fragging zoas

[evil_monkey]

I have 2 colormorphs on a small piece of tonga branch, I would like to remove one of them to let them grow out.

how to I go about this?

thanks

 

[gflat65]

Hammer and Chisel. The delicate method that never fails on rocks that can be removed. You can try to razor blade them where the rock and mat meet, but I use a chisel to vent frustrations whenever possible...

 

[evil_monkey]

no kidding?

the piece of tonga branch is like 3" long and the bright blue/green/orange zoas I want to move are in the middle of the cluster of blue/green/dark blue zoas. should I try to split the rock or pull the mat off?

 

[gflat65]

I take two different approaches. If I want to leave the rock in tact, I will take a small chisel (1/4-3/8" tip) and strike at about a 30 degree angle in small whacks. Typically, the rock will let you chip off the top layer fairly easily. I've never done this with branch rock, though. Sounds like what you have is relatively small, so a small chisel may be the best try. If you can't break off the upper layer of the rock, you may just have to split it. I like to frag thsi way because it seems to cause less stress on the coral. They are typically opened back up soon after putting them back in the tank (unless I unintentionally super-molest them and squish them in handling). For something that small, you might try using a razor blade and try to take the very top section of rock with them.

 

[twon8]

i also use some big tin snips on smaller pieces, wire cutters would work also.

 

[evil_monkey]

thanks gflat65,

as for the snips, I have a lot of these in the garage, the piece is maybe 1/4 to 1/2" thick, this should work right?

 

[EvilInSin]

When I want to seperate two colors I use dental pics. They let me pull up and seperate the flesh with out too much damage. THo I have done the chisel thing... I am not good at it so I just killed the whole rock of zoos when I did it. Made a nasty mess too.

 

[Dastank]

I love the dental pics idea. I've been trying figure out how to remove just a polyp or two without breaking up the whole piece. Great info!