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Who wants to make me some frags??? :)

well, the only thing i have a HUUUUGE abundance of is some Xenias, and i have some neat colored mushrooms, and some green zoas. i think im just afraig of handling them, because they arent like hard corals, im afraid im going to cut them the wrong way, and then ill lose them! no experience fragging yet, although its something i really want to dive into.
 
The xenia is really easy to frag. Simply take a pair of scissors and slice them at the stem. Then gently but snuggly rubberband them to a piece of rock rubble or whatever substrate you'd like. With the mushrooms, you just have to cut them at the stem and either rubberband them to the substrate or let them attach on their own in a container with rubble. If I had time this week and could go to the swap, I'd help you out but unfortunately I can't this week. Like Sergio said though, I can offer advice from my own experiences.
 
and mushrooms/xenia will take several days to re-anchor. If you frag tonight, you might be lucky and have them attacked by Sat.

No worries on most softies. Just about any chunk you cut will regrow.
 
My advice for all those softies (and I may or may not be in agreeance with others) pull out the rock they are on, get a screwdriver and chip off the rock that has them. I don't like any of the hack and slash jobs with softies that are done really, ESPECIALLY when you're on a short time frame, they simply won't heal up/reattach in time most likely. So try to get a little bit of rock they're attached to, then no fuss no muss.

A mushroom "frag" is a whole mushroom, a xenia frag is a whole stalk of xenia, for zoanthids, usually you get a cluster of them on your rock chip, then you can split them up into smaller amounts, I'd recommend a minimum of 4 polyps per "frag"
 
easy steps for fragging softies

1) Get the largest tube of superglue, the GEL kinds are the best
2) Get large Tupperware bowl (temporary holding for pieces to be cut, cut pieces, and fresh mounts)
3) A bunch of paper towels (to dry and wipe slime off before superglue)
4) Dry live rock rubble or frag plugs
5) A pair of tweasers, this will allow you to mount polyps or soft pieces easily in the superglue without getting your figures stuck to it.
6) A pack of razors

the trick is to dab the coral on the paper towel to get the slime and water off it for a good superglue bound, use A LOT of superglue on a dry mount, and then place it in a the bowl to set, any pieces that come free you can try to remount.

One easy mount for xenia is simple sandwich it between two between two plugs with rubber bands while it is still attached to the colony, after week cut it at the base, if the xenia is stuck to both sides cut it down the middle with a sharp razor blade and you'll get two for one!

I like to let them sit in the bowl for a bit after mounting, if you introduce a lot of superglue to the display tank at once it can cause your skimmer to freak or some of the other corals to slime.

Cheers,

Josh
 
excellent, thanks guys, i appreciate the tips. i'll be sure to just chip them off my rock, that sounds really muuuuch easier, since i do want them to be anchored to something for the frag swap. how long can they be exposed to air before damage starts happening? i really dont want to hurt them!

4 zoa polyps per frag sounds good to me.

the mushrooms will be easy too i think, since they are all multiplying on this one small rock that i can remove, and chisel, and then put aside to prepare them for the swap.

next question- how long can the xenia be exposed to air while im chipping away at the rock to get all the pieces off?
 
wow, Josh, spoken like a pro!! i guess i just have this mindset that im going to kill my coral, and im paranoid about it! :) i will definitely try your method. thank you so much! are you going to the swap? im not going to know anyone there! but ill try to bring as many frags as possible.
 
thats where the bowl of salt water comes in, you can keep them in holding while you work away.

I usually have the pieces exposed to air for 1-2mins, but I've forgot some throughout a whole frag secession 30mins and they still made it.

just use the bowl trick, that will keep them nice and happy, it will also keep your tank cleaner, since they will slime right after chipping/cutting.

Cheers,

Josh
 
IMO, if the zoa is a nice/expensive stuff then 4 polyps per frag is ok. If it's the regular stuff then it's pretty small. How would you like to get 4 brown polyps or 1/2" frag of GSP (Green Star Polyp)? ;D

Don't cut softy the day of the swap. Chance they will die is pretty high.. Make sure they are fine before bagging them.
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=4249.msg51106#msg51106 date=1217979811]
IMO, if the zoa is a nice/expensive stuff then 4 polyps per frag is ok. If it's the regular stuff then it's pretty small. How would you like to get 4 brown polyps or 1/2" frag of GSP (Green Star Polyp)? ;D

Don't cut softy the day of the swap. Chance they will die is pretty high.. Make sure they are fine before bagging them.
[/quote]

lol yeah, i would hate getting 4 brown polyps and a tiny amount of gsp. ill see what i can do. i already have some that i bought a while ago, and we realized that once they get big, they look like two of the same kinds i already have, so well be bringing those already, and they are mounted, so well see what i can do with the other ones. xenia, ill just leave on the rock i chip off, but what happens at the swap, i mean when we are picking what we want at the swap, dont you think they will all pretty much be closed or not the color they will be when in your own healthy tank?kinda like a surprise when you get it into your tank? haha
 
[quote author=ReeferGirl link=topic=4249.msg51103#msg51103 date=1217979341]
how long can they be exposed to air before damage starts happening? i really dont want to hurt them!
[/quote]
As long as you don't forget them and leave them on top of your tank over night they should be fine, so yeah work for an hour or more and they'll probably not have any damage other than maybe a bit of stress

next question- how long can the xenia be exposed to air while im chipping away at the rock to get all the pieces off?
Click to expand...
Corals are pretty damn resilient when it comes to being out of water. If anything what will happen is the xenia will kind of turn into a slimy mess. It'll be fine, it'll just slime up really good.


Ok note to self, Phong would rather have 1/2 frag of GSP than 4 polyps of AoG zoas...
 
LMAO Mike .. 4 polyp of AoG is pretty good for a frag ;D .. I have seen people brought 1/2 frag of wavehand and 1" GSP. For new reefer that is ok but someone who sell "high end" stuff on RC, that is just wrong ::) ..
 
thanks guys- i think ive got it down. my boyfriend is fragging out our nuclear green zoas right now with a chisel, and i will be taking out some xenia shortly. do you recommend that when i go to chop the xenia off the rock, that i put it in little containers with holes in it, so they arent flying all over the tank?
 
For xenia, if you have more time/ for next time, it is best just to place small pieces of rock next to it and within a week they stretch and attach to the new rock and split from the mother colony all on their own.
 
Other advice, a bit late mind you, you might want to wear some eye protection when fragging any sort of zoas/palythoas. Last thing you need is a squirt of juice right in your eye, that'll ruin your day.
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=4249.msg51166#msg51166 date=1218037859]
Other advice, a bit late mind you, you might want to wear some eye protection when fragging any sort of zoas/palythoas. Last thing you need is a squirt of juice right in your eye, that'll ruin your day.

[/quote]

I've taken direct shots! Luckily I'm a glasses wearer.

I also get a light burning sensation on my finger tips after fraggin', but I've never lost a finger ;)
 
Wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards for fragging zoas. No need to get exposed to possible palytoxins.

De-slime your xenia before packing them on swap day so they don't pollute the packing water:

- Expose the xenia frag to air for about a minute.
- Rinse with some tank water.
- Pack in a container with a decent amount of water and some air space.
 
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