Scolymia fragging

[Jarob]

I have come across a few scolymias and my collection has grown to 5 total scolys: Two bleeding apple scolys, a war paint scoly and two red scolys.

With all of these I decided I could afford to try and frag one of them up, into three maybe four pieces. Im pretty sure I will frag one of the red scolys. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on this? Currently the one I want to frag has some tissue recession (which is how I got it) and is recovering nicely and should be fat and fluffy again within a month or two which is when I will frag it. Im assuming the best method for this is the use of a wet tile saw. Correct?

Let me know what you think!

Jarob

[Big_Pun]

band saws are great, you should go talk to the guys at gcreef ask them for tips see if they have done lps, they also have a nice band saw, but i dont kow if you can use it, but still im sure they have tips to help you out. i believe a tile saw should work also

[hobogato]

like chris said, the band saw would probably be a better choice because it will make a finer cut and wont heat up as much as a tile saw.

[aquasport24]

I don't if you know already but make sure the frag has a piece of mouth with it. Start feeding it once it healed up.

[Reefer4ever]

Do be sure to get a piece of the mouth with each frag. Also, for the calcium carbonate skeleton, it will take FOREVER for it to grow from a pie piece to the full pie. Take some before and after pictures of the victim. Be sure to include what torture device you'll be using! Good luck with this fragging!

[Jarob]

Yes a piece of mouth per frag for sure. I asked Michael and he said I could use their saw so that will be great. Ill be feeding him a ton, every 2 or 3 days until then and after too to make sure he is extremly fat and healthy.

The whole thing will be documented. Any possible ways to kind of "recreate" the calcium carbonate skeleton for them? Perhaps cut a small round rock with a quarter of it missing and epoxy the frag in the missing section? Kind of a rock skeleton..

[Reefer4ever]

I've thought about that too. It may work if you use rock, that way the coral can cover up the rock and have a rounder look faster.

[Jarob]

Im gonna use this oppertunity to experiment some with different techniques to speed up growth. If you have any ideas please post them on here!

[Reefer4ever]

I know you've already said this, but make sure you record all the data. Scolys aren't a typical coral that one would frag, due to they are a single mouthed LPS coral and each one is around 100-300 dollars, depending on the type. Seeing as you have five, this is a great chance to try this! I bid you good luck and happy fragging!

[ballardjr2000]

I read in the marine a reef they basically took a band saw and cut the scoly in 4's making sure to get the mouth with each cut HOWEVER they did NOT recommend CUTTING it in 4's cause of making sure you got the mouth they did say cutting one in half was easy just cut with saw keeping it cool and allow to heal the article made it look really easy which is wierd cause they are so expensive.

[Jarob]

Yea I decided already to go into thirds. Cut it in half, then one of those halves will be cut again. Im really thinking this idea of "chiseling" out a hole or space for the frag in a rock will really speed up the growth. Ive read reports where the tissue itself will form a circle and heal really quick, but wont look normal because the lack of skeleton, so if it has the rock surrounding it the actual polyp can grow rather quickly.. Makes sense to me..
The tissue itself grows quick according to coral standards, I bought a scoly with almost NO tissue or color, it was about the size of a dime on a skeleton that was the size of plum for lack of a better analogy and the tissue is extending over the skeleton and fully and brightly colored up in about 2 to 3 months time with very little feeding. This gives me hope to discover new propagation techniques for these types of corals, something I plan on studying with my degree in the future.

[StevenSeas]

i would think another possibility would be to get a large frag disk and cut out a shape for the skeleton of the scoly and attach the skeleton in the slot formed

[Jarob]

Nice idea but it would need to be large enough. Is there anything out there composed of similar compounds as a lps skeleton?

[StevenSeas]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/coral-frag-disks-15pc-large-1-5-oceans-wonders.html

those have a 1 1/2 inch top, so decently large, but idk how big your scoly is. and made of calcium sand, close to its skeletal structure

[Mr Cob]

looking forward to pics when you do it all Jarob. Would be great to add the documentation to the frag exchange library.

[Jarob]

Ok I keep making progress on my decisions. Since the coral needs to grow and heal for another month or two anyways Im going to make my very own skeletons. Using Mr. Wilsons DIY rock method on RC I can exactly recreate a scoly skeleton with the exact dimensions and a space in the center for the frag. It needs a month or so to cure and leech so this is a perfect oppertunity to play around with some DIY skeletons!! Im getting more and more excited about this.

[kkiel02]

In REEF magazine a couple months back they had a whole article about this. The author saw greater survivability with the band saw as, like ace mentioned, the blade did not heat up. Take your time and it sounds like you have most things covered. The ones in the magazine actually healed pretty quick. Oh and the author said they were getting about 90% survivability.

[txmaverickmh]

I have the diamond band saw ready!!!! Get over to GC Reef and let's cut that sucker!!!!

[Jarob]

Its gonna be a month! Im getting the supplies and making the skeletons on sunday! While I'm at it im going to make a LARGER skeleton for one of my bleeding apples whos tissue extends about an inch PAST its current skeleton, maybe it will give it something to grow onto!

[jrsatx20]

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/downloads/pdf/version11.pdf