Fragging Blastomussa wellsi

[CD]

Just wondering if anybody has any good online sources for procedures on fragging Blastomussa wellsi. We've got three different color variations going in our tank right now, and I really need to get some info so I can start fragging. Any references or advice would be appreciated :)

Wendy

[R_S_C]

bump...me too

[pickle311]

sign me up for some of those frags please, I really want one of the deep red ones with the bright green center. Do you have that?

[R_S_C]

ive got these
http://www.maast.org/albums/R_S_C/DSC01985.sized.jpg

and these
http://www.maast.org/albums/R_S_C/IMG_0044.sized.jpg

[CD]

sign me up for some of those frags please, I really want one of the deep red ones with the bright green center. Do you have that?


Yes...Currently we have the deep red with bright green centers, then the paler greenish red with bright green centers(this is what we have the most of)...*and* (my personal fav) deep red with aqua blue centers. Since I've gotten these, I've been hand feeding them a mixture of cyclopeeze and rotifers (about every fourth day - when I feed my zoos) and they have really started multiplying. I've noticed three more heads appear on the aqua blues within the last *week*!

pickle - send me a PM, and I will save it in my "in-box" to contact you when the frags are ready. I don't have any reef plugs, but can start them on LR rubble or clam shells. LMK if you have a preference

greenmako - that would be awesome - especially if there are some "visual aids"...thank you!

Wendy

[samiam_orami]

Its a lot easier than you might think ....

take a hammer and chizel and whack your wellsi or merletti in frags.
try to break up your frags to maximize the number of polyps that are full and intact.

Save every little piece of frag. I used locktite superglue gell to glue every little piece of frag onto a base or the reef itself.

almost every little chunck of frag I had (be it a whole polyp or not) recovered and grew ....

good luck ....
fragging is a magical experience .... from one come many ;-)

samiam

[samiam_orami]

If I'm not mistaken .... the pics in Russels post are frags from my tank ;-)

[CD]

Oooooooo...R S C - you've got the solid REDS!!!! (drool, drool)

Wendy

[360Reef]

Wendy if you need any help fragging anything let me know, I have alot of experience.

-Greg

[R_S_C]

yep, SAM all mine came from your tanks. started as about 3-4 heads and continue to grow.

[CD]

take a hammer and chizel and whack your wellsi or merletti in frags


Thank you Sam...

Heheh...I'm hoping to find a more gentle way. I guess I should clarify what the colonies are on - the deep red with green centers is on what looks like three clam shells glued together in the center. The others are attached to a statue of Budda - which I do not want to destroy by hacking at the statue (I like it!). I was trying to see if maybe I used a razor knife and scraped *really* close to the rock statue's surface, if it would come off without destroying the blasto? And if I am able to get some off the statue, can the base of the blasto be glued (I have some of the super glue gel) directly onto the rock? IOW, would the glue harm the blasto if it went directly on it?

Wendy

[blueboy]

I was thinking the same thing, "those are the same 3 varieties i have?!", the legacy of samiam.

[Tim Marvin]

I had very poor luck with keeping these corals long term, Then I found SamIam. I have 4 of his and they are growing like weeds!

[CD]

We got the deep red with green centers from TimM, and the rest of my gorgeous collection came from TurboBrett :) (much thanks to both guys!!!)
Yeah, the Budda statue is totally awesome, and I did a total re-arrange of my corals so it could be front and center stage in our display tank. It also has a beautiful acro growing on it too, so I would want to be *especially* carefull in getting some of the Blasto off.

Greg - Thank you VERY much for the offer! I will take you up on that...plus you live really close by :)
Would you possibly be able to show me at our house? Reason I ask, is that the statue is rather large, and I would prefer to disturb it as little as possible. We could give you some for your trouble...Ooooo, and that way, you could also see our set up, and give us some direction on our light set up (400 balast on the way via mail). LMK what you would prefer?

Wendy

[adaminaustin]

Wendy,
Brett got those from SamIAm. Before Sam moved. I really liked budda. Do you have any current pics of it?

If you have any leftovers I'll take some. :D

[samiam_orami]

I was just about to ask about pics of the buddha ;-)

I've got pics from my tank and one from Bretts tank....
I would love it if you posted pics of the buddha so that we can see his travels and growth.

with the statue as a constanct reference, the growth of the corals will be very easy to document ....

yes please ..... post pics ;-)

[360Reef]

Wendy,
I should be off this Thursday and Friday so let me know and we can do it at my place.

-Greg

[CD]

yes please ..... post pics


I'm sure I could talk Chris into posting a pic after he gets home tonight (he's got the hookups for the camera on his computer). I'd be willing to bet there is over 90 heads of Blasto on that Budda now...the main colony starts at almost half way across the front (at the base) and goes alllllll the way around to about the same place in the back of the statue. Fair warning though, the digi we have doesn't take the *best* pics, but you'll be able to get an idea. So Sam - that was originally your Budda? Cool!!!



with the statue as a constanct reference, the growth of the corals will be very easy to document ....


That's the great thing about the digital cameras too. I have been trying to take pics of everything about once a month to try and document growth.

Adam - sure, no problem. Just shoot me a PM so I can save your request in my IN box.
Initially, the frags will (hopefully) be coming off the back of the statue, since a good majority of the ones on the back cannot be seen very well without removing it from the display. I figure I should be able to get at least 6 or 7 frags with 5 or so heads apiece just from the back. The ones that pickle311 wants are on clam shells, but I have way less of those. I probably won't frag any of the blue ones for a little while...I think there is only about nine heads on that one, but they sure are gorgeous.

Wendy

[CD]

Wendy,
I should be off this Thursday and Friday so let me know and we can do it at my place.


Thank you Greg - that is totally awesome of you to offer!! Let me talk to Chris...I'm sure he would like to see how to do this too, and I know he wants to talk to you about lighting. He gets home around 6:30pm, so I'll talk to him and PM you later.

R S C - you may want to come watch too...Greg IS really good at this! Maybe Fri. evening?

Wendy

[samiam_orami]

the one's on the clam shells sound like my offspring as well.
I was glueing the clam shells into "boats" that I glued a small frag of merletti in the center ....

yeah ... it was my experience that the blue ones grow slower ....
but they do grow ;-)

If the oppurtunity presents itself, have Greg (360reef) bring a camera to document the fragging and for posting pics of the buddha ...

There should be 4 buddha statues out there that came from my reef and I would love to see their new homes and see how my children have grown ;-)

Nice to meet you Wendy ;-)

[CD]

If the oppurtunity presents itself, have Greg (360reef) bring a camera to document the fragging and for posting pics of the buddha ...


GREAT idea Sam!! I'll bring the digital camera with me...hmmm...It takes short movies too...hmmmm :skeezy:

As far as the blues...haven't had them long, and they really seem to be taking off growthwise. I guess they like the rotifers/cyclopeeze mix I feed, and I've even seen them grabbing onto some mysis now and then.

Nice to meet you too, Sam!

Wendy

[elm0]

Wendy, put me on your list when you frag these, I would love to get a couple.

[CD]

Greg, would friday after work be good to get together for fragging?
Shoot me a PM and we will discuss what works best.

Everyone, here are the pics that Wendy promised. :D
The colony that you see on the left of the buddha has grown around the back and is about as big as what is seen from the front.

A big thanks to TimM. and Turbobrett- couldn't have done it without you guys.

[GaryP]

I invested in a good cold chisel from Home Depot for fragging those sorts of corals. Its like what a mason uses.

I have been lusting after the deep red blasto in the Hex at Fin-Addict for a while. That's about the only LPS I don't have that is on my wish list. I'm looking for a blasto frag as well.

Gary

[CD]

I'm looking for a blasto frag as well.

Gary

Gary,

Please send us a PM as Wendy is keeping track of requests through PM's so as we frag these, we will remember who was interested.
Thanks.

C

[CD]

Wendy, put me on your list when you frag these, I would love to get a couple.

Got it :)
Hopefully it will be this Friday...will have to wait to hear from Greg though. I wouldn't even attempt this without pointers from an experienced fragger!

Wendy

[360Reef]

Chris and Wendy,
Friday after work is fine with me I guess just give me a call and we can finalize it. It should be fun.

-Greg

[CD]

Chris and Wendy,
Friday after work is fine with me I guess just give me a call and we can finalize it. It should be fun.

-Greg

Totally cool, Greg! We will plan on Fri. PM (7:30ish?) and will give you a ring before we leave the house. I am really looking forward to this ;)
Thank you, and see ya soon!!

Wendy

[dan]

i also have a frag that i bought from samiam and it is doing well. slow growing but nice

[DeAngelove]

Hi Wendy -
I have some of Sam's blastos, too. Can I come watch? The ones I got are really happy and decided to start growing like crazy! :-D PLMK... I could bring those frags for the trade then, too! Let me know. :)

DAB





Wendy,
I should be off this Thursday and Friday so let me know and we can do it at my place.


Thank you Greg - that is totally awesome of you to offer!! Let me talk to Chris...I'm sure he would like to see how to do this too, and I know he wants to talk to you about lighting. He gets home around 6:30pm, so I'll talk to him and PM you later.

R S C - you may want to come watch too...Greg IS really good at this! Maybe Fri. evening?

Wendy

[CD]

Denise -

That would be wonderful!! Maybe meet over here around 6:30 or 7pm (so you have time to check out our display), and then on to Greg's. I think it would be courteous to ask Greg if he minds a few more onlookers, though...Greg?

Wendy

[360Reef]

Fine with me, the more the merrier! Frag donations are always appreciated!lol.

-Greg

[donniekim]

Have yall ever used a dremel on these?

Donnie

[360Reef]

Yeap, a dremel or a chisel is the prefered method. The dremel just gets alot of goo everywhere but works great.

-Greg

[CD]

OK everybody...here are the updates: The fragging went well (Greg did an awesome job), and we managed to come up with six frags. The statue is still in tact, as Greg was very careful...pics to follow (Chris is unloading from the camera to the 'puter as I type). If any of you have seen newly fragged Blasto, you know they look kinda (hehe) 'battered' at first. I am going to let them recover in our tank for about two weeks, then I will PM those that were among the top five to request to come pick up their frags. The reason I say "top five" is that I think Greg should really get one of these (if he wants it) for being so sweet to take the time to do this for us and teach us how to do more frags of the Blasto in the future.
Here is the list I have saved so far:

1. pickle311 - wanted the darker merletti (not what we fragged Sat., to be done once his move to Austin is complete)
2. RamPuppy - wanted the ones w/blue center - to be fragged in Feb. (colony still too small)
3. BA - from this lot, will be ready for p/u in about 10days to two weeks.
4. adaminaustin - ditto
5. greenmako - ditto
6. elmO - ditto
7. GaryP - ditto

Alternates (in case any of the above lose interest):

8. Voodoo
9. goavs21

I know blasto is usually expensive, but I wanted to make sure that we kept this on the lighter end of the spectrum because we have gotten such good deals from other MAAST members (thank you again, Brett & Tim) in the past and want to keep in the spirit of things. In any event, we will be asking between $10. to $15. depending on the size of the frag, as some are bigger than others.
This is some hardy, fairly quick growing Blasto, so I'm sure the people that requested will be happy. If for any reason, any of the named people want to decline, please let me know via PM. Ok, so pics to follow in about 15 minutes...

Wendy

[CD]

As Wendy said, everything went well with the fragging.
Now please keep in mind that these pics were taken yesterday or before the lights came on this morning so these frags are still somewhat unhappy. We will repost pics in a week or so after the frags have had some recovery time.
Here are the pics of the frags and Greg (360reef) doing the fragging.


Pretty much a cut and paste process.

[CD]

great pic's...

Thanks greenmako.


FYI- if anybody wants to frag and needs somebody sitting downstream from the dremel, we have just the man for the job: falcam7. J/K
Thanks for your help and being a good sport Carlos !

[CD]

OK!!! The Blasto frags are healed and actually starting to reproduce already, so they are ready to be picked up...



3. BA - from this lot...
4. adaminaustin - ditto
5. greenmako - ditto
6. elmO - ditto
7. GaryP - ditto

Alternates (in case any of the above lose interest):

8. Voodoo
9. goavs21


Currently, enough of the frags lived and are flourishing to make it through Voodoo on the list... goavs21 - I may still have one for you too. The last frag is still needing some re-coup time...it's going to make it, but it still looks like it could use another week to 10 days to be ready. I'll keep you posted, Joe.
GaryP and George are coming to visit us this Sunday, so if any of you San Antonians want him to pick yours up, you may want to get in touch with him ASAP and see if he minds getting it for you. Cash would work best. I think BA and greenmako are both in SA? Anyway, I would really like to get these picked up by next Thurs. or Friday if at all possible (week after Xmas). I am going to PM each of the people on the list later tonight, but if you are on the list and see this first, please LMK.

OH, also...I'm going to be selling one of my pieces of sun coral. If you look in the pics above (DSC01386.jpg) it is the chunk that is lower in the pic. I feed it a mysis/cyclopeeze/rotifer mixture every other night RIGHT after all the lights go out (it starts peeking out during the actinics stage, but is out and hungry as SOON as the last lights go out). I would've put this in the for sale section, but since there is already a pic of it in this thread, I figured I would just mention it here. If someone is interested, but wants to see it with the heads out and ready to feed, I can take another pic of it tonight and post it in the for sale section. LMK. Oh, and I'll let it go for $19. bucks. Its a good sized piece as you can see. ;)

Wendy

[Sunhutch]

Are there anymore Blasto frags? If so I'm interested.

Ken

[CD]

Are there anymore Blasto frags? If so I'm interested.

Ken

Ken,

All frags have been accounted for unless somebody backs out.
In the event that all frags are picked up, Wendy will put you at the top of the list for the next frag session which, hopefully, shouldn't be too far down the road. We will definitely keep you in mind.
Thanks for your interest.

Chris

[Sunhutch]

Ok, Cool. Just let me know

Thanks, Ken

[MikeP]

Next time you all decide to try fragging one I have a blue blastomussa I'd like to make some frags of.

[CD]

Next time you all decide to try fragging one I have a blue blastomussa I'd like to make some frags of.

Yeah, we will most likely try to frag some more Blasto in Feb. or so. We've got some of the blue centered Blasto also...growing well, but wasn't ready to frag yet. Of course now that we are running 400watters over our tank, I suspect everything will start growing faster ;)

Next time we frag, we'll give you a hollar & we can try to apply what Greg taught us on fragging this stuff...it will be fun :-D

Wendy