Acanthastrea Fragging 101

mikejrice

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1

Methodology:


The method I use for fragging the majority of hard corals is primarily the same with the cutting tooling being a Gryphon band saw.


Cooling liquid used is fresh mixed saltwater with enough iodine to color it a light amber. This helps to disinfect cuts as they're made which has shown to greatly increase frag survival.


All corals are stored during cutting in a small bucket holding water taken directly from their home aquarium. This water is used both to keep them wet as well as for rinsing any flesh away from cuts while I'm working on them.


All finished, and rinsed, frags or trimmed colonies are soaked in Brightwell Aquatics Restor dip to insure that minimal flesh is lost.


Both soak buckets are rinsed and replenished between colonies to reduce the risk of interactions between loose flesh of different coral species.


Notes about acans:


Acans are one of the corals that will bear significant advantages if corallite boundaries are followed, so when cutting these corals, I always try to follow directly along the top of corallite walls.


As with most LPS corals, cutting frags as thinly as possible will help to accelerate growth.


Acans build one of the most dense skeletons I've come across, so they can be quite hard to cut. Be sure to take your time and let the blade do the work.


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ReeferMatt

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
Any advice for fragging acans that are ball shaped from life in the sand bed?
 

mikejrice

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
ReeferMatt;355101 said:
Any advice for fragging acans that are ball shaped from life in the sand bed?
I'd probably score all the way around it to break it in half without needing to cut all the way through. After that, it should be easier to cut it down further.
 

Shaunv

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Any suggestions on fragging acans without the use of a band saw?
 

tomtom2245

Angel Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
Shaunv;355250 said:
Any suggestions on fragging acans without the use of a band saw?
Depending on how thick they are, I've used a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel on with great success multiple times. Just take it slow and I kept dipping the cutting wheel in water to help keep it cooler. Finish up with an iodine dip.
 

Shaunv

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
tomtom2245;355258 said:
Depending on how thick they are, I've used a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel on with great success multiple times. Just take it slow and I kept dipping the cutting wheel in water to help keep it cooler. Finish up with an iodine dip.
Ok, thanks. I may have to give that a try.
 

mikejrice

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Micromussa lords (Acans) never cease to amaze me with how dense their skeletons can be. Can't believe I used to frag these with a dremmel! Anyway, here's a few of my favorite acans from recently.


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