What to do about an aggressive coral

[ReefTron5000]

Need some suggestions on how to deal with this aggressive coral.

First off, need an ID on this a-hole:

I've had this piece for several years and did not realize it was as aggressive as it is. I guess I've never had anything close enough to it to do damage. I while back I made the mistake of placing an acan colony too close to it and that got partially wrecked so I've tried to be careful.

Guess I was not careful enough. That green slimer frag above it got partially toasted last night. Very bummed.

Its very pretty but the thing is kind of a problem at this point. I'm fine with it growing down over the sides of the rock and onto the bottom but I'm worried that its going to destroy that lepto colony when it meets up there.

What can I do at this point? Is it possible to frag this thing and stop the growth at the top? The problem is, its at the base of a very large rock structure that would be a real pain to pull out. How does fragging something like this even work? Can I kind of just cut at it with an xacto from above?

Appreciate any advice.

 

[ReefTron5000]

Ugh, all the googling I'm doing says you need dremel or band saw or something. I'm screwed.

The idea of taking that entire rock structure out sucks.

 

[KWoo008]

I believe it is an Acan Echinata. Not what's the best way to prevent chemical warfare though.

 

[Jet915]

I use f-aiptasia to kill Pocillopora and ugly green zoas. Maybe you can use to create a boundary for that coral.

 

[Speaker73]

I'd take a frag of it or the whole thing if you want. Lol. But seriously those things are aggressive. If you have a large space they are great but they killed quite a few of my pieces in the past.

 

[solitude127]

I've put putty over corals like that before. It's temporary since they'll probably just grow over it. Also be careful of that lepto towards the back as well.

 

[ReefTron5000]

I think I'm going to try applying some putty right in front of the leading edge in hopes of it growing on to that. I was going to try rubble instead but I'm not sure if I can attach it just right.

If I can just keep it where its at I guess thats okay, just sucks I can't place anything near it.

 

[laverda]

Marine depot sells some fragging cutters made by Tamm that will cut rock if it is not to solid. They work better for fragging corals than all the other cutters I have tried that most people use. Cutting rock is kind of hard on them though. I have two pairs one nice and sharp and the not so sharp one I use on rock/ hard corals. https://www.marinedepot.com/taam-reef-precision-coral-clippers
If you use putty, when it grows over it should be easy to remove and apply a new layer and sell the frags you get on the putty.

 

[jjencek]

I use Aiptasia-X from Red Sea to kill unwanted growth on my rocks. I also "draw a line" on a coral edge to prevent it from going places I don't want.