Fraggin SPS

mysis

mysis

AC Members
Oct 4, 2005
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Trimming SPS

I was thinking of fargging some sps, when i get some in 3 weeks or so, i was going to use LR as the base, and then cut the stems off with a concave cutter, as the main coral will heal quicker, i know i don't have to use the concave, but i think it is better. Anyways, i was then going to hot glue gun it to the base of LR. That is the conventional way, does anyone have any other ways to frag sps, (acropora)
 
I and some other people I have known use large wire cutters to propagate acros and such, but theres lots of cutting tools people use. What concave cutter are you referring to?

As for glueing frags, I don't use hot glue simply because it can harm the tissue of the frag and possibly bleach it as far as I know. Even super glue heats up before it sets so requires a fast dipping of the new frag, so I prefer to use putty.

Putty leaves me with a nice mound at the base for my corals to cover up and looks a bit more appealing to the eye in my opinion. But again, these are personal opinions on this matter and I am sure there's some who would go about it different than I would.

I also like to glue mine to small rock frags with lots of coraline growth so algae wont get near the new cutting because this too may harm the sps and invoke a possible bleaching it it were to interfere with base growth.

Maybe someone else can chime in and we can get better ideas or some additions to how we perform our fragging techniques. Good thread started here!
 
I have seen concave cutters at a lfs i went to, it just said on the box "suitable for all SPS coral propagation", not sure what brand they were, about $15. Good idea with the coralline algae on the base rock, it would be very annoying for the brown or green algae to smother the sps.

How much would putty cost you? and how much does 1 tub last for?
 
Funny you should ask about putty. Cost was $9.95 that I bought today to staple a fan to a rock ;)

A small tube should be able to frag out alot of coral, like 40 I would guess or so depending on size of tube. It take 7 minute for it to harden tho and was difficult for me today on a fan because I didnt want to expose it to air, underwater glueing makes for a joy :( But Normal Acro frags and such is very simple to do being they can be removed for a short period.

Hmm, I have never seen a tool for sale for SPS cutting, I would be interested in it. But then again, I can't find a place that sells hard coral frags anywhere in KC, well ok one spot that wants $60 per 1-2" cutting, they did of course sell me a nice clam for only $39, I thought that was really cheap, about a 5-6" one. I was thinking I could find cheaper SPS on the net. So if anyone is selling (or giving away *smiles cutely*) nice colored frags gimme a PM. I am now stocking.
 
Online sounds the way to go, thats a rip for them sps, look at this lfs that i get my frags from $10 ea for acros!!!!!! in Australian dollars aswell, unfortunately they don't ship overseas....

http://www.oceanarium.com.au/CULTURED CORAL/coral_frags.htm

They are getting more in soon, highest price they sell frags for is $15 australian, and they have a wide variety of caught corals aswell, here

http://www.oceanarium.com.au/corals/coral_stock_page.htm


to see images go to here

http://www.oceanarium.com.au/corals/Coral photo album.htm
 
The concave cutter may be the "fragging shears" one sees for sale. They are actually bone shears, but they do the trick nicely, and they're stainless so they take longer to rust.
 
Nice, now I gotta just figure out how I can save with shipping from Austrailia, that and what the exchange rate is on $10 Austrailian, probably comes out to $500 US a frag! lol
 
LOL funny you say that, i asked if they ship to america, unfortunately they don't, because they can not recommend that the coral could get through quarintine, so they don't send to America. An acropora frag would cost you $7.40 US, OH well i suppose it just means more acropora's for me LOL :)
 
You can use any type of cutting shear, and I use superglue gel to attach SPS. You just have to dry off the piece of rock, put the superglue in a crevas or where ever you are going to put the frag. Then hold the frag on the rock, out of the water, for like 10 seconds then continue to hold it in place, under water, for about a min. Keep it out of current for a day or two and its very simple.
 
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