A less costly way to propagate your reef tank with more coral is by fragging.
Fragging is helping coral to reproduce.
It is also a great way to make sure that you can continue to keep your favorite coral, in case something were to happen to the original colony.
It is also a good way to earn some extra money by selling corals to other enthusiasts or giving them as gifts to friends and family.
Fragging is not a complicated process.
It involves not a lot more than one or two snips of good-sized and acclimatized coral, but be aware that cutting the wrong way will kill the parent coral colony.
A good type of coral to begin fragging with is either mushroom or Zoanthid polyps.
You should wash your hands and rinse them well to prevent contamination from you to the coral.
These species are easiest to work with and are also very resilient.
They are less prone to being harmed by the fragging process.
Some corals, such as Hammer and Brian corals, are best left to be handled by the seasoned reef keepers.
They contain poison that can give you a powerful sting and make you very ill.
Wear gloves to protect your skin from toxins extracted from the coral you are cutting.
Use a pair of clean, sharp scissors or a knife, and have some paper towels on hand.
You will need sections of live rock to attach the fragged corals to.
You should always use reef glue as the adhesive to ensure the proper attachment.
Be cautious with this reef glue, because it is a very strong bonder and can remove your skin if you try to peel it off.
You can get reef glue from most aquarium/reef stores.
Make sure that you work quickly once you slice the coral from its parent colony.
This ensures that it will not die from shock and will remain healthy once it is attached to the live rock.
Be sure to wear gloves when handling Zoanthids as the have a very strong toxin which may kill a person.
In order to frag the Zoanthid polyps, you will only need a butter knife to peel off a few of the polyps.
If it is challenging to peel them from the rock, be careful not to pop them.
There are a couple of solutions if the polyps are stubborn to take.
If there is a hole in the live rock, you can work easier to remove the polyps.
You can also start at the end of the polyps for the easiest removal.
Once you become more experienced, you will be able to remove a whole strip of them.
In order to attach the Zoos to the live rock, place some reef glue on the bottom of them and then gently hold down gently for a couple of seconds to make sure they bond well.
Water on the glue will accelerate the drying process.
Mushroom coral can be fragged in the same way, essentially, but there are of course some differences in how you do it.
You can remove an entire mushroom from its live rock and then separate into smaller sections.
You can normally separate them into four mushrooms.
Do make sure that each section has a mouth part in the center of it.
These parts will then be grown into a full mushroom, which can then be fragged once it is grown and acclimated.
Equally as important as the fragging process is the care of coral once they are fragged.
Make sure that there is enough water flow to the coral or it will die.
This is due to the fact that the toxins are not being swept away quickly enough.
Always make sure that the water quality in your reef tank is optimal.
Once you become more confident with fragging corals, it will be easy for you to enjoy your coral reefs by propagating frags and growing them.
Fragging is helping coral to reproduce.
It is also a great way to make sure that you can continue to keep your favorite coral, in case something were to happen to the original colony.
It is also a good way to earn some extra money by selling corals to other enthusiasts or giving them as gifts to friends and family.
Fragging is not a complicated process.
It involves not a lot more than one or two snips of good-sized and acclimatized coral, but be aware that cutting the wrong way will kill the parent coral colony.
A good type of coral to begin fragging with is either mushroom or Zoanthid polyps.
You should wash your hands and rinse them well to prevent contamination from you to the coral.
These species are easiest to work with and are also very resilient.
They are less prone to being harmed by the fragging process.
Some corals, such as Hammer and Brian corals, are best left to be handled by the seasoned reef keepers.
They contain poison that can give you a powerful sting and make you very ill.
Wear gloves to protect your skin from toxins extracted from the coral you are cutting.
Use a pair of clean, sharp scissors or a knife, and have some paper towels on hand.
You will need sections of live rock to attach the fragged corals to.
You should always use reef glue as the adhesive to ensure the proper attachment.
Be cautious with this reef glue, because it is a very strong bonder and can remove your skin if you try to peel it off.
You can get reef glue from most aquarium/reef stores.
Make sure that you work quickly once you slice the coral from its parent colony.
This ensures that it will not die from shock and will remain healthy once it is attached to the live rock.
Be sure to wear gloves when handling Zoanthids as the have a very strong toxin which may kill a person.
In order to frag the Zoanthid polyps, you will only need a butter knife to peel off a few of the polyps.
If it is challenging to peel them from the rock, be careful not to pop them.
There are a couple of solutions if the polyps are stubborn to take.
If there is a hole in the live rock, you can work easier to remove the polyps.
You can also start at the end of the polyps for the easiest removal.
Once you become more experienced, you will be able to remove a whole strip of them.
In order to attach the Zoos to the live rock, place some reef glue on the bottom of them and then gently hold down gently for a couple of seconds to make sure they bond well.
Water on the glue will accelerate the drying process.
Mushroom coral can be fragged in the same way, essentially, but there are of course some differences in how you do it.
You can remove an entire mushroom from its live rock and then separate into smaller sections.
You can normally separate them into four mushrooms.
Do make sure that each section has a mouth part in the center of it.
These parts will then be grown into a full mushroom, which can then be fragged once it is grown and acclimated.
Equally as important as the fragging process is the care of coral once they are fragged.
Make sure that there is enough water flow to the coral or it will die.
This is due to the fact that the toxins are not being swept away quickly enough.
Always make sure that the water quality in your reef tank is optimal.
Once you become more confident with fragging corals, it will be easy for you to enjoy your coral reefs by propagating frags and growing them.
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