HOW TO FRAG ZOAS (a photo essay by Corallineadam)

[corallineadam]

these are the frag plugs i got from aquacave.com. they were pretty cheap (~$0.30/plug). they are the fired ceramic ones that do not need to be cured and dont leach anything. i give each one of them a quick rinse in tap water to wash off ceramic dust before i begin... other than that they are good to go out of the bag.

so i give them a rinse and rinse out my tupperwares as well as m scissors and turkey baster and razor blades, etc. its nice to have a good beer while fragging :beer: also, get your super glue GEL ready! :lol:

pick a nice colony that is crowiding itself and needs to be fragged. somtimes a little piece of the colony has actually grow off the rock and can easily be ripped from the rest of the colony. that was the case this time.

here is the frag that pulled easily from the main colony -- it was growing OFF the rock!

add a little dab or 2 of super glue GEL to the rinsed and dried-off frag plug.

cut off a polyp or two or three or four :lol: and attach carefully to the super glue. attach it so that the base is attached to the glue and the top of the polyp that opens is facing upward.

 

[corallineadam]

let it dry for a second and place it into the tupperware full of water from the display tank (with the other frags)

soon you should have a tupperware full of mounted frags :celeb2: :celeb2: :celeb2:

now the final step is to place the plugs somewhere that the frags can grow :dance:


HAVE FUN FRAGGING AND REMEMBER A FRAG FROM A FRIEND IS ONE LESS CORAL REMOVED FROM THE OCEAN

 

[650-IS350]

Nice, a little addition.
REMINDER: Always wear your PPE. Protective Personal Equipment. Gloves, Eyewear, mask ( mouth cover ), some polyps do squirt even from a distance. You don't want anything getting to your eyes, mouth or any cuts in your hands. Not just due to palytoxin, but numerous types of bacteria, pathogens etc from our tank water.

 

[corallineadam]

+1, great thing to add in. i almost mentioned this as part of the process so i am glad it was brought into the conversation.
personally, i never ever do this -- fragging zoas would not be nearly as fun without a little dose psychedelic palytoxins!!
i do wear glasses, and i am careful to cover the frag with my hands while cutting, to try and catch the toxins squirted... i just shield the frag with my cupped hand while my other hand works the scissors/ razor blade... they do squirt toxins so beware my friends!!!

 

[IridescentLily]

:thumbsup: This is a great pictorial/demonstration. I've not seen an actual step by step demonstration of how to frag zoas before. Good job, and thank you for the education on fragging.

 

[jwiz63]

I hope you all don't mind if I ask this here, if there is a better thread, feel free to move or delete my post.

My question as a newbie to reef keeping and Zoas, do most people get colonies on rocks or frags and just place them in their tanks, or is there a method to transfering the Zoas to the existing rock already in the tank? I ask as it seems like the tank wil get filled up with rock if you buy any quantity of different colonies and they all come on a chunk of rock. I hope this isn't a completely moronic question and appreciate any input people care to share.

 

[romsoccer12]

also, how dangerous is the toxins in the zoa? deadly or just a nice swelled up hand. i know everyone is different to reactions but what is the average?

 

[dsmooth]

thank you

 

[corallineadam]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15466217#post15466217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by romsoccer12
also, how dangerous is the toxins in the zoa? deadly or just a nice swelled up hand. i know everyone is different to reactions but what is the average?

if it gets in your eyes, or other sensitive tissue (mucus membranes, etc) it can be BAD news! ive heard of bad infections...
if it gets in the blood stream (open cuts, etc) it can be bad. ive even heard of a death in japan.
in general id say better safe than sorry -- wear glasses and some rubber gloves...
i dont wear any rubber gloves but like i said before, i like to dose myself with a little palytoxin now and then -- turn on and tune in and all that jazz...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15465123#post15465123 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwiz63
I hope you all don't mind if I ask this here, if there is a better thread, feel free to move or delete my post.

My question as a newbie to reef keeping and Zoas, do most people get colonies on rocks or frags and just place them in their tanks, or is there a method to transfering the Zoas to the existing rock already in the tank? I ask as it seems like the tank wil get filled up with rock if you buy any quantity of different colonies and they all come on a chunk of rock. I hope this isn't a completely moronic question and appreciate any input people care to share.

if you get colonies on chuncks of rock, you will have to fit them in your tank... you can always start a larger tank, or maybe start a second tank (i have 3 going right now, with plans and parts for another tank or two in the works...)
or you could always start a sump/refugium or get an aquafuge refugium for more rock capacity... HTH