd give it a go
Tools i used.
- new, clean razor blade (disposable, easy blade etc... Must be very sharp so you don't have to squish the stalk while cutting. You could maybe use scissors too but I wouldn't for the fact it squishes to cut, the key is SLICE!
- backing material, something like a bank card
- cyanoacrylate gel (super glue, krazy glue)
- a container for holding the heads, and also for placing the plugs into after they have been glued (i used a custom made coral viewer with suction cups on the side) also sand or rubble for bottom of container
- another container to do the fragging in so that water can be discarded, rinsed etc...
- spare new salt water for rinsing
- paper towel
- frag plugs
- safety goggles
- nitrile gloves, or latex, or whatever
- beer (optional) mmmbeer
The Paly colony (peacocks) was removed from the tank and placed in tank water in a separate container. I use a new razor every time, the one time use kind that comes in boxes of 100. I slice the stalks in the middle on a 90 degree angle as smoothly and cleanly as possible. That water was discarded and new tank water was added to the container holding just the heads with sand on the bottom and placed in the upper corner of the tank, away from direct light, and the rim was only slightly under the water line so not to create too much flow and prevent the heads from floating away. Nowadays, I have a semi permanent rubble try hanging over the edge of the glass, it has small holes drilled in the sides and again the edge is barely at the water line. There's a mixture of sand and rubble for the newly cut heads to attach to
The colony these were taken from was just placed on a frag rack in the corner, also out of intense lighting to allow it to heal. Within hours or a day after slicing the stalks in half, the new severed heads had opened up in the container! I got impatient and didn't give the heads a chance to attach on their own, partly because after i placed them in there realized that i should've used rubble instead. On day 2 i got some paper towel, krazy glue, and plugs. The heads were taken out 1 at a time and dried off at the base, trying not to squish or irritate them too much. after being dried i put a dab of glue on the base and put them onto a plug, after that the frag plugs went back into the container in the tank in a low flow are so the heads would start to attach to the glue and the plug. This same method can be used for zoas as well, however the majority of zoas rarely ever get stocks long enough to be able to slice the head off cleanly while leaving a healthy enough base behind. As long as you can cut the head off without damaging its face or mouth and leave a portion of the stock, in theory this will work with both. And as with any fragging please don't attempt this with anything you aren't prepared to lose, anything can happen
The photo above the razor blade was taken 14 days after slicing the heads off, i left 2 heads on the colony. If you compare the first image of the colony to the last image of the colony, you can see which heads i left alone. The stalks all recovered as well as all the fragged heads. Tada!
You can trade, you can sell, and weeks later, its as if nothing happened....Or do it all over again. Enjoy
And if anyone tries this method, please post your experience, GOOD or BAD
This was the most recent photo of the colony after fragging. Like nothing happened!
This idea came to mind a while ago noticing some random paly heads amongst a nice colony that weren't as nice looking as the the others. So i reached in there and pinched the not so nice heads off with a thumbnail and finger. Days later, problem solved....but, weeks later the not so nice heads came back... seemed weird because i knew i had severed the heads off and discarded them.
After thinking about it several times over a couple months and not wanting to try this on something fancy, it really did seem possible to use this as a method of fragging, as long as the heads i severed would open back up and become healthy enough to re-attach to a new plug.
These Palys had longer stalks which i wasn't a fan of, so thought I'd give it a go
Tools i used.
- new, clean razor blade (disposable, easy blade etc... Must be very sharp so you don't have to squish the stalk while cutting. You could maybe use scissors too but I wouldn't for the fact it squishes to cut, the key is SLICE!
- backing material, something like a bank card
- cyanoacrylate gel (super glue, krazy glue)
- a container for holding the heads, and also for placing the plugs into after they have been glued (i used a custom made coral viewer with suction cups on the side) also sand or rubble for bottom of container
- another container to do the fragging in so that water can be discarded, rinsed etc...
- spare new salt water for rinsing
- paper towel
- frag plugs
- safety goggles
- nitrile gloves, or latex, or whatever
- beer (optional) mmmbeer
The Paly colony (peacocks) was removed from the tank and placed in tank water in a separate container. I use a new razor every time, the one time use kind that comes in boxes of 100. I slice the stalks in the middle on a 90 degree angle as smoothly and cleanly as possible. That water was discarded and new tank water was added to the container holding just the heads with sand on the bottom and placed in the upper corner of the tank, away from direct light, and the rim was only slightly under the water line so not to create too much flow and prevent the heads from floating away. Nowadays, I have a semi permanent rubble try hanging over the edge of the glass, it has small holes drilled in the sides and again the edge is barely at the water line. There's a mixture of sand and rubble for the newly cut heads to attach to
The colony these were taken from was just placed on a frag rack in the corner, also out of intense lighting to allow it to heal. Within hours or a day after slicing the stalks in half, the new severed heads had opened up in the container! I got impatient and didn't give the heads a chance to attach on their own, partly because after i placed them in there realized that i should've used rubble instead. On day 2 i got some paper towel, krazy glue, and plugs. The heads were taken out 1 at a time and dried off at the base, trying not to squish or irritate them too much. after being dried i put a dab of glue on the base and put them onto a plug, after that the frag plugs went back into the container in the tank in a low flow are so the heads would start to attach to the glue and the plug. This same method can be used for zoas as well, however the majority of zoas rarely ever get stocks long enough to be able to slice the head off cleanly while leaving a healthy enough base behind. As long as you can cut the head off without damaging its face or mouth and leave a portion of the stock, in theory this will work with both. And as with any fragging please don't attempt this with anything you aren't prepared to lose, anything can happen
The photo above the razor blade was taken 14 days after slicing the heads off, i left 2 heads on the colony. If you compare the first image of the colony to the last image of the colony, you can see which heads i left alone. The stalks all recovered as well as all the fragged heads. Tada!
You can trade, you can sell, and weeks later, its as if nothing happened....Or do it all over again. Enjoy
And if anyone tries this method, please post your experience, GOOD or BAD
This was the most recent photo of the colony after fragging. Like nothing happened!