Propagating Blastomussa?

[Hardtwist]

How is it done?


JIM

[mane3215]

Very carefully. As far as I have had experience with them they don't like fragging much. You can use a dremel and try to score into the rock as much as possible then a screw driver and light taps till it breaks. Good luck.

[tooshay]

I was told to put the blasto on a pile of rubble and the babies will start to grow onto it. I have had mine on a pile for a couple of weeks, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :)

[mane3215]

Originally posted by tooshay
I was told to put the blasto on a pile of rubble and the babies will start to grow onto it. I have had mine on a pile for a couple of weeks, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :)


Haha, man that was some wrong info. Do you know how slow blastos grow?

[tooshay]

I have had mine for 6 months, and it has sprouted 6 or 7 little ones already. Maybe I have a "Super Blasto" !! :)

[Quiet1]

Merletti or Wellsi?

Quiet1

[va_reefman]

Must be merletti because wellsi will not grow that fast. You are lucky if you get 1 or 2 polyps per year.

John

[despot101]

My blasto grows very fast. I'm not sure if its merletti or wellsi tho.

How do you tell the difference?

BTW my blasto fragged itself just a few months ago. A small frag dropped off from the main colony and it doing really good on it's own. Has anyone else had this happen?

[Quiet1]

Merletti is a branching type and Wellsi is an encrusting type.

Quiet1

[despot101]

Ohh then mine is wellsi. It doesnt branch out at all. Weird I must just be lucky that mine grows fast. It's not the coolest looking type but I am happy with it.

[tooshay]

Mine is a blastomussa wellsi. The babies are sprouting up underneath the large polyps. They can't be seen unless the polyps contract, then they are visible.

[Quiet1]

Wellsi does not lend itself to fragging very well. Like mentioned above, a motor tool and a chisel are the wmds of choice.

Quiet1

[Flanders]

Not all merletti forms branches.

[despot101]

Here's a pic of mine. It started out as a single polyp about a year ago. This pic is 2 months old also. I need to get a new one taken.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/518/5357DSC01639.jpg

[mane3215]

My merletti doesnt branch, though I have seen some branching.

[heuerfan]

A couple of my wellsi have had babies in the last 6 months, 2-3, but they haven't gotten very big yet. They stay pretty small. Dremel is the best tool and sometimes kitchen scissors help.

Good luck!

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by despot101
Here's a pic of mine. It started out as a single polyp about a year ago. This pic is 2 months old also. I need to get a new one taken.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/518/5357DSC01639.jpg

loooks like merleti to me. nice one too. i'd mount frags of that on branches like thick frag plugs. that's what i did w/ my merleti and they did well. they'd probably mount well on any other rocks but i like the plugs ability to wedge itself in somwere safely.

as far as fragging wellsi, i wouldn't reccomend it unless you have a huge colony in an awkward shape you'd want to be more uniform, or unless you had die off area. propigating wellsi just doesn't make sense.

[marrone]

I've frag a large colony of Wellsi using a screw driver. The colony did have some gaps in between the polyps where I was able to break the rock without hurting any of the polyps. The 2 pieces did well, at least mine did.

I know Blane, from the Sea.org, was fragging Wellsi. He told me he would take a Dremel and cut one polyp off of the main colony. That one polyp would then start to grow a small one right away. Not sure how successful he was with this as he doesn't have any Wellsi for sale and I don't think he has any for awhile.

I've had a couple of Wellsi for a # of years and the polyps are very small and they grow very slow. They also seem to grow in between larger polyps making it hard to frag them off. I also have 3 different colonies of Merleti 2 are branch and the other has grown into a mat type also like a zoo colony.

Michael

[despot101]

MarLooney, how can you tell what kind it is if not by branching/nonbranching? Thanks for the help!

[Anemone]

Originally posted by MarLooney

as far as fragging wellsi, i wouldn't reccomend it unless you have a huge colony in an awkward shape you'd want to be more uniform, or unless you had die off area. propigating wellsi just doesn't make sense.

Why is fragging wellsi any different than fragging Acan lords?

Kevin

[mane3215]

I think he is saying it doesnt make sense like acans because, in 5 months a single or couple polyp frag of acan can very possibily grow to 25 polyps. A blasto at 1 year will still most likely be only one =), or at the most maybe one and 5 babies. Unless you have a super blasto that grows like an animal! Merlettis grow quite well however.

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by mane3215
I think he is saying it doesnt make sense like acans because, in 5 months a single or couple polyp frag of acan can very possibily grow to 25 polyps. A blasto at 1 year will still most likely be only one =), or at the most maybe one and 5 babies. Unless you have a super blasto that grows like an animal! Merlettis grow quite well however.

werd. :bum:

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by despot101
MarLooney, how can you tell what kind it is if not by branching/nonbranching? Thanks for the help!

from what i was told by brahm, and he's madd into Blastos, all merleti branch. i think it's that some don't branch out as far as others do, those might be confused w/ encrusting. from what i've seen w/ my own merleti is that it branches and when the branches touch a rock they encrust on to it. so it's kinda half & half. those are probably the type that get called ecrusting. i know i'll recieve a lotta opposition from this, cause a lotta ppl say they have non-branching merleti... i'm just voicing my opinion.

[mane3215]

Brahm is on crack =). I have two seperate merlettis and both are encrusting. Nothing about them branching. THe ones that I have seen branching have crazy long branches.

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by mane3215
I think he is saying it doesnt make sense like acans because, in 5 months a single or couple polyp frag of acan can very possibily grow to 25 polyps. A blasto at 1 year will still most likely be only one =), or at the most maybe one and 5 babies. Unless you have a super blasto that grows like an animal! Merlettis grow quite well however.

wellsi... may grow 5 babies around a single polyp in a year if you're lucky.

my acan. grew 5 babies around a single polyp in less than three months...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/MarLooney/019.jpg
and the single wasn't even an adult when i first glued it down. so from adult size to 5 babies was probably more like two months.

another pic showing all the small polyps around it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/MarLooney/024.jpg

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by mane3215
Brahm is on crack =). I have two seperate merlettis and both are encrusting. Nothing about them branching. THe ones that I have seen branching have crazy long branches.

like i said... i expected opposition.

i consider mine branching and it doesn't have "crazy long branches"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/MarLooney/Growth%20Pics/01.jpg
propigated Blastomussa BTW. i used a screwdriver to pry 'em a part.

[mane3215]

Per definition, Merletti is either phaceloid or plocoid. You can see what plocoid is here:

http://krupp.wcc.hawaii.edu/BIOL200/powerpnt/corlanat/sld015.htm

If you can call that encrusting (not directed to you Marlon, but anyone), then you can call my acans encrusting, my favias, and almost all my other lps.

[marrone]

The frag of Merleti that I got was from a colony that had long branches. But once I placed it in my tank it grow out wide without the long branches, that alot of the Merleti.


http://www.manhattanreefs.com/users/00000120/miniBlasto_M.JPG

This is an old picture, as the colony have grow across the rock in the fashion of a zoo colony.

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by mane3215
Per definition, Merletti is either phaceloid or plocoid. You can see what plocoid is here:

http://krupp.wcc.hawaii.edu/BIOL200/powerpnt/corlanat/sld015.htm

If you can call that encrusting (not directed to you Marlon, but anyone), then you can call my acans encrusting, my favias, and almost all my other lps.

your link? is that merleti?
http://krupp.wcc.hawaii.edu/BIOL200/powerpnt/corlanat/img015.jpg

cause this is.
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/images/101-200/Large/107bw-01.jpg

[MarLooney]

Originally posted by marrone
The frag of Merleti that I got was from a colony that had long branches. But once I placed it in my tank it grow out wide without the long branches, that alot of the Merleti.

like i said... probably is branching. same w/ mine. i bet it'd eventually have long stalks but new growth will probably take forever to grow long stalks like that.

[mane3215]

No thats not merleti, but that is a plocoid skeleton, which is one way the merleti can grow. The other way is phaceloid, which is what the picture you posted is. Here is phaceloid:

http://porites.geology.uiowa.edu/database/corals/systemat/efastcsl.gif


Notice, thats branching, so I blieve by definition, and my experience, it can be both.

[MarLooney]

let's see some pics. i know you got 'em.

[marrone]

The new polyps seem to grow out of the polyp that is next to it. So it probably does take along time to grow the long stalks. Also it maybe the placement in the tank which causes it to grow a certain way where in the ocean it needs to grow the long stalks.

[mane3215]

Heheh, of my two merleti? I dont have any =). I am not too fond of them hehe.

[StrongHandsMcGee]

My merleti had 2 polyps when I bought it back in June, now it has 12. However, I've noticed that the braches are very slow to develop, but they are actually branching, not encrusting.

[Jus Reefin]

Originally posted by mane3215
Heheh, of my two merleti? I dont have any =). I am not too fond of them hehe.

Send them to me I love them!!

IME Merleti usually have smaller polyps then Wells and I have never seen a Merleti polyp bigger then approx. 1"-1 1/2" around

[downset]

i have fragged welsi a few times and i have noticable growth in all of my wellsi's that i have had for 6 monthes or more.
In my opinion they take a long time to get "settled" i have a colony that started off as maybee 12 poylps and in a year its easily more than 30 poylps