Fragging ORA Hawkins

Discussion in 'Frags' started by Takara, Jul 6, 2009.

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  1. Takara

    Takara Astrea Snail

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    I went to cut a piece off, and the whole piece dislodged from the plug, it was a good size piece so I glued it to a piece of live rock. It lost all it's color now, and I'm kind of confused I thought acropora was very easy to frag?

    I didn't even end up cutting it, was out of the water for less than 5 minutes, and then glued to a rock? Why would it die?
     
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  3. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    It may not have died yet, it could just be bleaching. It is easy to frag, you just need the right tools, what were you using to cut it? How big is the mother colony?
     
  4. Takara

    Takara Astrea Snail

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    thanks for the fast response,


    it was basically a grown frag I picked up not that long ago, When I went to cut at the base, the large piece I was cutting dislodged from the frag (the original piece ORA glued on) There was no actual cutting.

    I have to say I tried using 2part purple epoxy at first but it just wouldn't stick so I ended up using superglue. I didn't glue at the base, as I heard it was good to leave the open end out.
     
  5. Screwtape

    Screwtape Tonozukai Fairy Wrasse

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    Sounds to me like the original frag just was not attached well to the plug, it must not have encrusted very well itself either or maybe you accidentally used a little too much force or something.

    How long was it in your tank before you tried fragging it? It may have just bleached although that's not normally a common response just to fragging. Are you sure it was 100% healthy and acclimated to your tank?

    One thing about epoxy, it's good for forming a good base but it's not particularly sticky, try a combination of epoxy and superglue. As far as leaving the open end out I don't know what the reasoning is behind that, can you elaborate on that? I've never heard of that.
     
  6. Takara

    Takara Astrea Snail

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    Yes, it was a nice dark blue color, when it was taken out, infact the remaining piece is still looking awsome.

    I head the open end part from Eric Borneman's seminars, he describes how in nature, frags fall on their sides after breaking. He says they tend to grow more extensions that way also. And as for the end, he said glueing the end down rather than letting it heal/grow, could create a back door in which bacteria could enter it.

    Now I know people have been fragging vertically with great results for years, I just figured I would try it his way.
     
  7. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    I've heard of doing it by laying it down on its side, but honestly, it looks stupid for quite some time. I've personally never really seen any advantage to doing it that way, either way works about the same. However, by laying it down and gluing it that way, you are killing off more of the tissue, just keep that in mind.
     
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  9. Daniel072

    Daniel072 Giant Squid

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    fwiw I always lay my small frags down on their sides. they encrust faster and go vertical faster. just my .02
     
  10. Takara

    Takara Astrea Snail

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    I wouldn't even say it was on it's side it was a small rock and I just glued it so the bottom was hanging off, it's about 10degrees off vertical.
     
  11. Daniel072

    Daniel072 Giant Squid

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    how long ago did you do this/?
     
  12. Takara

    Takara Astrea Snail

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    2-3 days, right after it had color in the center of it, but it all seemed to fade away, i had gloves on and didn't handle it much