Leather Coral Fragging

[rob.holbrook]

How would I frag a mushroom leather coral, this is my first time doing it. Here is a picture of it as well.

[JetCat USA]

it's a Toadstool, not mushroom

you just cut a piece of the cap or the entire cap off and lightly secure it to some rubble. doing a Lugol's dip helps after the fragging.

[rob.holbrook]

When I cut it off how big of a piece should i cut, and the piece that I cut how long will it take to grow back

[JetCat USA]

cut as large or small as you want but quarter size and larger tend to recover more easily IME. it takes a few weeks for them to heal and attach and can take several months to grow to a more pronounced toadstool shape.....................unless you frag the cap off, then the cap will reattach in a few weeks and the stalk will take a few weeks to heal and start forming a new cap, within a few months you've got two the same size only shorter.

[rob.holbrook]

should I worry about it hurting my current leather... or can i just cut the piece off and place it back in my tank ... I guess I am asking how much risk is involved and what is the chances I could loose the big leather. And is this a pretty hardy coral to frag?

[JetCat USA]

a healthy one recovers from fragging fairly quick, they'll be healed at the cut and attached within two weeks in most cases. the Lugol's dip helps them with that too. they release toxins when stressed and fragging defiantly causes stress so carbon is always a good idea after fragging, but it's also a good idea to run carbon on any system with leathers so i just make sure it's fresh.

[rob.holbrook]

How would I go about doing a dip? and is it a certain kind of iodine that I use. I know these sound like new questions ... and they are but I do have corals just never fragged one.

Next question is that if i frag it out of the water... then do the dip... should i worry about these toxins that it releases in the water. I already run carbon in my sump. Should I qt this coral after doing this or place it back in my tank after a dip and running carbon?

Thanks Lots for you help. I am doing this for a fellow reefer.. he wanted my leather.

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by rob.holbrook
How would I go about doing a dip? and is it a certain kind of iodine that I use. I know these sound like new questions ... and they are but I do have corals just never fragged one.

Use Lugol's, add a gallon (or however much you need to do the dip) of tank water to a sufficiently sized container to submerge the coral, add enough of the Lugol's to turn the water tea colored. place the coral in the dip for a few min, remove it from the container and frag it OUTSIDE the tank (always frag outside the tank) then place the coral back in the dip bucket for several more min before pulling it out again to secure it to whatever you wish to have it attach to then place it in an area of the tank where it gets enough flow to promote healing but not strong flow.

Next question is that if i frag it out of the water... then do the dip... should i worry about these toxins that it releases in the water. I already run carbon in my sump. Should I qt this coral after doing this or place it back in my tank after a dip and running carbon?

Always frag outside the tank and yes you should always worry about the toxins of leathers even when they are in the tank growing. a single large leather in a system can stunt the growth of all SPS in that same system, if you have leathers and stony corals you should run carbon regularly along with regular water changes. with you already running carbon in your system just make sure it's fresh when fragging.