A dremel is generally the best way, score a line and break the rock or try to pry off the section of the colony.
Best way to frag encrusting stony corals?
As the title says, I'm wondering what the best way to frag encrusting corals is. I have two colonies of encrusting porites, one yellow and one red, that are getting larger and I would like to frag them, however, the colonies are growing out encrusting right to the rock. Can I somehow pry off part of the colony? Any advice from experienced fraggers is definately appreciated. Thanks!
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Would I be able to pry a small piece of the colony off of the rock pretty easily, maybe with the edge of a razor blade, or are they soft enough they'd just crumble and I'd damage the colony?
Porites is typically very hard to break. Can you remove the rock from the tank easily?
Yes, that could work too. Usually you can't get very big pieces that way though, maybe around 1/4" -- depends on the type of coral and morphology of your specific colony.
It's pretty hard to hurt an established coral; just breaking off pieces of any size won't even phase it.
It's pretty hard to hurt an established coral; just breaking off pieces of any size won't even phase it.
The rock itself that these are on is pretty good and stuck where it's at. The corals themselves were hitchhikers on the live rock and were so small at the time I didn't know they were there. These things grow so fast I think I'll wait for a few more months of growth before I attempt to frag them. It may be easier to get some cleaner cuts then. 1/4" frags would be fine. The way these are growing now the frags would be an inch or larger within 3 or 4 months. Expecially since I could move them up on my frag rack closer to the light.
If possible, you can glue small, flat LR rubble around the colony and hopefully get some encrusting over it.
ahhh... good point. Thanks, I'll try that.
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