The affect of fragging on growth.

[Jah2707]

I am horrible about how to get the answer I am looking for. So lets start by asking if someone can explain to me how a SPS coral is alive... What I mean is if I take a sunset monti and remove the plug off of a rock. Any part of the monti that had grown onto the rock will continue to grow. So the one coral could turn into 4 or 5 corals. Each tiny piece that was stuck to the rock will continue to grow. So is the single coral many corals that are together? Or could one inch of monti be cut into 100 tiny pieces and each one continue to grow as new coral? ... See I am bad really bad at explaining what I am asking.

So the real question is.. If I take my favorite Milli and cut off one tip to place in the better spot to view it... How will that affect the growth of the rest of the coral? Will the whole coral use its energy to repair the cut area or is it not one piece and only the area of the coral close to it will suffer while it repairs and the rest will grow like normal... Or am I thinking about this completely wrong?

 

[tripdad]

Most stony corals are a "colony" of individual polyps that are seen as a "coral" so yes any piece will become a whole. The whole coral to a minor amount will be affected by the fragging but not any real problem if done properly.

 

[Rakie]

Tripdad gave you the solid and basic truth, perfect answer.

As for how much fragging may slow down the growth of a coral? That depends on more factors than we can even count. The simplest thing to note is that some corals are notoriously slow growers, others are weeds. A member of my club can easily take a frag or two a week from one of his SPS, while others he frags only every 2-4 months.

 

[Jah2707]

Great answers. This was basically my understanding but hearing it from ours is helpful.

So would reaching into a tank and "snapping" off a tip of milli be more or less traumatic then taking the whole colony out of the water and then sawing off the same tip?

 

[madweazl]

Not sure what the success rate is for other species but this suggests that it is possible to frag down to a single polyp with the added benefit of speeding growth exponentially.

 

[75mixedreef]

Important to note that there is likely to be some trauma from the fragging process. For your example with the milli, it depends on how much trauma you are causing. Taking the milli out to saw it is causing slight trauma to the entire colony, but less trauma at the cut. Breaking off a tip in the tank is less trauma to the colony but it can cause much more trauma to the frag and possibly the branch it was broken off of. You especially need to be careful not to damage any polyps away from the cut. You could easily cause damage with your fingers by gripping it and crushing the "skin" of the coral.

 

[scar79]

^^^ For this reason probably the easiest and safest way to frag a branching SPS is to get in there with a good set of bone/coral cutters and snip off a piece. Be gentle when gripping the fresh frag and don't bump your cutters into or pry against the rest of the colony or nearby colonies.

 

[Piper27]

It all depends on how healthy your tank is, what kind of acropora it is, and how established the colony is. Moving an established colony could slow growth for a while. Moving an acro out of the water to cut won't do much of anything if you put it back in its exact spot, but if you cut it and move it your more likely to halt growth for a period of time, especially if the colony is sensitive or finiky. Fragging it with bone cutters isn't really going to hurt anything nor is using a good diamond blade or band saw. Sometimes fragging a tip off a newer coral that is not growing yet can spark growth. I prefer to use bone cutters on smaller branches and a diamond blade on tabling acros.

 

[Sk8r]

Montipora frags when you clean the glass...real often. Glue the bits to plugs and wait.

One thing to consider: breaking my basketball sized hammer (branching) into clumps freed all the outer edges to start dividing and growing like mad, as they'd been hemmed in by other branches until I set them free. New edges can mean new growth once the healing is done.

 

[OrionN]

When you frag a SPS, do not frag only frag from healthy growing colonies, and only frag at he healthy growing area. Fraging at lower shading part of the colony, or an unhealthy colony, may start and infection and cause RTN and kill the whole colony.
I often keep colonies that I frag to sell on a sting. This really help the growth, the color, and the growth pattern of the colony.

12 days worth of growth on my colony. Of course the water condition got to be great and plenty of Ca for calcification. This is the fastest growing method IME. Under the same tank condition, Coral on a sting will out pace fixed colony on the rock.
First picture 10/10 and the second picture 10/22

 

[Chrisrush]

Minh,
How do you attach the string to the coral? Glue? Does it rotate in the tank?

 

[OrionN]

My "SPS on a String" thread
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2606077