Need Fragging experience..

[MarineFlake]

I want t frag my yellow fiji leather and toadstool. Anyone ever frag either of these? I have read alot and I feel confident I know how to make the cut, but I have never seen it documented. I recentyly have made 2 very successful leather (finger) frags, though that was pretty easy. I have 2 large ones in the main tank so I was not afraid to cut one. With the yellow fiji and toadstool, I want to minimize the chance for killing the parents ; )

Thanks!

 

[PatM]

I have successfully fragged leathers a bunch of times. You can literally cut the head right off and then cut this head into several pieces. You should leave enough of the stalk on the head so that you can plant them in an empty turbo shell or on to some live rock. Cut them out of the tank if possible because when you cut a larger leather they will drain out a ton of nasty water. I've done mine on a cutting board with a butcher knife. I've never killed a leather in propagation, they are extremely hardy. Usually the parent will start growing polyps back as early as a week or two. Keep enough flow on them after cutting so that the mucus stays off of them, or use a turkey baster to keep them clean. I usually fill some small clean applesauce cups with live rock rubble and put the frags in there and in a couple weeks they take hold. Also see here for much fragging info: http://www.garf.org/
go to Propagation then Sarcophyton and you'll find pics and a short movie. I've fragged toadstools, cabbages and finger leathers all with these same principals. Good Luck, all my leathers have paid for themselves with trades to the LFS.

 

[MarineFlake]

Thanksa PatM, I will cut around the crown of my Yellow Fiji 1st and see how it goes. I have some shells saved up, but the jar thing is great advice. I had to spend a couple days chasing around the cuts from the finger leather. I ended just burying those in the sand and placing a snail (Mexican turbo..) shell against it to prevent its escape. Both have flourished and recovered nicely after placing them in the sand instead of trying to get them to take on some rock.
How big of a cut would you recommend? couple inches by an inch or so?

Thanks

 

[PatM]

When I cut my toadstool the top was about the size of a baseball and I made eight pie cut pieces. Just do it quick when you get it out of the tank, as soon as it comes out it shrivels real quick. Really you can cut to any size that is manageable to you, but cutting them too small makes it hard to leave enough stalk to take to your shell/rock etc. From experience that stalk grabs on a lot faster than the actual top part with polyps. I fragged mine about six months ago and I still have one piece floating around in a jar and it still hasn't taken hold because of lack of a stalk. Also putting them in a shell instead of right on your live rock makes it alot easier to take out and frag again later. I use super glue gel to glue the shell to the live rock and if you pull hard enough you can get it back off.