Cutting up a colt coral

[Anonymous]

I have a very large colt coral that is taking over it's side of the tank. It seems to have two distinct sections, one of which makes up one third of the total coral.

I want to cut that section off and sew it onto a rock to sell it when it attaches.

I have sliced up mushrooms and glued them to rocks before, but the slime and tissue that a colt gives off just from being bagged for a few hours worries me that it will give off a lot of slime and tissue when I cut it.

Should I worry about this affecting my tank and do the whole opperation in a bucket (rinsing the coral before putting it back in the main tank), or should I just put in fresh carbon and slice away?


Thanks,

 

[liquid]

FYI there's a couple of good threads on cutting up colt coral in both our Coral Prop forum and in our library. To link in a good speaker we had a year or two ago on #reefs: http://www.reefs.org/library/farmertodd

Honestly my colt just drops buds like crazy so I just glue them on with superglue. Cutting it with a clean razor blade and then rubberbanding it to rock is also another way to do it.

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I have not had any luck with the rubberband method. Colts are not as firn and other leathers and the rubber bands seems to cut right through them. I would look at lightly securing the colt to a rock with dentalfloss (unflavored ofcourse) light fishing line, or wedding vail (wal mart craft dept) I don't have much sucess with softies and superglue. A sharp ravor blade would be best for colt. A dull one would probably mush it.

 

[Anonymous]

I planned to sew it to the rock with fishing line, as you said.


To glue a soft coral, I let it sit in the sand in a low current area for a few days and it grabs on to some sand grains. The the glue will hold the sand grains to a rock long enough for the coral to grip the rock. Works great in mushrooms.

 

[Anonymous]

Make sure it is not tighter than just what it takes to keep it in place. All of the colts I have tried I end up putting to much pressure on them and I end up with colt mush.

 

[Steven]

I've had success using cable ties to hold leather coral frags in place. Tighten the tie just enough to hold the coral to the rock, but not so tight as to squish it.

 

[Bobzarry]

Plastic tooth pick and rubber bands always worked for me. The thing is not to aply too much presure with the rubber bands....just enough to loosely hold the tooth pick in place. In about 2 weeks the coral is usualy holding itself strongly enough to the rock to remove the tooth pick and rubber bands.




Bob

 

[Anonymous]

I came here looking for the same information for the same reasons.

The question I have is how to cut it. do I simply lop off a couple of branches and try to get it tied perpendicular to a base?

Should I split it vertically where it looks like it would make a natrual split?

Also, I have som very flat rocks that I have cleaned up (like slices of rocks) would these make good bases for the clippings (frags whatever)

 

[Anonymous]

When I frag my leaters I just hack off a piece. It is best to use a sharp cutting device. The cleaner the cut the better it is for the animal.

 

[Anonymous]

I came here looking for the same information for the same reasons.

The question I have is how to cut it. do I simply lop off a couple of branches and try to get it tied perpendicular to a base?

Should I split it vertically where it looks like it would make a natrual split?

Also, I have som very flat rocks that I have cleaned up (like slices of rocks) would these make good bases for the clippings (frags whatever)

I don't worry too much if the frag is perpendicular to the base or not. The coral will orient itself vertically pretty quickly.

 

[Anonymous]

I just noticed this thread pop up and wanted to add that the colt coral in question contracted some kind of infection when I cut it in half. Both parts disintegrated! I barely was able to remove the larger chunk before it could nuke my tank. Little bits of colt coral floated all over the place and burned holes in some of my other corals. It was a very scary experience, but the tank took it well.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to jump in to this late...
LFS suggested that cut colts are prone to infection, and that he blast the cut area with a bit of iodine. Seemed reasonable to me.

Sorry to hear about you lost colt, but thanks for posting the experience.

 

[klayko]

I cut my colt all the time. I use a razor blade to cut it. I secure it with a toothpick and I dose iodine to the tank immediatly after. I have heard many people losing large colts and their tanks because of a poor cultivating experience. My experience has taught me to cut pieces no longer than 6 inches and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I cut my colt all the time. I use a razor blade to cut it. I secure it with a toothpick and I dose iodine to the tank immediatly after. I have heard many people losing large colts and their tanks because of a poor cultivating experience. My experience has taught me to cut pieces no longer than 6 inches and you shouldn't have a problem.

This WAS my only poor cultivating experience. :wink:

That coral might have lived, but MY experience tells me to remove and discard anything that looks like it might be fixin to nuke the tank....which is why this story ends with a dead colt coral and not a dead reef. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

I came here looking for the same information for the same reasons.

The question I have is how to cut it. do I simply lop off a couple of branches and try to get it tied perpendicular to a base?

Should I split it vertically where it looks like it would make a natrual split?

Also, I have som very flat rocks that I have cleaned up (like slices of rocks) would these make good bases for the clippings (frags whatever)

I don't worry too much if the frag is perpendicular to the base or not. The coral will orient itself vertically pretty quickly.

Thanks, I have been waiting a while for that

 

[fishgills]

I agree with klayko, a friend has a huge one and does the same thing with no problems.
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