fragging success?

[ItzJustinN]

this is my second frag attempt since starting this hobby., the first frag didnt make it. i just fragged this one yesterday. do you think it will survive or to early to tell?

 

[MyOwnGrowOp]

It's too early to know for sure. My frags usually open within hours of being cut but the odd one takes it's time.. Looks to me like it was done right anyway and as long as its happy in place I would say it should be alright.

 

[ItzJustinN]

when you guys use razor blades, exacto knife, etc... do you scrape the polyps off the rock or do you actually cut the polyp off the colony?

 

[xabbasx7]

when you guys use razor blades, exacto knife, etc... do you scrape the polyps off the rock or do you actually cut the polyp off the colony?

In my opinion, its safer to scrape it off the rock itself. In my experience, the zoas healed and opened much faster, if there was any healing to be done in the first place.

Cutting off the stem is a bit more risky. I would always scrape from where they are growing then cutting off the stem of it. It's more safe in my opinion

 

[xabbasx7]

i did cut the polyp off the colony too once, it healed after a few weeks. although, another time, it healed right away after about a day. depends on how accurate you are.

 

[ItzJustinN]

the two bigger polyps looking better, the smaller one closed up.

 

[ItzJustinN]

These slowly shrank over a few days while slowly turning white and eventually died.

What did I do wrong? I notice a little zoa blood when I was fragging them. I also use super glue to attatch. I used a thumb tack to get under the zoa flesh and scrape it off the rock.

Maybe I should use a sharp razorblade instead.

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[tyler206]

i think you need to usea sharp razor blade to scrape it of the rock

 

[Doctareefer]

You are dipping these after you frag them right?

 

[ItzJustinN]

Honestly. No. I havnt. I've been wanting to get lugols but lfs has been out. All I have is a liquid iodide to dose the tank and its almost empty. Is this my problem? Or can they survive without dip.

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[Doctareefer]

I have done it both ways but had less loss and faster opening time after a dip

 

[Reef Bass]

You can use povidone iodine from the supermarket or drug store to mix a dip with the same active ingredient as Lugols (iodine).

 

[Pallobi]

Why are u chopping up the polyps rather than the rock they are on, with a dremel or something? There is your first mistake IMO... U cut the rock instead of the polyps and your success rate will improve drastically...

 

[xabbasx7]

Once my zoa took a few weeks to open fully! I guess it just had some healing to do. That's what happens when you use a blade and cut off from the stem. It was on a frag so it was harder to scrape the bottom off.

I'm sure they will open in time. I dose vitamin c in my tank which may help speeden the healing process.

 

[KafudaFish]

1. As Neal stated frag the rock and not the zoas.
2. The larger the frag the more likely it will recover if something has gone wrong.
3. I read that you are using super glue gel but not how you are using it.

What I mean is how long after you glue and attach the zoas do you let them just sit there?

As the superglue dries it heats up. Most of the time we are using a very small amount so even if we get a drop or two on our hands we don't notice but if you get a larger amount like a blueberry on you then you can feel the heat.

Basically when we frag we have caused physical damage and added a quick change in the environment i.e. heat stress (going from 80 to 100+ in a few seconds isn't a good thing).

If you are gluing the flesh to a rock and leaving it for a minute or longer you are stressing the zoas out.

Next time glue the zoa down, hold it in place for 10 to 15 seconds and then submerge the new frag in a container of tank water just to take the heat away for another 15 seconds and then put your frag where ever it is going.

Then when people buy a single polyp from across the country they cannot figure out why it melted on them even though their tank is perfect.

 

[ItzJustinN]

I don't have a saw. So I am forced to chop polyps. Which will be better reciprocating saw or oscilating saw? I put glue on rock. Put polyps on. Sumerge to turn glue to putty. Then I will remove excess glue and flatten any glue bubbles. Then re sumerge. The whole process takes 5 mins and the frag is back in dt. I just tried a third attempt yesterday and dipped in iodide enriched tank water then put in tank. The frag started opening within hours (never happend before) and then lights out. I will have to get lugols or coralrx still.

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[Perched Urchin]

If you are taking the frag from your system and putting it back in your system after fragging, I would not use any dip other than Lugols (or similar). The iodine helps prevent infection and should not irritate the new frag, while CoralRx or Revive or the like are intended to be irritants that force pests off of the coral. Your frag is already stressed from chopping it - IMO, I would not further stress it with an unnecessary dip.

Another tip - when you dip the new frag in water to "film over" the glue, do it upside down (coral first then plug). That way, as the glue hits the water, if it moves it moves back toward the plug/rock versus moving up the coral and potentially covering something you don't want covered with glue.

 

[nycpassat]

if others have noted, keep it in low light for a few days. they are already stressed, so no need to shock them with bright lights

 

[million206]

that might be something I have done wrong in the past^