Green Sea Mat

[Lance M.]

Well today I went to the fish store and saw ths really cool coral and I went back to my room and looked it up on the internet. It said green sea mat was easy to keep so I went back to the store and bought it. It is this like very soft ball of polyps, not attached to a rock or anything. I mean a ball like 360 covered in polyps so I am wondering how to place it in the tank. If I put it on something it will kill the ones that are on the bottom. So I thought about maybe cutting it in half and then placing on the rock so that both halves are in the light. I looked it up and to propogate it you can cut the colony so would this be ok?

 

[melosu58]

Do you have a link to the desription of this animal?

 

[dskidmore]

Most Corals will recover and both halves will survive when cut like that. I wonder though if round is the natural shape, if the two halves will heal up in the same shape?

 

[Lance M.]

Here's a link http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=42&pCatId=1655

The picture is exactly it.

 

[dskidmore]

But yours is soft. The description you posted is for a variety of Button Polyps, which generally form a thin layer over a solid rock.

 

[SeeDemTails]

There has to be something in the middle of them, they dont grow off each other.

And yes you can cut it, but use and xacto and weave in between the polyps themselves. No need to carelessly split it, even though it should be alright.

It is a super cool coral once established, and they grow quick!

 

[Lance M.]

Well the picture in the link I provided is what I have and yes the polyps are soft. I guess there prob is something in the middle and they are growing around it.

So how should I split it? I don't quite understand what your saying SeeDemTails. There might be a typo or something in your post.

After I split it in two could I silicone it to a rock?

 

[melosu58]

I almost believe either way you`re going to kill a bunch of them. I have a ball of green button polyps( the same in my avatar) that I had the same problem and I just put on top of my rock and they (the polyps on bottom of rock) just dropped off to the bottom of my tank. I see a bunch of them starting a colony under my rock. You could also think about fragging a section off the bottom and placing it elsewhere in the tank. You would then be able to set it safely in your tank.

 

[dskidmore]

If there'a rock in the middle there, you're not going to split it with anything but a cold chisel and drill hammer. SeeDemTails is suggestion you use a small knife to cut off the polyps and then you can adhere them to something else. Super Glue Gel is the stuff most people use.

 

[Lance M.]

You could also think about fragging a section off the bottom and placing it elsewhere in the tank. You would then be able to set it safely in your tank.

What would be the best way to frag it? And from what you said before I don't really need to do anything to it and it will be fine, right?

 

[afishyonados]

Someone should mention the probability of the polyps having toxins...
Be overly cautios when handling and or fragging Zoanthus or Palythoas. They have the ability to have palytoxin in the tissue. Once damaged, the natural tendency is to defend itself. The concept of propagation through fragging is not something the coral will understand.
Wear gloves and protective eyewear when fragging. Avoid allowing any tools used when cutting to be handled by anyone/thing. There are horror stories about the dangers of palytoxin all over the web.

http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html

 

[melosu58]

But yes Lance I just kind of made a little part on the bottom and set it on the rock and like I said some just fell off to the bottom of the tank over time.