Fragging a Leather - I'm REALLY nervous

[jciwlsn]

Hi,

Since it's my first time, just want to get a couple comments.........I could use a little HELP!!!!!!!!! or moral support! I have a HUGE spaghetti leather (thanks AquaAddicts!!!!!) that could use a trim. I've had it for six weeks and it's attached itself to the rock.

First of all, hope it's not too soon to do this; it looks really healthy. I have an idea on what to do, but don't want to mess this up. I keep thinking this poor thing is going to 'bleed to death' if I cut it.......

Do you just pick a piece of rock from the tank?

[one eye]

I went to Greg's workshop, it's not all that scary.
Just hack off the branch that you want, stick a plastic tooth pick through the base of the branch and super glue the tooth pick to the rock..any rock from the tank will work or you can use a clean clam or oyster shell, concrete plug...etc.

Good luck, post some picks

[tstone]

Leathers are easy. One eye is right.

You can also use a rubberband to hold it to the rock until it attaches but the plastic toothpick is probably the best.

[jciwlsn]

Thanks, one eye...........I'll put a nice cool can of beer on one side :D of the table for moral support and give it a good clean whack with a razor blade....I'll post before and after as soon as I can find my digital.....:(

[jciwlsn]

Yeah, I forgot about using toothpicks, but don't have any plastic ones.....have lots of rubber bands though.......

[jimmyj7090]

have no fear, it's very easy to frag most leathers. one caution though, if you use rubberbands alone to attach the frag to a rock it has to be just the right tension on the rubberband or it will slowly slice through the frag (too tight) or the frag will work it's way loose and blow away in the current (too loose). It's worth tracking down plastic toothpicks, that way is far easier. If you have trouble finding them, try one of those party stores like I-party or the big party.

[Scuba_Dave]

Just curiuos, I assume wooden toothpicks are a no-no because they will rot?

[jciwlsn]

Well, it's done. Held my breath the whole time:rolleye1:

I found a small piece of rock with a 3/4" whole big enough to put it in. Does that work, or should it be glued to the top of the rock?

Right now they don't look so happy :rolleyes:

Should have some plastic somewhere.............I'm also curious about the wooden ones (toothpicks)

[one eye]

wooden tooth picks rot! A pronge from a plastic fork would work if the base of the frag was small enough

[GROSSR]

Wooden toothpicks won't rot. Ships have been removed from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico 300 years later and the wood is still intact.

so long as the wood is always in the water it won't rot. I have a wooden toothpick from a frag that is over 1 year in my tank. I never had the guts to remove it after xenia attached.

I agree go with the plastic, but, wood will be ok. After all, these frags attach with in a couple of weeks, at most. Then remove the toothpick.

[jciwlsn]

Thanks! You learn something new in this hobby every day:)

The toothpicks I have are colored though. I stuck the frag in a whole, and put it out of current for now and I'll see what happens. :)

[jimmyj7090]

I agree that wood toothpicks should be fine. Personally I go out of my way to get the plastic ones because I worry about the wood ones creating a place for bacterial or other infections to get started, but I really doubt that it's an issue. I also like plastic ones since they seem to be a bit tougher and make a cleaner puncture through the frag. sometimes the wood ones splinter a bit. either way the only leather frag that I've ever lost to bacterial infection was a bright yellow sarcophyton elegans which is know to be prone to such infections. I've seen several sinularia frags deveolp bacterial infections and then fight them off. Any toothpick is probablly fine as leather corals are generally super tough anyway.

jk

[jciwlsn]

Thank you all for the help, I"ll try the plastic ones since it's my first.

They both look better this morning than they did yesterday, and I noticed that I didn't cut it flush and there's a stub sticking out. It's pretty hard to get a good cut when they're out of the tank all shriveled up. Hope that won't create any side affects. I'll see what they look like when I get home today.:)