Like to frag this - Favia

Diamond tip dremmel, or a tile saw would work perfectly. Or you can pound it with a hammer and chisel for some 'spray and pray' frags :D

-Justin
 
OK, I will put down the hammer!! I have a band saw, but not sure what kind of cheap blade to buy. If I have to spend a alot of money on a Diamond blade, I would just a soon buy another coral or two like this one. Does anyone know of a cheap blade that would work? Maybe a carbon tip blade?
 
This is a very vague discussion and theres quite a few things that arent being covered that one shouldnt take for granted. Like is this a nice band saw? You may want to take that into consideration so it doesnt get ruined by the salt water. And any time power tools are involved there should be a continuous tricle of SW at the very least to keep the coral cool, as well as the keeping the tool cool itself. Stuff like that.

Not sure bout other tools but dremmel diamond wheels are fairly inexpensive I think I paid like 9-12 bucks cant remember. Theres cheap tile saws out there for 40 and under on ebay.Theres a nice lil short video of Eric Borneman using a tile saw on some LPS, as well as LPS that doesnt typically get fragged so it was pretty cool educational. But there's lots of stuff on the internet if you just google 'how to frag coral'... Even f r a g s. o r g as some stuff on the intro page IIRC as well as garf. o r g.

-Justin
 
Sorry about being too vague. The band saw is old and more like a scroll saw and uses a very thin blade. I could try to cut between polyps and not just straight cuts. Or do you think straight cuts would be better?
 
For the saw it'd probably be better. For the frag it wont make too much of a difference, the more intact polyps and less partials, the better. After your done hackin em up, a good idea to let them settle in a container with tank water, so the dust can settle of them and there open cuts can coagulate. Makes them cleaner to put in the display without sliming up everything, and upsetting nearby residents. A good tip to once you get the hang of it is to score as much as you can on the back side of the coral where youd like the fragment to take place. Cutting up almost all the way to the front surface of the coral. Then a razor or an exact can be used to make very fine cuts and it virtually comes apart like a perferated edge with a lot less damage than taking a saw to the face of the coral. Takes some practice and the right tools though. Also let em rest for a few days before giving them out, makes there acclimation less stressfull and more likely for success..Good luck!:thumbsup:

-Justin
 
A good tip to once you get the hang of it is to score as much as you can on the back side of the coral where youd like the fragment to take place.

-Justin [/B][/QUOTE]

Justin, Sorry to be a bother. But are you doing this with a dremmel? I like the sound of this better than putting them through a saw. I only want 4 or 5 polyps to start a new colony.

Thanks Chris
 
Ya I use a dremel, the last one I did I cut the back side; then at the same time gently prying the cut apart with a screw driver follow up on the front with an exacto blade to form your clean separation. As long as the cut in the back is substantial enough, it comes apart cleanly and works great.

-Justin
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12560064#post12560064 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishhouse
Thanks, That helped alot. Wish me luck.

I think Im wishing for a frag of that more!! :lol: JK?

Seriously, though good luck!!

-Justin
 
I was told that this might be a micromussa munuta! How do you tell it from a Favia?

81570DTT0014.JPG
 
I dont think Micromussa minuta are that rare in the hobby actually, but is virtually impossible to truelly ID just make a good guess :) But the coralites and size on that look typicall of a favid in comparison to the other pieces you have.

Possibly a Favia speciosa:
158-01.jpg

or
Favia helianthoides:
375-06M.jpg


But those are just good guesses ;)

-Justin
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12567755#post12567755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yellowslayer13
ya but look at the spaces between the mouths and ridges his are all touching

That's not necessarily a defining attribute when ID'ing. The Favia speciosa for example will have coralites closley compacted in shallow waters and more widely spaced in deeper waters..

-Justin
 
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