Fragging

[willbratz]

Is there anyone here who's had fragging experience with Zoas, who might offer some advice on how to cut this brandywine zoa down and be able to frag it? There are two other different Zoas on this rock I need to consider when removing from water. Thanks for any help!!

 

[danbstrong]

Is there anyone here who's had fragging experience with Zoas, who might offer some advice on how to cut this brandywine zoa down and be able to frag it? There are two other different Zoas on this rock I need to consider when removing from water. Thanks for any help!!

First off wear goggles and gloves some will squirt when you cut them some are toxic and can make you very sick wash hands afterward onto fragging cut as close to base with razorblade then glue to fragplug with superglue gel

 

[willbratz]

First off wear goggles and gloves some will squirt when you cut them some are toxic and can make you very sick wash hands afterward onto fragging cut as close to base with razorblade then glue to fragplug with superglue gel

Should I have more than one zoa per frag? They are spread out pretty far from one another.

 

[willbratz]

How long can this rock remain out of the water?

 

[Phranque]

How long can this rock remain out of the water?

Quite a while, but keep a small squirt bottle of tank water near by and keep them moistened every so often.

Should I have more than one zoa per frag? They are spread out pretty far from one another.

Ideally, yes, especially if you intend on selling them...... very few people want just one polyp. I've got a couple zoas like that..... they kinda grow out in a circuit board pattern rather than in a cluster. Just use larger frag plugs (or small rock pieces) so you can get a few of them on at once.

And I second the wearing of protective gear (gloves, goggles/safety glasses, and dust mask). A very low percentage of paly/zoas are highly toxic, we just don't know which ones, and you can't tell just by looking at them.....google "palytoxin".
Some manly-men claim to have been fragging for years while bare-handed, without glasses, smoking a cig & eating a sandwich without any issues, but I see absolutely no sense in even taking the chance.

 

[danbstrong]

Quite a while, but keep a small squirt bottle of tank water near by and keep them moistened every so often.

Ideally, yes, especially if you intend on selling them...... very few people want just one polyp. I've got a couple zoas like that..... they kinda grow out in a circuit board pattern rather than in a cluster. Just use larger frag plugs (or small rock pieces) so you can get a few of them on at once.

And I second the wearing of protective gear (gloves, goggles/safety glasses, and dust mask). A very low percentage of paly/zoas are highly toxic, we just don't know which ones, and you can't tell just by looking at them.....google "palytoxin".
Some manly-men claim to have been fragging for years while bare-handed, without glasses, smoking a cig & eating a sandwich without any issues, but I see absolutely no sense in even taking the chance.

I was recently fragging zoas and my hands broke out in a rash small lil pus bumps for about a week id put more than one zoa on each frag i usually put 5-8 on a plug unless their high end zoas then maybe 2 on a plug ive kept them outta water for an hour before

 

[Schism]

Fragging zoas can be deadly dangerous if you dont take precautions, and if you have kids around i would take all the precautions you can.

Cutting each polyp off individually is a bad way to frag zoas. The best method is to cut the mat and actually get under the polyps with a razor blade so 5-7 polyps come off in one piece. This significantly cuts down healing time, losses, and they secure to frag plugs much easier.

The recommendation is 5-7 polyps per frag, as you start going less, losses tend to be higher. Its easier for instance for 5 polyps to recover than it is one.

Hope that helps, remember palytoxin, something as simple as rubbing your eye or mouth could mean life threating or life changing problems if your not careful.

 

[willbratz]

Thanks guys for the words. I'm going to attempt it this Sunday (time permitting). My only fear like I said is some of theses guys are a bit spacey in some areas. I guess once I cut along the zoa with a razor when I get to the other end just make a "vertical cut". Also how will all the cutting affect my tank when I place this rock back in the DT?