How do you frag a GSP?

[trainfever]

I have some green star polyps that the matt was hanging off of the rock it was on, I got it that way as a frag. I put it next to another rock and the matt is now attached to both rocks. Would it be OK if I were to just slice the matt between both rocks and have two separate corals?

 

[scoobs]

just grab on to them and rip them off..its np

 

[trainfever]

OK thanks, now anyone with an intelligent answer?

 

[scotts]

I would take an exacto knife or something as sharp and cut them like you talk about so now you have the coral on two rocks. Make sure that they are attached to the second rock. If not you can use a little super gel to attach them to the rock.

 

[trainfever]

When I first got the frag, there was about a 2" by 3" piece of the matt hanging off of the rock. I laid the matt over another piece of rock and it attached to it. Now I want to separate the 2 rocks.

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by trainfever
OK thanks, now anyone with an intelligent answer?

I do it all of the time. Clean razor blade and you are done. If there is a flap left over off the rocks, cut it off and glue to a peice of rubble and you have a frag. GSP is pretty bullet proof.
Mc

 

[scotts]

Yeah that won't be a problem. The only issue would be if they are actually attached to the second rock or just kind of sitting on it. If they are attached and get in the current of say a powerhead, they will stay on the rock. If they are just sitting there a get in the current of a powerhead they may float off like a cheap kite at the beach whose string just broke.

 

[trainfever]

Now they are definitely attached. I picked up the one and both rocks came along.

 

[scotts]

Then it is time to do a little minor surgery.

 

[maxalmon]

I tear them apart all the time, they seem to love it as they start a rapid growth around the tear. You can also use an exacto for more precise cuts.
In the wild, mother nature is not so nice and they get ripped and torn all the time.
This sounds like a good experiment

Tomorrow I'll x-acto cut a piece into a 1" square and another I'll tear to the size of a 1" square, use superglue gel on both (same tube) and then use the same substrate, place them next to each other and measure the growth over a few weeks. This could be very interesting.

 

[janastasio]

you can use superglue for fragging. Are you talking about a special type for aquaruim use???

 

[azfishgal]

Originally Posted by maxalmon
This sounds like a good experiment

Tomorrow I'll x-acto cut a piece into a 1" square and another I'll tear to the size of a 1" square, use superglue gel on both (same tube) and then use the same substrate, place them next to each other and measure the growth over a few weeks. This could be very interesting.
Oh, let me know how this goes, I have some GSP that I will want to frag in the future, so this will be helpful info.

 

[maxalmon]

Originally Posted by janastasio
you can use superglue for fragging. Are you talking about a special type for aquaruim use???
Just so that there is no questions about water/substrate conditions etc..
.
I'm going to use GSP frags from the same mother colony.
.
Same glue for each from the same superglue gel tube along with same amount of glue used
.
A piece of substrate thats broke in half so that each frag has the same base
.
And then each will going into the same tank, same distance from lights and within maybe an inch of each other, that should cover all the variables

 

[ejensen]

Who's Matt?

 

[05xrunner]

Originally Posted by janastasio
you can use superglue for fragging. Are you talking about a special type for aquaruim use???
Nope no special type..i just use the dollar store 3packs of the super glue gel.

 

[trainfever]

thank you everyone for your responses

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by ejensen
Who's Matt?
matt = mat, the purple base material of GSP, or "the mat that the polyps come out of and retreat into"