Fragging Zoas...

[Airborneguy]

First off, I only want to do this because the original piece I bought seems to be a wild-caught specimen, and I don't like how it looks.

The reason I think it is wild-caught is that instead of the heads being close together and attached to a rock, they are all connected to a skeleton of what looks like dead zoas. I tried to get a close up pic, but couldn't get one worth posting. Think of a bunch of fingers of rock, with zoas growing out of them!

I'd like to frag them, and attach them to rocks like all the frags I see are. Can they be cut at the base of the soft part as opposed to being fragged as a group off of a rock (like all the literature describes which I can find so far)?

I'm also going to be very careful about purchasing wild-caught specimens from now on. I'm probably mostly sticking with frags from now on anyway.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Do they have any Mat to them? When i frag my Zoas i try and get as much mat as i can so i don't go cutting into the polyp itself. If that makes sense. I try and scrape them off where they connect to the rock and then reglue that somewhere else. You want to avoide cutting the stalk if possible. And it'd be even easier and better if you could just chip off some of the rock under them.

 

[Lotus]

Yeah, what C-Man says

If you use a scalpel or craft knife, you should be able to scrape off the top layer of rock with the zoas on it. It's much better to do that than to damage the tissue. The rock is surprisingly soft. Cutting the polyps off above the base will result in about a 50-50 survival rate, while removing them with the rock or peeling them off the rock will give you 100% survival (more or less).

Don't forget the goggles and gloves!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Don't forget the goggles and gloves!

Ditto. I must be more diligent about this myself. I usually just figure my normal glasses to be enough but in reality they probably arn't. And i have never worn gloves, though i am looking to get a box of the exam gloves for future use.

 

[zoalover34]

my zoas don't have a 'mat' under them? I was goin to try and frag them but now that i see if u cut the base of the stalk they may die?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Could you get a picture by chance?

Here is a state of the art drawing for a single polyp cut. Basically what you want to do is chop it as close to the rock as possible. Even if that means scraping some rock with it.

And here is my personal example of multipule polyps with a mat. See how they are all still together? Thats a mat.

 

[Lotus]

I got some powderless gloves at the drugstore for about $4. Between those and the Fleet Enema for the plants... it's all a bit weird. Gloves are a must for fragging zoas. They're also good for moving stuff around in the tank. They're better for LPS than bare skin (because the LPS stick to your skin, which isn't good for them).

You definitely need a razorblade, scalpel or craft knife for this. A kitchen knife or scissors won't work. Bone cutters can be used to cut rock off, too.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Lotus where abouts are they in the drug store...like around what section?

 

[TRe]

dont cut the actual zoo but instead scrap it off the rock! the only time i frag my zoos is if i could break a piece of the rock that ther on off.... a flat head screw driver and a hammer will chip the rock pretty easily

 

[Lotus]

Lotus where abouts are they in the drug store...like around what section?

I think they were near the bandages and stuff. They might have been with thermometers and other medical equipment, though. It's a box about 5x5x5" (more or less that size).

 

[Airborneguy]

These two pieces don't have a mat... it's strange, but it must be because they are wild-caught. I'll try my best to get a picture of what I mean tomorrow while I'm off. I have to clean the glass anyway. It's like each one is on an idividual tube... and they are like an inch of more even.

 

[TRe]

not all zoos are the matting type.... i dont understand why u think there wild caught tho

 

[Airborneguy]

I'm just basing that on the way they look, although I didn't know that not all are matting types. I'll get a pic tomorrow to settle this!