Zoos Fragged themselves...

[Airborneguy]

So I knew the time was coming, but I delayed and now I have to learn how to do this quick! My zoos have been flourishing, and now one dropped two heads onto the sand below it. One haed looks fully grown, which is wierd, but they are both sitting there, perfectly opening and seem to be thriving. I think I need to frag them as some are growing under the older ones and aren't getting light.

1. They are the neon greens, so what can I really do with them?

2. How do I frag when there is no mat? These have huge long stalks like I mentioned before. I'll get a pic tomorrow when I do my routine weekly maintence.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

You could probably just cut as low as possible on the stalk and be fine. Might have to wait for the pic to see.

 

[Fuzz16]

cut low as yo can like matt said.
make sure to do this out of the water wit a good razor cause it will release toxins in the water.

then just supergloue then on another rock or rubble...the saltwater will make the glue set in immediatly but will burn the corals till yo dip it in. just a heads up

 

[Airborneguy]

As low as possible meaning give them a long stalk, or as close to the head as possible? I see most Zoa frags are really short or even just the head itself.

 

[Lotus]

I've heard a lot of people use a screwdriver to chisel them off the rock. The rock's a lot softer than you think it will be.

Cutting the stalk off gives a much lower survivability chance than removing the whole polyp.

 

[di0nysus]

yea i just fragged a bunch of my zoas lastnite and used a screwdriver to chisel them off the rock. it works ok but i'd rather invest in some type of drummel.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Could do that lotus, chisel away the rock under them. In any case, get as much of the polyp/stalk as you can. Cut as far away from the head as possible.

 

[paintballer768]

Theres 2 primary ways to frag zoanthids/palythoas. 1 is chisel the rock theyre on, breaking the rock apart, yet fragging them into small colonies. The other is to use a fresh razor blade and cut the stalk. Cut as close as you can to the bottom (where the polyp and the rock meet). Zoanthids have a matt, so its possible to frag multiple polyps at once. My palythoas are moreso individuals with little strands connecting each other on the rock (connecting to the mother), so its hard to frag multiple palys at once. I recommend the chisel method with these.

Also palythoas, their guts will come out and theyre shrivel up, but theyll be fine.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

You could also just stick another rock beside them and they should grow onto it. Then just slice the 2 rocks apart and you have a zoa frag. Sometimes they even split themselves away. Takes a little longer then the other method but much more natural.

 

[Dadstank]

Just a FYI.. like FUZZ said... about toxins.. some zoo's have higher concentrations and some might not have it at all but the toxin is a palytoxin which is one of the most toxic organic toxins known to man...
Here is a link for some info...
http://http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html#0001

There was a thread on RC that told of a guys dog sticking it's nose into the water tub that zoo's had been fragged in and the dog died about 6 hours later.

Use gloves.....

 

[Airborneguy]

I'm off for three days in a few hours, so I am going to try to figure this out. I'm gonna hit the LFs to see if they have the plugs and glue and then get to work. Mine also have the long stalks, so I'll probably have to cut them. They are spreading onto other rocks, but mostly growing under each other, cutting off light from the ones on the bottom.

How long can they stay out of the water? I was reading an article posted by Lotus, and think I have the procedure down, but I am still nervous about that part of it.

 

[Lotus]

They can stay out of water for a few minutes at least. I usually keep a bowl of tankwater there to keep them in while I'm working. It just makes me feel safer to do that.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/saltwater-general-discussion/52894-fragging-zoas.html Same process for the most part.

You'll have no problems. And even then, zoas are very forgiving. One thing to watch out for with the long stalks, and even short stalks. Make sure your blade is pretty sharp, when you start to cut into them not only will they retract some but they kind of bend over (imagine trying to cut very puncture resistant rubber or something) so you don't want your blade slipping and slicing them up high.

Just take your time and you'll be good.

 

[Airborneguy]

Okay, I made 4 frags today. One is a break off I was able to do of about 5 polyps, and the other 3 consist of 5-8 polyps glued to reef rubble. I decided against going with the plugs since they stick out until the polyps spread. I'm going to see if they open up and then take some pics so you guys can critique me! I'm also having problems with my computer, which doesn't really help me much....

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice glad things went ok.

 

[Airborneguy]

Correction, the break off frag was 10+ polyps.