How to Frag Palys (w/ pictures)

[Pola0502ds]

Wow, very cool. I already fragged them the normal way but i will say they were as long as the ones in your picture. as soon as I started handling them they emptied the water in them (which got everywhere) and shrunk to nothing. Literally. If I remember I will take a picture of how long they are in the water now. But yes, they were very healthy.

 

[Pola0502ds]

How long did it take for the ones you fragged to attach to that rock rubble? Is attaching to rock rubble way better than super glue?

 

[GoFish]

How long did it take for the ones you fragged to attach to that rock rubble? Is attaching to rock rubble way better than super glue?

Not sure, got impatient the first time and glued them instead I know the heads will eventually attach but it's a challenge getting just enough flow so the water doesn't become stagnant, but not enough flow to make them move around. On several occasions I've just sliced paly heads off like this and dropped them in the tank, when they settle for long enough they attach. They always survive IME
This time around I will leave 3 or 4 heads in the rubble tray and glue 3 or 4 heads to plugs and compare how long each method takes to grow a solid base

If you do end up glueing them make sure they have a couple days to heal. In one of the more recent photos on the last page you can see the backside of a polyp after fragging, wait til this closes up (heals)

 

[wattson]

a new and different way to skin a cat,,,would love to see others experiences with this method too...
Do you use any Iodine or disinfectant dip on the heads/stalks after the initial cutting ??

 

[joshporksandwich]

Crazy method. Gotta try it one day

 

[ReefBuzz]

This method is described in a couple books. I also use this method with the slow growers to frag them faster.

 

[garcia64]

I will be tagging along and possibly doing this on some cheap palys whos stems are way to long for my liking.

 

[GoFish]

Time for an update. This was done at 2pm on Dec 11th so its been 20 days exactly
I've given up on the idea the fragged heads will attach on their own in the rubble tray. I know its possible but it sooo difficult to have them settle in one place without snails moving them around or the small amount of flow shifting them around. They also open during the day and close at night, so this also causes them to move. I ended up glueing 4 heads to rubble and left 3 heads to attach on thier own. As of 30 minutes ago i glued the remaining 3 heads to rubble. Attached photos of the process and how small the amount of glue used was. In the 3rd photo in the second group the heads are chilling on a piece of paper towel to allow the base to dry before glue

So, for this method, give the heads about 2 days to heal in a low flow area. Then remove the heads and dry the base where the cut was made... place a small dab of super glue gel on a piece of rubble or a frag plug and place the healed base onto the tiny dab of glue. Place them back in a low flow are for 2-3 weeks. This will give the base enough time to grab onto the rubble/live rock/frag plug etc.... Good to go! Sell, trade or WHY...

Heres current photos of how the original colony and fragged heads look. Coming along nicely. Within 2 weeks I assume all the fragged bases will have complete heads and full colour. The small head with most colour wasn't fragged as it was just a baby

 

[GoFish]

Been a month, time for an update. Things went very well. 100% success rate
7+7=14 heads. These sell for approx $50 USD per polyp where i got the original from
Anyone wanna trade/buy some Orange Rainbow palys?? JK

The last photo is the original colony today, still have some growing to do to get back to original size but they have their colour back already

If you have any questions just ask

 

[GoFish]

Progression of original colony since Dec 11th

 

[joshporksandwich]

very cool.

 

[TheEngineer]

I had a Darth Maul paly which was growing over my Salted Agave zoa so I decided to give this is a try I did this in the tank though just to see how it would go.

The Target:

I used a straight edge razor and went right through it without an issue. The cut seemed pretty clean.

After the fragging:

The fragged head glued to a new plug:

I'll post back on progress for this.

 

[TheEngineer]

Polyp head is already open

Excuse the crummy cell phone pic.

 

[GoFish]

Awesome thanks for sharing! Did you give the fragged head any time to heal before glueing? It looks like it has moved from where it was in the first pic? And does that area on the sand bed have really low flow?

 

[TheEngineer]

Awesome thanks for sharing! Did you give the fragged head any time to heal before glueing? It looks like it has moved from where it was in the first pic? And does that area on the sand bed have really low flow?

Nope. Cut and glue. It's in the same spot, the pic is at a weird angle. Fairly low flow on the sand.

 

[GoFish]

Ok cool, will be interesting to see if the cut and quick glue method works as well!
It's ok doing this "in tank" method with a polyp or 2 but I'd be careful about any more than that, I had a mini crash a while ago and think toxins from excessive fragging that day may have contributed. It looks like neighbouring polyps in your second pic are a little peeved.
Keep us updated

 

[TheEngineer]

Ok cool, will be interesting to see if the cut and quick glue method works as well!
It's ok doing this "in tank" method with a polyp or 2 but I'd be careful about any more than that, I had a mini crash a while ago and think toxins from excessive fragging that day may have contributed. It looks like neighbouring polyps in your second pic are a little peeved.
Keep us updated

For sure. It's not convenient for real deal dragging but if you've got a polyp or two you want to "move" it seems to work so far.

And yes the others are annoyed. That picture was about 20 seconds after the cut since I had bumped them they were still closed. They're all open and fine now.

 

[TheEngineer]

This picture is a little over 24 hours later, but this polyp head was fully opened when the lights came up this morning.

 

[TheEngineer]

10 days later... the new polyp is already forming on the cut end of the stalk...

 

[GoFish]

Nice! Looks like it's on its way to forming a new head

1. Curious, do you think that you cut the stalk cleanly and perpendicular to the base like in my sketch? Reason being, wondering if a lopsided cut will have any effect on healing time, or uniform development of a new face.
2. And how is the severed head doing on the plug? Wondering how it worked out gluing right away vs letting it heal for a couple days

Thanks for the update