Accidentaly split Euphyllia skeleton - results after cutting polyp in half

[jrhupp]

This may be old news, but after I did this and Google'd the subject I found only one reference for what I had done. So I though maybe it would be worth sharing, if for no other reason then to get another data point out there.

When attempting to remove a frog-spawn from the frag disk it was mounted on (to make mounting it to the rock work a bit easier) I split its skeleton straight down the middle with out damaging the polyp. Not being able to Google for some advice on what to do with my arms in the tank, I rationalized to my self that trying to glue the skeleton back together was a recipe for problems down the road (subsequent research shows many examples of people doing this though, with what seems to be good results) and cut the polyp along the split. This was a single polyp, nowhere near dividing on its own and the split went straight through the mouth.

After about five weeks since the split, I am happy to report that I appear have two healthy frog-spawns.

Here are the two halves three days after the split:

And here they are about three weeks there after:

 

[darmar7812]

You lucky duck, they look like they're feeling great!

 

[C.Eymann]

+1
Yeah you got very lucky, that much open tissue usually ends in brown jelly infection, esp with Euphyllias. Guessing you made sure they were given adequate flow to prevent brown jelly? Did you do any preventive iodine/lugols dips?

 

[jrhupp]

I am feeling quite lucky with it. At first I was pretty sure I had made a huge mistake and was out a really nice frog-spawn.

No dips. Just a clean cut, a position with constant gentle flow, and the cut side facing into the flow.

 

[Acan ninja]

i've found with lps and soft corals you can literally have a scab of flesh left and if it is kept in good conditions and is not beaten on by high water flow fish to much light or pest it will probably come back i have a frogspawn fragment that i accidentally broken of that is a chip of a head i've had it down in my refugium for months now and its still alive and growing i've also have picked up an marbled acan and a favia coral that had a small piece that was encrusting on another rock and tore off and are now full sized colonies its amazing what these corals can do in a thriving tank

 

[Jah2707]

The guy I guy frags from does this all of the time. The frog and torch that I have in my tank are both halfs of on skeleton that he let heal about a month and then sold to me. He knew my tank and assured I wouldn't have any trouble. Been well over a month for me and I see little new heads forming on the cut section. .

I doubt I will ever try it but he does it no problem.

 

[enchelycore808]

I've actually done that a couple times too. I glued the skeleton back together best I could and iodine dipped it. Three were fine and the fourth time I did it, the polyp eventually ended up splitting.