Propagation fears...

OK so I want to try to prop my mushrooms, pulsing xenia, and colt corals. But I'm SO SCARED of just....cutting them! It freaks me out! I've read a lot about propagating each coral, but the mushrooms are where I'm still a little unsure. Do I just cut a triangle from the head? And then string the triangle to a piece of LR? Anyone who has been successful with the mushrooms I would like to hear from. The xenia and colt seem pretty straight forward. Snip a piece and attach it to LR and in a few days there will be a new frag. I plan on rubber banding those to LR with some netting over them. OH I'M SO NERVOUS! :-[ I've thought about it a lot and feel like I'm ready. Do I have the process right? Is there anything else I should know? Keep them out of high flow areas...and what else? How long do these corals generally take to attach to rock? I've seen anywhere from a week to two weeks. It will be awesome if this works out...the way I see it is it's free corals! Even tho they're the same as I already have, I don't care. Well anymore advise?...and wish me luck!

 

If you haven't already done so, look at the garf site, there are lots of 'how to' guides. Follow their advice and you can't go wrong.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

Propagating a mushroom just cut it in half. Make sure that you cut the mouth in half as well, all the way down stalk. After doing this both shroom will look dead but don't worry they will start to look better within a week. Make sure to add iodine to your tank to help with the regrowth after propagating your corals.

 

Ya for your fist time I agree with Reef Lover cut the shroom in half. Bigger chance of success.

J

 

Colt is really difficult to propogate to rock. It squishy and slimy. Use a net instead of a rubber band for it when having him attach to rock to avoid hurting it.

 

im my opinion you should propagate the xenia coral...it is the easiest and i even wrote a guide for 3reef here it is http://www.3reef.com/sitemodules-Content-viewarticle-24.html

 

As far as mushrooms are concerned regarding propagation, Mushrooms spread pretty fast and really don't need to be propagated with the chance of killing them. If the conditions are right they will reproduce quickly. My mushrooms are spreading every couple of months or so.

 

You're telling me, I bought a frag of red spotted shrooms and they are thriving. Spread about three new youngsters in about 2 months.

 

Yea I know mushrooms spread fast. My original rock had 2 mushrooms on it, and before I moved (in which I guess I lost some because I only see about 5 now), there were 10 throughout the tank! But I thought it would be fun to frag them anyways. I haven't snipped anything yet. I'm still so nervous and freaked out! Did anyone else feel this way with their first frag? Plus I need to get some rubble or reef plugs still.

 

I force my shrooms to spread and propagate in a different way. It's a little unorthodox and I only recommend it for a separate prop tank. just from shrooms. Xenia will die under these conditions.

I have found that shrooms propagate on their own under stressful conditions. Being the sturdy corals that they are, when faced with an increase in salinity or out of whack PH (this can be achieved by allowing the tank to evap without topping off and maybe adding a little bit of vinegar) they cut loose of the rock they're on (leaving behind baby shrooms) and try to drift to better waters. Once the shroom cuts loose I try to stabilize the water (simply by adding top off water with Alk buffer in a drip method over a period of 5 hrs) making a better home for the baby's to grow and encouraging the parents to grab hold of the live rock to start the process all over again at this point I also dose necessary trace elements mainly Iodine-iodide solutions, some amino-acid based solutions, and a pinch of phyto all to help speed the process along.