Fragging Soft Corals: Green Sinularia
In today's MarineDepot.com video we're going to show you have easy it is to frag soft corals at home. We wanted to really express how easy this process is and so we decided to ask fora little help from Valerie, who has little to no aquarium experience whatsoever. We will walk her through fragging a Green Sinularia from our office tank.
Before chopping up your corals you will want to ensure you have all the necessary equipment.
- Clean container to house coral before mounting, small Tupperware or glass dishes works well.
- Steel Scissors or Razor Blade for cutting the coral.
- Rubble Rock or coral plugs for mounting.
- Rubber Bands and Toothpicks to hold the coral in place.
Now, you want to first find a good place to cut the coral. The base of a branch is a good place as it makes for a clean-cut and will heal easily.
Valerie is now going to fill the small container with some tank water. You want two containers of water to avoid getting harmful toxins from the coral frag into your aquarium.
Notice, she immediately places the frag into the small container with tank water. The coral polyps will retract and the frag will probably shrink in size which is perfectly normal. Do not be alarmed if you notice a heavy slime or discharge being released as this is normal as well.
Next, we are going to wrap the rubber band around the piece of rubble rock or coral mount. Be careful not to wrap it too tight or this can harm the coral, you want the rubber band just tight enough to hold the coral in place without penetrating the flesh. Then, slip the frag under the rubber band and place it back into the container.
You will probably want to discard the water in your container and rinse the frag one more time with tank water before placing back into an aquarium.
It will take a few weeks for the original coral to heal as well as the fragmented coral. Once the frag is healed and attached to your mount, you can safely remove the rubber band.
