Chalice (Echinophyllia) Fragging 101

Methodology:

The method I use for fragging the majority of hard corals is primarily the same with the cutting tooling being an Inland 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 Chalice (Echinophyllia):

Chalice corals have some of the most delicate of skeletal structures which means that extreme care must be taken throughout the process from the time of cutting to when frags are secured to plugs or other mounts. Many of the structures within the flesh are free floating and must be maintained in their original position to guarantee the survival of the coral.

Value of chalice frags is often set by the quantity of eyes included, so don't devalue them by cutting them in half.

As with all LPS corals, survival and growth rate after fragging can be greatly increased by avoiding as many polyps as possible while cutting.

Cuts are sped up 8x

If there's a specific species of coral that you would like to see cut up, feel free to comment in this thread or send me a PM.

 

very interesting!!!!!!

 

I love these videos you're posting, along with the music Very cool.

 

Some more chalice eye candy.

 

A nice little chalice hanging out with a derasa.

 

Pictures

 

Like your videos, I just cant bring myself to cutting up my Chalice colonies!

 

It's been awhile since I've gotten into a nice chalice for frags. Might be almost time to get into my personal tank. Things are getting tight!

For now, here's some more chalice eye candy.

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