my new find( almost dead rescue attempt)

[goda]

just got a 90 percent dead coral ( it appears to be from it being in the shade.

normaly 100 bucks but i got it for 5. now i dont expect it to live but i am going to frag it and try to save it

it is a acropora with a red body and green polyps ^^ if i can get this one to come back then SCORE

any tips on how to go about this

i want to try to frag it and mount it laying down but what tool can you use to cut it in half ( length wise) i wass try the method of cutting it in half them cutting it again down the center so that one side is flat. iv never done that one before but have knoticed when i frag corals and glue them laying down they seem to get better growth

pics comming soon

i may let it rest in my tank for a day before i frag it. i have it on the very bottom ( 2 inches bellow my green acro and 6 inches bellow my hydnophora... so it should be ok down there)

 

[fish lad]

get the dremel out

 

[goda]

and the heat made from the dremmel isnt going to hurt it?

 

[gflat65]

Anything that cuts bone without shattering it is likely going to create tons of heat. Burning bone does not smell good... Why are you wanting to slice it in half? You might see potential issues with the glue seeping into the crevices inside the skeleton that would kill it anyway. If you want to glue it on its side, do just that. Just glue it horizontal instead of vertical.

 

[goda]

some thing that was apparently shown at macna the cutting in half way. so you get two frags instead of killing half of the frag

 

[gflat65]

Huh. I figured glue that would stress the coral more. You wouldn't be killing half of the frag (unless your talking a small frag) by gluing it horizontal. In gluing it as an overhang, you only glue the base, as you would gluing it vertical. You don't get two frags for the price of one, though. I knew garf had posted info about frags growing faster when mounted on their sides (they did them as overhangs), but I hadn;t heard about cutting it in half widthwise. Is the mortality rate the same as not cutting widthwise? If so, there's a propagator's dream.

 

[goda]

i found when i glue then horizontialy ( literaly super glue over half the coral. and stick it to a flat rock) it looks better because it forms multiple new branches instead of one tall one

BUT if we cut it in half first we wont have to superglue over the live polyps

 

[reefdood]

As far as she got before katrina, but she was gonna explode with braches.