goby1 Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 I have a leather coral that really has become to big for my tank and is now shading out my mushrooms e.t.c. I am not sure how to do this i have been told but im not game to do it the first time by myslf from just instructions. Is there anyone in Tauranga who can help or a short movie possibly or a book anything. I beleive that it is a pin cushion leather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goby1 Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 sorry i should have added that i beleive that it is a pin cushion leatherwith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 I sharp knife, lots of flow & maybe a waterchange soon after, send Pies a PM he chopped a monster one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 I helped Pies do his huge one and have done a few myself, you can't really go wrong just use a sharp knife and hack it up. If you want to keep the frags just cable tie them to rocks, they need to be cable tied just tight enough so thare are held in place, the coral will shrink when you are stressing it and if the tie is to tight it will cut into the coral. But if it is too loose the coral wont be held against the rock and it will take longer to attach. I cut chunks off my soft corals all the time for people it usually takes a couple of days for it cover over the area and with in a couple of weeks you cant even see where is was cut. You might want to run some new carbon when you do it because they can release toxins, but I never bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Cutting is the easy part, nothing to it. Getting it to survive afterwards is the issue. All advice given so far is spot on, but my 2 cents would be that after chopping it, do save a few bits and stick them in various locations around the tank so if you lose the origional, you have a good chance of at least one surviving to carry on. To tell if your frags are doing OK, what kills them is bacterial infection, if you see them turning into jelly, that is the infection, either clean it with a good blast of water in a bucket outside the tank so it doesn't spread to the others, or if it's too far gone remove altogether. The new frags should be positioned in decent current to keep them clean. To me anyway, the safest way to frag it would be to chop the "head" right off, so the base can regrow a new one. Then chop the head up as you see fit, & position some of them around the tank. Once they are established if you end up with a few spare you can sell or swap them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goby1 Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 hi guys thanks for your speedy replies i take it a sharp razor blade is the tool of joice and if i cut the head of how far up the stem do i cut it and chopping up the head in to smaller bits how big should the peices be once they are cut up. And my tank is only a Ar620 so if i was to run carbon which i do occasionly do i place the carbon in the filter part or not this is where i usually place it. And after chopping it up how soon would you recomend i do a water change and how much i usually do a quater every three to four weeks as i cant run a protein skimmer ( but im looking at modifing it so that i can.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goby1 Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 sorry as far as cable tying i thought there was a putty of some sort that you could use if so what is it and where do i get it from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Whoa you don't ask much! :lol: If you can remove the leather before chopping that will save the water changes etc, after chopping leave it out to bleed for 1/2 hour in a bucket. But if not a quick chop just 1/2 way up the trunk or whatever seems best, then chop the head up outside the tank. They can be tougher to chop than you would expect, a razor may be too flimsy. I'd use something like a kitchen knife, try to get it razor sharp first. How to use the carbon is just however you think. If it was me I'd carbon heavily, but only for a few hours. Then stop the carbon and let things sort themselves out. Likewise water change just whatever you are comfortable with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 sorry as far as cable tying i thought there was a putty of some sort that you could use if so what is it and where do i get it from. Putty not so good for this cos the frags will expand and shrink. Options are ties, impailing with something like a toothpick, or just wedging somewhere they will stay put, I'd do a bit of all 3 methods to improve your odds. Bear in mind healing is very slow for these things, it can take several weeks for them to attach to a rock properly. I can see though you might end up with a tankload of these things! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 They will also sulk for a considerable amount of time afterwards, so if they look shrivelled up and small, they may be packing a tanty... as long as they don't go slimy as Wasp said they should come right. Mind you, if someone came along and lopped a few bits off you with a knife, I bet you'd sulk too! We had a Toadstool leather that we shifted in the tank, and it sulked for four weeks, looked awful, about a third of it's normal size. Try and get the cable ties without the metal inserts, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 craft knife or box cutter blade works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Plastic pickup sticks. Drill a small hole (to fit the stick in) in the rock you want to attach the coral to. Cut a 5cm length of stick. sharpen one end. Stick the blunt ent in the hole. You can glue it in with hot gun glue if need be. Push your coral cutting on to the stick as far as you can. I have done this with finger corals and they grow down the stick (2-3cm) then move sideways until they are off the stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goby1 Posted November 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 thanks everyone im feeling more confident now. Now i just have to get lots of little bits of coral to attatch the frags to still nervous so if anyone has any more thoughts please add them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 Hi. I would be interested in purchasing a frag of this coral as long as it is suitable for my setup. I will do more research on it but keep us posted on how you do. I dont have any corals in my tank yet and am going to buy some soon. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 There was a post in here somewhere of a video of Eric Born...(?) fragging a whole heap of stuff. Do a search for it. Well worth a watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 Goby how did it go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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