removing coral from rock *frag advice*

[Ram_Puppy]

H
Hey All, I have a couple specific questions:

Tomorrow I have a friend coming over and we are moving a 110 gallon into my apartment, after I get it setup, I will be moving the contents of my 30 gallon (the one that is overheating) into the tank.

I have decided I want to remove all the frags that are on my main piece of live rock and put them as plugs on some egg crate until such time as I move everything into the 115 cube in a few months. I am basically doing this for a couple of reasons, 1 is that the 175 watt metal halide I have won't have enough punch in the 110 tall on the bottom, so to keep the SPS alive, They gotta come off. The Trumpet coral and hydranophora should be easy enough, but the millapora has started encrusting the rock, should I just break the rock? or should I frag the milliporia, it's a little bigger in circumfrence than a raquet ball right now.

Also, I have some pom pom xenia that has about eight colonies, can I just 'rip' a colony off the rock? are they tough enough to handle that? or should I razor it off?

[Ram_Puppy]

oh yeah, I am probably going to remove all the xenia, I have heard scrubbing the area they were growing on with a toothbrush should keep them from coming back there? will also be removing an encrusting montiporia.

Advice on how to get my anemone off the glass and into the new tank would be welcome as well. he's wedged himself between the mag pump on my remora and the back wall of the tank.

[donniekim]

if you walk your fingertips around and around the foot of the anemone til it eventually will let loose!
Also you could place the corals high in the new tank so penetration would not be so much of an issue.
Good Luck w/ your move and transition!
Donnie

[Ram_Puppy]

the plan is to put the corals on a piece of egg crate, I want them off the rock as this tank is temporary, and in the new tank, I will probably want to spread them out anyhow. thanks for the anemone info!

[scuba_steveo]

Ram, I have done most of these frags with good results.
It would be best if you can take the rock out that the milliporia is on and cut it. If not cut the milliporia off at the base and mount it were you want. But cutting the rock that it is on is best.
Pom-Pom: Cut them low and then stick a tooth pick through the base. Put the xenia on a rock and rubber band the toothpick to a small rubble rock. In a few days when it has attached itself to the small rubble rock you can remove the rubber band and toothpick. Yes, you need to scrub the rock where the xenia was.
You can easily get an anemone off the glass. Getting it off of a rock is hard. Move all of the hardware around it and just get a sharp razor and scrape him off the glass.
Hope this helps.

[Ram_Puppy]

thanks steve! Brian will be here in 10 minutes to move the 110 in, I figure a few hours to get it full of water, another 12 to get the salt water aged, and a couple hours dinking around with PVC, egg crate, and zip ties for the pluming and structure of this 'temporary home'... I should be moving critters in this time tomorrow. It will be such a relief not to cringe at the tank every time I walk by knowing the heat is out of conrtol... I guess I can be thankful only my anemone and one shroom have expressed their dissatisfaction.. I am sad I will probably lose the shroom, I can't se a shred of zoaxthelle left in it, but the anemone has a nice pale green coming back in, and of course, the tips have remained rose colored the entire time.

[blueboy]

i prefer a credit card to the razor for getting anemones and softies off glass. it doesn't actuallt cut them, just peels them off nice and clean.