Soft Corals getting to large

[bounce]

I have a toad stool hat has been growing in my tank for two years. A few months ago I replaced my PC lighting with MH and the stuff in my tank has just about doubled in size (Mostly soft coral) The toad stool opens fully to between 12 to 14 inches across it just fits in my 75 gallon tank. Is there a way to divide it into smaller toad stools without killing it? I also have a spag leather that has reached the surface so I would also be looking to dived that as well. My wife says a bigger tank in not an option.

Thanks

[porky]

Leathers especially toadstools are fairly easy to frag and it sounds like yours is ready. If at all possible it would be best to frag the coral outside of the display tank, in a bucket of tank water for example, this would minimize any stress related toxins making thier way into the display tank. If not possible to remove the coral, make sure you skimmer is working well and maybe run some fresh carbon, a good idea after any fragging.
Take the toadstool and with a sharp, preferrably new, pair of scissors cut into the crown of the and "donut out" the middle (sorry I can't think of a better way to say that at this moment) but if you can picture cutting a rim around the coral so that the size of the crown is reduced and you are left with thick strand of the crown. Then take the crown and cut them into peices, about an inch or so and attach them to small pieces of rubble. I like to use a rubber band, the rubber band should be secure enough that the frag does not float away but not so tight as to cut into the flesh of the frag. After a little while, they will adhere to the rubble and start to sprout stems and eventually grow into small toadstools. Depending on the size of the "mother" colony you might end up with 10 or more frags. These usually make pretty good trading at frag swaps or the LFS for store credit.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Jason

[Blntz]

Well it sounds like theres three options.......

Propagate.
Send the wife on vacation and get a bigger tank.
Trade the corals at your local store and get some major credit.

I had the same problem....did the 2nd option. In a matter of 2 weeks on the couch and alot of work, the new tank looked fantastic. The wife eventually agreed.

Hit the sofa and watch your corals get even bigger.

[bounce]

I think I'll wait until the wife starts to re-model another room in the house and make my move. I never realized how much of a difference MH lighting would make on the growth of my coral. This will however mean I need a new stand and more MH lighting and bigger pumps and a new skimmer and oh ya a more comfortable couch.