Coral Head Question
- Thread starter Psirex
- Start date
defchild84
New member
??? the head.... ?? if you are referring to the tips, each species differ. Did I answer the question I didn't understand? Or are you asking " head" as in frag?
Sorry for not being clearer - yes as in Frag.
returnofsid
New member
Completely depends on how large it's cut, how much time it's had to grow, since it was cut, the rate of growth...etc. Way too many variables to give an "accurate" answer.
defchild84
New member
Gotcha- there was an article discussing the survival rate of frags versus "larger frags" . ( sept/oct issue of Reef &marine aquarium Magazine, Article "How large should a coral fragment be?" pg 81) From what this article/ research states, larger Acropora frags survive and grow faster than smaller frags. That being stated, they also conducted multiple tests -of them, one was- frags glued underwater, as well as out of water. The survival rate of frags (2.5cm , or roughly 1inch) glued out of water had approx. 20% survival rate, where as frags slightly larger (3.5cm, or roughly 1.5 inch) had a survival rate of 80% or more. They also conducted the same test with same sizes, but glued them underwater, and both came out to near 90% survival rate.
They next investigated whether the increase in length was greater in the larger frags than in the smaller cuttings. The average annual increase in length was 3 inches for the large, and 2 inches per year in the smaller specimens.
In relation to your question, what I have gathered in this article was
1, most importantly, large or larger frags show a HIGHER survival rate than smaller frags.
2. possibility of more growth from larger frags annually
3. if you do conduct , or a fellow local reefer frags for you, and the size falls under the 1.5 inch , be sure to have them glue underwater for better survival rate.... lol
4. on a separate note, in my opinion, there IS a difference in survival rate when it comes to the difference in " maricultured" or "aquacultured". Again, this has been MY experience....
5. sorry for the rambling.
:lolspin: Happy reefing!!
gon08
New member
That was a study conducted on A cervicornis which is endangered in Florida and the Caribbean. The frags are being taken from wild colonies which are fragged and then taken to farms and glued. Wild corals already have a low survival rate as it is, but now we're talking about a coral that is very delicate and on the verge of disappearing.
As for growth, the smaller you frag the longer it takes to get vertical growth. Frags will want to encrust first to have a base to hold on to branch from.
I frag from the base of plugs that are skirting over to it's neighbor all the time, and although they take for ever to grow, I get better than 95% survival.
While all of that may be true, in my experience larger frags do tend to survive better than small frags even in aquacultured corals. I've seen this even in the pieces i break by accident while cleaning. Same coral, same tank, same everything and the larger frags survive at a much better rate than the small ones. Of course I'm talking 1/2" or less as small.
Similar threads
