Propagation

[Aaroneous]

Kind of a newbie question but everybody has got to start somewhere. I recently bought my first 2 corals and they seem to be doing great. My question is in regards to the Giant Green Polyp Duncan â€"œ Duncanopsammia axifuga (more info: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2341+2513+2670&pcatid=2670) and propagation. What are some signs of propagation? What kind of time frame? I ask because one section of the polyp has slightly different coloring (kind of lighter, brighter green) and the tentacles break the uniform pattern and are tighter and smaller. Are these signs of propagation or something else? Thanks for any help.

 

[Cramz07]

i might be understanding you wrong but i believe the term propagation means you cutting the coral away to make a frag of the coral to grow seperate from the mother colony......

 

[Aaroneous]

Yeah, Im not sure if that’s the right term or not. I thought it was because of the “Here, they readily propagate and often form a continuous mat of tentacles that conceal the overall shape of the underlying colony.” statement in the description. This brings up another question; Do they “split” on their own or do they need coaxing?

 

[tunicata]

Mine form new heads all by itself. Well, I started with 3 heads in Dec. and now have about 7 and all I did was feed it regularly for about 1 mos. I don't feed him any more...got tired of it as he isn't out at night like everyone else and wants to be fed during the day.

But yea, they just bud up around the edges of the older polyps. No coaxing from me

 

[DetectiveTofu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12380195#post12380195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cramz07
i might be understanding you wrong but i believe the term propagation means you cutting the coral away to make a frag of the coral to grow seperate from the mother colony......

mmm, propagation is any means by which a coral undergoes reproduction. Normally, this refers to natural modes of reproduction, however in the hobby when we are the mode of reproduction, the term "fragging" was coined
In the wild I don't think they get "coaxed" to reproduce or produce new heads
If the conditions are favorable, or ideal, then the coral should be able to produce more polyps. Some people feed theirs to aid in accelerating the rate of polyp growth.

 

[Cramz07]

So propagation is any kind of coral splitting natural or not...

 

[cloakerpoked]

Its often times common for corals to undergo noticeable changes before they propogate naturally (i.e. not fragging). To say that a specific type of coral propogates the same way would be false, so really one of the best ways to learn is to watch and see what happens. If it normally becomes discolored in a certain way, its probably safe to say that the next time it happens, the same result will ensue. This is, of course, not always the case, but can be used as a general rule of thumb.

 

[Aaroneous]

Right on, so they don’t need any help propagating. I wasn’t positive about that because I had read something about the waves, strong currents, animals…causing the corals to tear, rip, break… which in tern forces them to propagate. I think it was more a theory than fact; but I wasn’t sure if they did need help. Any more info on a time frame? I know it won’t be popping out instantly, but it sounds like it’s a fairly quick process? I’ve been feeding it a silver side nugget about every 5 days. It gobbles it right up and seems to be happy. Thanks for the replies; they’re helping my brain propagate

 

[dan10342]

the term i think we're all looking for is "reproduce" ??

 

[dan10342]

o someone already said that. oops. delete both of these please