PROPAGATION
- Thread starter lotsofloo
- Start date
With zoas, use a razor blade/exacto knife and cut between the polyps, then use the blade to carefully cut under them between the rock/plug they are on and the base. Once you have them cut off put a dot of super glue on a frag plug and stick the zoas to it.
Mushrooms, they spread fast enough on their own. You can cut them in pieces, making sure to get a piece of the center on all parts you cut, and it will regrow, but never actually known anyone to do that because they grow fast enough.
Brain coral.. I wouldn't attempt it, but usually a band saw is the method of cutting/fragging those then dipping in something like iodine to stop infections from setting in. Brains, scolymias, fungias, all those large one giant mouth LPS corals scare me to frag.
Mushrooms, they spread fast enough on their own. You can cut them in pieces, making sure to get a piece of the center on all parts you cut, and it will regrow, but never actually known anyone to do that because they grow fast enough.
Brain coral.. I wouldn't attempt it, but usually a band saw is the method of cutting/fragging those then dipping in something like iodine to stop infections from setting in. Brains, scolymias, fungias, all those large one giant mouth LPS corals scare me to frag.
I would agree... Cutting something like an open brain coral is not only scary, but somewhat risky. If the specimen is not in ideal health, it can be even riskier. I'm not about to try it with any of ours.
As for growth rates, those will vary. There's quite a bit of variation from tank to tank as far as conditions go, which is why it's not uncommon to see certain things grow faster in some tanks and slower in others. Generally though, open brain corals grow kind of slowly. Mushrooms will grow relatively fast. The various zoas / palys grow at differing rates. A small frag (3 - 5 polyps) of one zoa / paly variety might put out multiple new polyps each week, while the same size frag of a different zoa / paly might put out only 1 - 2 new polyps a month.
As for growth rates, those will vary. There's quite a bit of variation from tank to tank as far as conditions go, which is why it's not uncommon to see certain things grow faster in some tanks and slower in others. Generally though, open brain corals grow kind of slowly. Mushrooms will grow relatively fast. The various zoas / palys grow at differing rates. A small frag (3 - 5 polyps) of one zoa / paly variety might put out multiple new polyps each week, while the same size frag of a different zoa / paly might put out only 1 - 2 new polyps a month.
Ace, you mention that the mushrooms spread quickly. I have a couple brown mushrooms and they aren't growing or spreading. what would slow down the growth of the mushrooms? Thanks
Brown mushrooms? Sounds like you should be thankful they are not spreading then. 
As for making them spread quicker, simplest thing I have done to ricodias inside the tank is take a razor blade and just put a couple slices/cuts into the mushroom. You don't have to take it out and cut it completely, just cut it to stress it and it will usually spread (learned this one by mistake, was trying to just cut mushrooms out of my tank and the ones I just sliced up but left on the rock grew back into 10 mushrooms out of one within a month.)
As for making them spread quicker, simplest thing I have done to ricodias inside the tank is take a razor blade and just put a couple slices/cuts into the mushroom. You don't have to take it out and cut it completely, just cut it to stress it and it will usually spread (learned this one by mistake, was trying to just cut mushrooms out of my tank and the ones I just sliced up but left on the rock grew back into 10 mushrooms out of one within a month.)
Brown mushrooms? Sounds like you should be thankful they are not spreading then.
yes brown, they looked nice in the store when I got them. They looked a little furry, I have had some greens also in the past that just didn't do much growth. Is there an optimum location in the tank for them as for water flow & lighting?
OgreMkV
Father of Earth's Next Emperor
Mushrooms (in my experience) tend to move to find where they are happiest. They'll stretch their 'foot' until they get to a new spot and the foot will be left behind and grow into a new shroom. I've gone from 2 to 8 in less than 6 weeks. One mushroom is just working its way around the edge of the rock leaving baby shrooms behind it.
With most softies, the flow should be good, but not so much they are getting pummeled (constant lifting up and folding over due to current).
Lighting, I'm running a single 96W PC bulb and I'm about to start selling the purple/blues because there are so many now.
With most softies, the flow should be good, but not so much they are getting pummeled (constant lifting up and folding over due to current).
Lighting, I'm running a single 96W PC bulb and I'm about to start selling the purple/blues because there are so many now.