help with zoo fragging

[segraves1]

Need a little help guys. I have been fragging zoos for a while now, but I always seem to loose 1/3 or so of them. This leads me to believe that I'm doing SOMETHING wrong. I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I have been splitting up my bubble coral and it seems to be doing wonderfuly.

What tools are you guys using and how do you go about it?

[graphixx]

Chris, I frag zoo's every week. the best thing that I have found is an exacto knife. I take them out of the tank in a bucket of water. agitate the zoos so they all close up. if you can cut a frag from the center of the colony that works the best. they grow back quicker. I would recommend taking small frags no more than 5-7 polyps at a time. the smaller the frag the quicker the frag grows. just cut along the matting and wedge the knife under the zoo and try and get a bit of rubble with them. let me know if you need any more help.

[lReef lKeeper]

well i am to late for this response, cuz i would have said the same thing. but i didn't know about the middle cutting growing back quicker !! man, i learn something new here everyday !!

[graphixx]

that is correct. if you cut the middle you have ALL the edges of the cut out space regrowing. if you cut at the edge well, you only have the edge regrowing. also the center usually houses the most mature and stable of the zoo's which recoop quicker from fragging also.

[segraves1]

Thanks for the info. I did some reading and came up with about the same info (ie: small, center cut fags grow faster) but it's good to have it confirmed.

Yesterday I got a red (orange/red) ball sponge. The thing is WAYYYY to big for any one spot so I would like to cut it up into smaller portions to be put around in may areas. As I understand it, sponges don't care where they are cut. True?

When I asked the LFS guy, he said "yeah, cut just about anywhere but wait at least a month before you frag it so it can adjust to your tank." Yes/no on the wait?

Finally (hitting all my questions at once), today my bubble coral had a middle section that turned into jelly and "blew away" (when I "blasted it" with a baster). Now this wasn't brown (ie: what I would call brown jelly), rather it was white. The rest of the colony (and all the other colonies which are all frags of the same piece) seem to be really looking good (fully out). Ideas?

[lReef lKeeper]

i would wait at least a week or two before fragging the sponge, on the bubble ... i have NEVER been able to keep one, so i wouldn't have a clue. sorry.

[saxman]

re: the bubble, is the necrotic area at one of the frag points, or away from them? how was it fragged?

[segraves1]

re: the bubble, is the necrotic area at one of the frag points, or away from them? how was it fragged?

It is right in the middle of an otherwise "healty" colony. The "middle" section just "rotted away" and the rest of the colony looks perfectly fine.

[saxman]

kinda sounds like what our bubble did after our move. if all the necrotic tissue is gone, and what's left seems healthy, i think it'll fill in and recover nicely. ours is on the road to recovery, and looking better each day.

[segraves1]

my bubble is still kind of "unhappy" with the algae that still has not totally gone away....