Fraggin' GSP's

[skeety]

okay...so another one of those "DOH!" posts.

I want to frag my GSP (then take the frag, and super-glue it to my CSL output pipe).

See this thread for more on my plan:
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=50717

Anyways...I wasn't very bright when I placed my GSP in the tank...as it's wedged between two very large pieces of real estate (LR), and it's doing very well at growing over them.

As a result, removing the GSP to frag it, is pretty much out of the question.

I've also heard that some corals leak some pretty toxic stuff when frag'ed.

My question is...is the GSP one of them? If I frag it IN the tank, do I run the risk of poluting my water? If so, how detrimentally?

My plan is to slice it off the rock (while in the tank). I was going to put a marine sock filled with carbon in my sump to soak up any poison's, but I'm nto sure HOW toxic the leakage would be.

Any tips? experience? suggestions?

[Cosine]

I've cut mine in the tank with no ill effects (that I've noticed)

[skeety]

Thanks!

At what point are they safe to frag?

I have a piece in mind that I want to cut. It's about half the size of a dollar bill. It's got polyps coming out all over it, but the one's closest to the edge aren't completely out yet. And only the ones from about the middle of that piece back to the main rock, have green tips. meaning, the first half, while the polyp's are out, they're still just the rust color.

Is there a (ball-park) number of polyp's it should have? and should a certain percentage of them have all their color?

I know that when you frag, growth of both the frag and the main mass will stop for a while, while most energy is turned to healing. But I want to make sure the frag I cut has enough ability to take in energy, to heal itself.

[Justin]

The best way to avoid alot of toxins leaching into your tank would be fraggin outside of your tank in a small container then rinse the cuttings in some clean tank water before putting them back in. But dont stress to bad, I myself have had to rearange some of my GSP and tore a peice off and wrapped around some rubble with fishing line(firm but not tight). Havent noticed any reaction from any residents yet and have done this several times. When somethings amiss Im lucky enough to have some pulsing xenia and some leathers(cabbage,finger,toadstools) and theyre the first ones to "tell" me somethings not right by either closing up or 'molting'. Ive heard that GSP's can be toxic to some corals but IME id feel more safe doing that then fraggin some mushrooms or leathers in my tank(which i need to do badly!).Then a fraggin container would become more of a prerequisite.

HTH

-Justin

[Justin]

Sorry, also forgot to add, try and put your new trimming in moderate flow area while healing, seeing how new cuttings of any coral are susceptable to algae growth/rot.

-Justin

[yardboy]

I've taken frags with only one polyp showing and they've grown quite well, only takes longer. One tip is to glue the frag to the lower end of whatever you want it to grow over, as they tend to grow up toward the light.

[skeety]

Thanks for the tips! All very helpful!

Guess I'll give it a go this weekend then...

[yardboy]

I thought I'd recently started one with only 2-3 polyps, but this is pretty small.