Where to frag?

[willis]

Anthony,
Love the book! I know why the binding is like it is, it's so you can eat a bowl of cereal and not have to worry about losing your page:lol:
On to the question, I hopefully am going to attach a pic of my acro. yongei (slimer), and was wondering exactly where would be the best place to start off fragging this thing? Hopefully you can help me out.Thanx in advance!

[Anthony Calfo]

Cheers, my friend :)

Ha! Correct about the comb spine. Like so many other handbooks intended to be read and reread (Humman's fantastic ID set, eg), the flat splay was indeed intentional. A paperback that thick would never hold up to such reuse and a hardcover would still not lay the same and be too expensive for many folks. At least for a first release/pressing. :D

As far as location for fragging, there are fewer "rules" for scleractinians. Affect on water flow (in and around the colony) and aesthetics are bigger influences than any health concerns. If you like most aquarists are using static lighting (non-moving, as in tracks for lamps or natural sunlight), then I would look for a convenient lower or interior branch that will ultimately be starved of light in time.

If you are fairly new to it all, though, just make it easy on yourself and prune an asymetrical outside branch and make the break somewhere back near the "node"(crook/fork) of a branch- like pruning a plant... if only for aesthetics again.

The frag could literally be a 1/4" and still survive (as many will attest), but it would be safer to take a fragment closer to 3" long to improve chances of survival.

Do take some pics before and after the fragging and post them if you can :)

Kind regards,

Anthony

[willis]

Anthony,
Thanx for your advice. I ended up taking about 5 frags off the little guy. I can't take a picture right now as the lites are off for the nite. I found out that when you frag something like this yongei that everywhere I took a cutting, there are now 3 or 4 new branches starting. This is just flat neat. Do all acros do this when fragged? If they do, what a way to build a nice little bush. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow and get them to you.

Thanx for your advice,again.
Charlie

[Anthony Calfo]

It is so neat, isn't it, my friend? ! Way cool.

Not all respond to such pruning the same. But many/most do. It really is much like terrestrial gardening when you pinch a bud to force new shoots/branches/buds.

Glad to hear of the success :D

Happy reefing :)