Fraggin up Z's & P's question...

[ryangrieder]

quick question for those of you who constantly frag up your z's & p's. when you have say a plug with 10 or so heads on them, how do you cut off and re-glue single heads or say 2-3 heads? when i take and pick up a frag, and they close up, all the heads are so close, or the base is so close to the plug or the head is short, and dont feel i would be able to break it apart without physically taking a dremel and cutting up the plug. whats some tips you guys have when cutting up single heads?

i usually just take the plug out of the water, take a razor blade and try to scrap a few off, but it never goes well...

 

[PolandSpring]

i use a scalpal and try my best, if theres no way to cut the polyps you are gona have to wait until they grow alittle more and then you can try again.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

You could always wait until you have a coral at a size worth fragging. At 10 polyps there isn't really much of a base to start tearing through, it's easier if you let it grow a bit and the base is more spread out. I use a pen cap that I shave down into a wedge and it just raises the tissue right off the substrate easily without damaging the polyps. Corals do grow faster when they have some size to them since there are enough in the colony that they have excess energy they can put into growth rather than survival. I'm assuming the goal is to make a few bucks since I doubt 10 polyps is taking up too much space?

 

[ryangrieder]

That's a cool idea. Actually, I want to frag up some things to trade with a few friends, but the problem is is that so many new heads grow so fast that they grow and flatten out onto my frag rack, or the holes I made into rocks for plus, they grow out onto the rocks and I cannot reach the plug and pull it out without killing a bunch. Like my magicians have 14 heads on them, they are now growing on the side of the plug, and 1-2 are not half on the plus and half on the rock. I wanted to cut 3 or so off to trade to my buddy but they are so close. I'll try to snap a picture to show you what I mean...

 

[Pallobi]

i second the use of a scalpel, along with maybe some bone cutters to help cut the plug or rock... myself i use a razorblade... but the z's and p's i frag, i grow on ceramic tiles... i take them out of the water, dab them with a towel so they close up, the jus use the tip of the blade and trace between whatever zoas i want to take off, i then jus slide the blade under the selected polyps, and the entire polyp(s) come right up along with pretty much all the tissue, so the damage they take is very minimal... i then add them to a frag plug with a very small dab of reef glue, and within hours they are opening up and starting to attach themselves physically to the surface of the plug, so the glue pretty much acts as only a temporary connection... imo, you never wana use much glue at all, and by not much, i mean a n extremely small amount... jmo, hope this, along with other opinions shared, helps you out bud...

 

[ed4]

I used to bite off polyps using my teeth, but now I use an Exacto knife.

I also wear rubber gloves & my reading glasses and make my cuts in a little container of water.