How to split frogspawn ???

[mtindall]

Can someone please post (with pics if possible) how to split frogspawn?

[Phantom Phish]

I think it depends on what type of frogspawn you're splitting. If it's a branching frogspawn (with a head at the end of each branch) it's a relatively simple matter of just taking a Dremmel rotary tool with a cutting disc, and cutting off a branch well below the polyp head. However, if the frogspawn has a flabellate skeleton (kind of like a wavy wall), it's a much more involved process, which I don't feel qualified to advise you on. Sorry, I have no pictures to illustrate.

[gregt]

paradivisa or divisa? IE: branching or non-branching?

[mtindall]

It is the branching kind...it has an ivory base and splits into 2 "heads" if it grows another "head" i'd like to split it off and move it to the other side of the tank

[aquadude]

Great question. I have a non-branching hammer that I would love to frag (wavy wall like Phantom mentioned). If someone has advice on fragging mine as well, that would be great!

[gregt]

I fragged my E. ancora (non-branching hammer) with a hammer and flathead screwdriver. It's not a job for the meek, but everything lived just fine...

[aquadude]

Did you slice the soft tissue with a razor, or did the tissue just separate with the blow from the hammer?

It is really large with about 5 arms, can I assume each arm can be a frag?

Thanks.

[gregt]

I let the tissue break on it's own as I seperated the pieces of skeleton. Each of my "frags" was very large so I didn't worry too much. I would look for "mouths" and seperate as much in between them as possible.

[aquadude]

It is a beautiful piece, I would hate to screw up on it. Finally, did the frags bounce back quickly? Thanks for the info.

[gregt]

yes, they did.

[Phantom Phish]

That's interesting. The approach I had heard about used a wedge of some sort, and slowly seperated the tissue and skelton over a number of days, but I don't really know the details of it.

[gregt]

I've read that too, but I'm not sure what advantage that really gives. In my case it wasn't an option anyway. My theory is get the damage over quick and let the healing begin rather than stretching it out.

[mtindall]

What about the branching kind??

[gregt]

Sorry, back on track....

For branching I usually split them as low as possible right at the branch. Sometimes I'll use a dremel as described above, and sometimes I'll just use needlenose pliers and "snap" them apart. I do it above my sump very close to the water because enevitably I drop one of the two pieces. It sound unwieldy, but I've not lost a frag yet and I've done it dozens of times.