fragging/stimulation growth?

[Rich D]

I have heard that fragging your corals will stimulate them to grow more. I was wondering if it would work to simply cut the very end off a coral and see if it grows more rapidly and/or splits more. I purchased a frag from a guy that had both end cut off (I had no idea what side was up!) so I put it in my sandbed to find that within a week the cut end that was on top had sprouted 6 new ends! I was wondering if cutting the top off a frag (or large colony) would stimulate it to grow faster. Any thoughts, suggestions?


I will post a picture of the frag when i got it and after a week or two.

 

[Rich D]

It is a Microthalma, the first picture is after a few days so the tip of the end has begun to grow but you can see where it was cut.

this is after a weekish

 

[wrestle1952]

I know GARF suggests to turn frags upside down to grow more heads. I have had similar experiences. I've asked others about this and no one seems to do it.

 

[Rich D]

when my tank develops a little more (right now all i have is frags) I will definitely try to experiment with this. Im wondering if just cutting off the very tip would stimulate it to grow more heads. Like just cutting off the whitest part of the tip.

 

[rigleautomotive]

i say yes and have been doing that for years especially on frags that have stalled or stopped growing.cutting the tip almost always kick starts the growth

 

[RobbyVonAwesome]

I recently fragged a birdsnest. A couple weeks later, I noticed that the entire thing was covered in "buds" or new growth on the side of each arm. They've grown a bit since then, and now the best way I can describe it is a thornbush. It looks weird right now, but I'm excited to see it when the thorns grow into new arms.

 

[luther1200]

Usually it will stimulate growth, IME. But sometimes it just heals over and thats it. Most of the time when I frag something lay it on its side. And they grow much faster IMO. I have heard of mounting them upside down but never tried it.

 

[Rich D]

how do you mount a frag upside down!? and when you lay it on its side, does the side thats facing down get hurt at all?

 

[downhillbiker]

I love doing this to stimulate growth. I often use it to make a colony out of a frag. If you take a large frag and chop it up and place each piece on the rock next to eachother you will have a colony much faster than with normal growth. I especially like doing it with encrusting montis such as sunset and chilli pepper. turn a frag into a colony in no time. if you have an inch, cut it into 4 and place them an inch from eachother.

They are actually using this in the ocean by attaching frags to a cage shaped like a dome, and producing very large colonies in a matter of months.