Frag Issues.

[Devilishturtles]

Hi guys. I was the recent receipient of a few coral frags from the MACNA convention about 2 weeks ago. Out of them, I got 2 zoo's, a frag of button polyps, 2 finger leather frags, and a colt coral frag. All are doing great, minus the leathers which I lost (they were not looking so hot when I got them, but I thought I'd give them a chance to live) and now the Colt is giving me problems.

The lady who fragged it for me first used a toothpick, the threaded it through fishing line, and attached it to a reef plug via rubberband. It was fine for 2 days in a bag, in my cooler, and survived a bumpy hour long ride through downtown DC and other roads to get to my house. I acclimated over the course of 2 hours (all of them) and off they went into the tank.

After 24 hours, the Colt looked like it was coming off the toothpick. Not sliding off, but actually "ripping" off of it. So, it came off and I reattached it in the same way. I pierced the foot with a toothpick and rubberbanded the toothpick to a reef plug, and this time added superglue. I went away for the weekend, and when I came back, it was off the plug again. A new section on the bottom of the foot was ripped in half, and the toothpick was still stuck to the rock. Baffled, I thought I was getting too close to the bottom of the foot, so I pierced it again, but higher this time. Almost a full inch from the bottom of the frag. Sure enough, when I got home after class tonight, it was "ripped off" again, and this time floating around the sand bed. I took a look at the foot of the coral, and sure enough, it is healing nicely. The ripped parts are closing shut rather quickly.

So, this time instead of piercing the coral, I laid the toothpick on top of it, and attached it, so now the frag is held in place by the toothpick that is laying on top of it, if that makes sense. I'm going to give it another go...

So, does anybody have any idea what I'm doing wrong, or can suggest some other method to get it to attach? Somebody mentioned putting it in a crate to keep it solitary for a while, but I was curious if this is a sign of a health issue or anything of the such. I thoht maybe it was a question of too much water flow, so I put it in a place with hardly any flow, and it still came off.

I'm afraid I can't pierce it anymore without harming it. It has been one heck of a hardy coral for me so far, I don't want to lose it.

Thank you for looking. 8)

 

[Phyl]

You could try just pinching it between two pieces of rock where you want it to end up. That seems to work best of all for me. Of course it will likely end up attached to both of those rocks, but if you don't mind that the method works well.

Good luck. Hopefully it settles down some for you!

 

[ellisz]

Colt corals are very slippery I would do as Phyl suggested and try to wedge it bewteen 2 small rocks or keep it the way you have it. Anyway will work as long as it stays attached. Always remember to attach a healthy piece of the coral to the rock itself. Placing the cut end to the rock will take longer since this part has to heal. You will probably end with multiple corals if anything was left when the coral separated itself.

HTH

 

[fishfreek]

If you use the toothpick to hold the coral down on the plug make sure the rubber band is not to tight. What it sounds like is that the rubberband was a bit to tight to begin with and it was pulling the coral tissue and basicly the toothpick was cutting the coral's tissue. If the rubberband is to tight try to just loosely tie the toothpick with string so the coral is in contact with the reefplug but not being pressed down to hard. It should start to attach within 24-48 hours.

 

[mykpoz]

i used super glue gel and a needle and thread... worked well and in 3 weeks i cut the thread and pulled it out..

 

[hcuellart]

It seems as if either the rubberband was too tight or the water flow too strong. I have used a glass jar to protect the coral from the water flow and in two or three days the corals will attach to the plug or rock or whatever you want. Just get a high enough glass jar and inside put the arrangement of rocks and coral and surely in a couple of days you will have success.
Good luck!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Ok. An Update...

I came home from class tonight, and the frag was missing. So, I'm guessing that indeed the rubberband was causing the problems. I found one half of the frag, and the other got pulled into my powerhead... I pulled it out, and it was pretty much all intact. So, now I've got two halves left.

I am going to try the rock method. I put the coral in a tiny dip in the rock and laid a rock against it. I did the same with the powerhead damaged piece. So far, they look ok...

The weight of the rock won't hurt them in anyway? The rock I'm using isnt huge or overly heavy, but it is putting pressure on the frag.

Thanks again for the help. 8)

 

[Phyl]

No need to worry about the pressure. It will just help it attach. Good luck! Maybe this time is the charm!

 

[Devilishturtles]

So far so good for almost 2 days, but it still hasn't attached. Hurry up!!!

They are piled down with a few chunks of rock. My urchins and hermits love to inspect what is hidden there though, and I'm surprised they haven't been lost again from the, moving around all over it.

Thanks again everyone, for your help. Ill give an update as soon as something changes. Hopefully it will be to announce that they have attached!