Sarcophyton issues

[JohnRutherford]

I have never tried anything clever with my corals and have a couple of questions concerning my baby sarcophytons. I hope the picture works as I have not tried adding one before!

http://uk.f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/johners74/detail?.dir=/18e8&.dnm=4f8d.jpg

1: Is the red corraline algae growing on the base of the one to the left anything to worry about? If it is, what can I do?

2: As three are all squeezed onto one tiny rock I want to seperate them. I have read into this a fair bit and have these issues:
(a) Won't an elastic band crush something so small and fragile?
(b) Advice on one web site suggested attaching it to a new rock upside down, with the stalk where it was cut up in the air and the head face down on the new rock. Is this true?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[EricHugo]

1. No.

2. Take a paring knife and cut it off at the base by scraping underneath it/cutting a little. Then, loosely rubberband the base to its new location - I would keep the bottom edge, if cut, exposed to water, but would not attach it upside down. If the coral comes loose from the rock with the paring knife and there was not much cutting of tissue, then don't worry about having the base exposed to water flow. Alternately, take a scissors or razor blade and cut through the stalk, leaving the basal part attached and then reattach the top part with cut edge exposed as described above...then you'll have three colonies.

[JohnRutherford]

Thanks for the advice. Will give it a go.