Reef nutrition

Need tips on fragging.

The_Lazy_Reefer

Supporting Member
Hey so after 3 years of reefing with massive ups and downs things are looking up for a while and it’s finally time to do some real fragging(not birdsnest). I have a large frogspawn colony, alveopora and fused Goni I want to frag up so I’m reaching out to see if anyone has any do’s and dont’s when it comes to fragging these corals. I have access to a bandsaw so I plan on using that to do it. Thanks!
 
Some photos of the corals on the chopping block
 

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Possibly this torch as well which has finally finished splitting into 2 heads
 

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I would use bandsaw for all.
Just cut and maybe a quick rinse or dunk in container of tank water to remove bone dust.
I used an iodine dip in an elegance once because they are susceptible to infection it seems. Only time I ever did that tho. Have since cut it without and it was fine.
 
Wear safety glasses so when you spray a chunk of gritty tank water at your eye you won't have to rinse it out.
You didn't mention fragging anything where it would matter but any time I hear of a novice fragger I mention this: palytoxin is real. Be educated and be safe.
Clean out the bandsaw before you start (tap water and a clean sponge) to get out any gunk from the last person. Add a bit of salt water from your tank, not RO. Depending on the model it might only need 1/8" or so. More and you'll make a mess for no good reason. If there's water spraying everywhere you have too much water. If you're getting a bunch of buildup you either need to slow down or add just a bit more (assuming the sponges are in even halfway decent shape).

Goni/alveopora is easy with the bandsaw, just don't get greedy and try to do something silly like frag single polyps. It's possible, but highly unadvisable. Remember that the polyp extends down in to the skeleton as well. Not a big deal if its spread on a plate (just cut it in to 3/4" squares and re-mount), but sort of inconvenient if it's a small ball. If it's your first time I'd just go with cutting off a 1" chunk or so, mount it, watch how it heals, then return for more later. There are a lot of bandsaws around here.

As for the euphyllia, bandsaw for anything you can, and a great many tools (screwdrivers, assorted snippers) where you can't. Remember that the skeletons are brittle, and that the tissue extends a bit down in to the branches. Better to cut a bit away from the head and have a bit of stalk left over than get too close and hurt something. I like an inch or two below the lowest external tissue. If you can't get in with a saw go another inch past this (because you often get a really rough cut or the skeleton will split up a bit), snap/clip off the branch, and then go cut the end flat in the bandsaw.

Careful setting heads down on their sides, this can easily damage them. I like to annoy euphyllia a bit before taking them out of the water so that they shrivel up a bit there is less tissue weight to be supported.

Mount anything on the appropriate size tile/plug. My preferred method is clean mostly dry plug (ie brush loose sand off if you got the cheap ones), drop of super glue (thicker is better), tower of putty with a little divot in the top, more super glue in the divot, and then press the entire (padded dry) base of the frag down in to it. The super glue bonds the frag to the expoxy and the epoxy to the plug, and the epoxy surrounds the base of the frag and keeps the glue nice and thin. Let dry for 30 seconds at most, then stick it back in a nearby container of salt water.

The epoxy may make your skimmer go nuts, but putting it in a bowl of tank water (which you'll throw out later) for 5-10 minutes before returning it to your tank will greatly alleviate this. Put the recently fragged coral back into similar conditions it was in pre-fragging for the euphillia, and similar conditions but with calmer flow on any coral that sustains soft tissue damage (ie goni, alveopora, and in the future zoas, chalices, etc., but not the euphyllia assuming you stay far enough down the dead portion of the skeleton).

Dump and rinse (freshwater) the bandsaw after. Remember, bandsaws that don't dry out are a possible transfer mechanism of pests between systems.
 
Sounds pretty straightforward so that’s reassuring. Do you think it would be terrible to instantly transfer the cuts to my frag tank which has close to the same parameters +- a little bit or should I plan on keeping them in the display while they heal which I would prefer not to do.
 
Wear safety glasses so when you spray a chunk of gritty tank water at your eye you won't have to rinse it out.
You didn't mention fragging anything where it would matter but any time I hear of a novice fragger I mention this: palytoxin is real. Be educated and be safe.
Clean out the bandsaw before you start (tap water and a clean sponge) to get out any gunk from the last person. Add a bit of salt water from your tank, not RO. Depending on the model it might only need 1/8" or so. More and you'll make a mess for no good reason. If there's water spraying everywhere you have too much water. If you're getting a bunch of buildup you either need to slow down or add just a bit more (assuming the sponges are in even halfway decent shape).

Goni/alveopora is easy with the bandsaw, just don't get greedy and try to do something silly like frag single polyps. It's possible, but highly unadvisable. Remember that the polyp extends down in to the skeleton as well. Not a big deal if its spread on a plate (just cut it in to 3/4" squares and re-mount), but sort of inconvenient if it's a small ball. If it's your first time I'd just go with cutting off a 1" chunk or so, mount it, watch how it heals, then return for more later. There are a lot of bandsaws around here.

As for the euphyllia, bandsaw for anything you can, and a great many tools (screwdrivers, assorted snippers) where you can't. Remember that the skeletons are brittle, and that the tissue extends a bit down in to the branches. Better to cut a bit away from the head and have a bit of stalk left over than get too close and hurt something. I like an inch or two below the lowest external tissue. If you can't get in with a saw go another inch past this (because you often get a really rough cut or the skeleton will split up a bit), snap/clip off the branch, and then go cut the end flat in the bandsaw.

Careful setting heads down on their sides, this can easily damage them. I like to annoy euphyllia a bit before taking them out of the water so that they shrivel up a bit there is less tissue weight to be supported.

Mount anything on the appropriate size tile/plug. My preferred method is clean mostly dry plug (ie brush loose sand off if you got the cheap ones), drop of super glue (thicker is better), tower of putty with a little divot in the top, more super glue in the divot, and then press the entire (padded dry) base of the frag down in to it. The super glue bonds the frag to the expoxy and the epoxy to the plug, and the epoxy surrounds the base of the frag and keeps the glue nice and thin. Let dry for 30 seconds at most, then stick it back in a nearby container of salt water.

The epoxy may make your skimmer go nuts, but putting it in a bowl of tank water (which you'll throw out later) for 5-10 minutes before returning it to your tank will greatly alleviate this. Put the recently fragged coral back into similar conditions it was in pre-fragging for the euphillia, and similar conditions but with calmer flow on any coral that sustains soft tissue damage (ie goni, alveopora, and in the future zoas, chalices, etc., but not the euphyllia assuming you stay far enough down the dead portion of the skeleton).

Dump and rinse (freshwater) the bandsaw after. Remember, bandsaws that don't dry out are a possible transfer mechanism of pests between systems.
Great advice.

One thing I would add since it isn’t common knowledge, is that cyanoacrylate (superglue) needs water to polymerize (harden). It doesn’t actually “dry” when it hardens, it wets, which is counter-intuitive. This means if you want it harden slower, then dry off everything like described above, but if you want it to go faster leave everything a little wet or get it wet right after you place the frag.
 
Sounds pretty straightforward so that’s reassuring. Do you think it would be terrible to instantly transfer the cuts to my frag tank which has close to the same parameters +- a little bit or should I plan on keeping them in the display while they heal which I would prefer not to do.
Into the frag tank is ok too. In an ideal world the parameters would be close to those of the display.
 
To add on to this, do you guys clean/disinfect between different corals?
I thought I read somewhere that it can help reduce infections, especially with chalices and zoas.

Any thoughts?
 
I don't clean between corals, but I always start a fragging session by wiping out the inside of the bandsaw and putting in new water from the display.

I found using RO or tap when fragging SPS resulted in much higher death rates. not a big surprise given how poorly an RO or freshwater dip would go with SPS, and they do get blasted a bit when fragging.
The person who taught me just added water whenever it got low, but I found changing the water in between, ie not leaving the palytoxin/bacteria soup from a week ago in the saw seemed to help quite a bit.

I don't specifically wash my tools, but I do tend to run some freshwater over them and wipe them dry to cut down on rust.

I don't by any means claim to be an expert, but I've probably made a couple thousand frags in the past few years (about 5 in the last 9 months, but tons in the years prior) and deaths were rare.
 
I don't clean between corals, but I always start a fragging session by wiping out the inside of the bandsaw and putting in new water from the display.

I found using RO or tap when fragging SPS resulted in much higher death rates. not a big surprise given how poorly an RO or freshwater dip would go with SPS, and they do get blasted a bit when fragging.
The person who taught me just added water whenever it got low, but I found changing the water in between, ie not leaving the palytoxin/bacteria soup from a week ago in the saw seemed to help quite a bit.

I don't specifically wash my tools, but I do tend to run some freshwater over them and wipe them dry to cut down on rust.

I don't by any means claim to be an expert, but I've probably made a couple thousand frags in the past few years (about 5 in the last 9 months, but tons in the years prior) and deaths were rare.
A couple thousand frags I think in fact does make you an expert. :)
 
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