Hello Everyone, I have a Purple Goniopora which has small 1 inch area that seems to have spawned a smaller Purple Goniopora. I'm interested in possibly fraggin this piece for trade for another type of coral maybe some nice Mushrooms. Does anyone believe that their is a way to do this without damaging both corals? :roll:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/th_DSC00097.jpg (http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/DSC00097.jpg)

If you find a nice spot to set a diferent rock next to it at the base it will spread before you know it. then after it spreads you just take a razor knife and gently cut it away..

as for actually cutting a peace off and attaching it to another rock im not so sure you can do that. someone esle might jump in on that.

Hello Everyone, I have a Purple Goniopora which has small 1 inch area that seems to have spawned a smaller Purple Goniopora. I'm interested in possibly fraggin this piece for trade for another type of coral maybe some nice Mushrooms. Does anyone believe that their is a way to do this without damaging both corals? :roll:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/th_DSC00097.jpg (http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/DSC00097.jpg)
with goniporas, the baby sometime will fall off by itself.

Well this sucker is actually attached to the same rock and has a gap that I believe if I had the right tool could be cut down the middle? Thinks it's possible? I'm still not to clear on the cutting it off part wouldn't that completely damage the base?

ok im not familiar with Goniopora but it looks like it has the same base as my anthelias. i had it spanding over two rocks and cut a peace off for a friend with a long razor knife. both peaces healed. i would say that if its growing off of a flat base then you should be able to. i would try it but i would also get other opinions. i am sure someone will step in and either agree or correct me before we know it :)

I've never had one of these before, but I agree with Wes. Think about each polyp being alive and not all connected to a base. I'd try pulling off a few polyps on the edge and attach them to some rock and see what happens. Just don't be scared- gotta try it!!

yea my thought is if i paid less than $50 for it im going to mess with it :) lol

Hello Everyone, I have a Purple Goniopora which has small 1 inch area that seems to have spawned a smaller Purple Goniopora. I'm interested in possibly fraggin this piece for trade for another type of coral maybe some nice Mushrooms. Does anyone believe that their is a way to do this without damaging both corals? It's difficult to tell from the pic, but it looks like you are talking about a small branch that has grown off of the larger colony. If that is correct, then if you took a coping saw with a fine toothed blade (around $6 at home depot) and cut the branch where it "Y"s off of the main colony; cut it down where the skeleton is dead, then it should be fine. Just be careful not to scrape or harm any living tissue with the saw or mash the tissue with your fingers when you hold the piece.

I've never had one of these before, but I agree with Wes. Think about each polyp being alive and not all connected to a base. I'd try pulling off a few polyps on the edge and attach them to some rock and see what happens. Just don't be scared- gotta try it!! YIKES!!! :eek: no no no......the polyps are connected to corallites by small fibers. Pulling a polyp off would be like pulling a candy cane out of its skeleton. (Goniopora are "hard" corals)

ok im not familiar with Goniopora but it looks like it has the same base as my anthelias. i had it spanding over two rocks and cut a peace off for a friend with a long razor knife. ........ You can't just razor-blade Goniopora tissue off...................unless you are purposely trying to kill the polyps.

Here is a pic of the saw that I'm referring to:

http://www.goniopora.org/Images/Fragref3.jpg

The skeleton is not very dense and the saw cuts through it fairly easy.

I've never had one of these before, but I agree with Wes. Think about each polyp being alive and not all connected to a base. I'd try pulling off a few polyps on the edge and attach them to some rock and see what happens. Just don't be scared- gotta try it!!

So how do I cut this thing off without hurting it? Confused!

yea my thought is if i paid less than $50 for it im going to mess with it :) lol

I paid $59.00 does that still count to mess with it? :D

Here is a pic of the saw that I'm referring to:

http://www.goniopora.org/Images/Fragref3.jpg

The skeleton is not very dense and the saw cuts through it fairly easy.


Thank you John Kelly, for all of the information. So am I removing this from the tank and cutting it on the open air or should I get a bucket and cut it under the water?

Thank you John Kelly, for all of the information. So am I removing this from the tank and cutting it on the open air or should I get a bucket and cut it under the water?
Your Welcome :)

You will want to cut it in the open air. Have your saw, a flat surface, and a bowl of water ready (like in my picture). The bowl of water is for dipping the coral to rinse it off afterwards. You can also set the smaller piece in there when you are placing the larger piece back in the tank.

While the coral is still in the tank, gently wave your hand near the polyps to get them to retract. When you take the coral out, hold it by its base and dip it up and down a little bit in the tank until it has expelled all of the water out of its polyps and body. With the coral retracted, you should be able to easily get the saw blade between the two pieces and cut approximately where the red line is in the photo. Make sure to hold the coral by the dead part of the skeleton and to not mash any tissue with your fingers. The saw will cut through the dead skeleton, but go slowly and don't force it. The coral will be fine being out of water for that long.

http://www.goniopora.org/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/Fragcut.jpg

Thanks for the info I will get a new blade for my saw and take a crack at it this weekend. Would anyone be interested in a trade that is if all goes successfull.

YIKES!!! :eek: no no no......the polyps are connected to corallites by small fibers. Pulling a polyp off would be like pulling a candy cane out of its skeleton. (Goniopora are "hard" corals)



Are gonioporas the only corals like this?

i thought gonioporas were soft corals.....

Are gonioporas the only corals like this?

nope, thats how all stony corals are., you cant pull the polyps out of the skeleton.

at least not on any i can think of

i thought gonioporas were soft corals.....
nope, a soft coral does not have any rigid skeloton,
Gonioporas are stony corals, one all the polyps are retracted, you see there is a large stony structure under there

BTW, Thanks John, for jumping in and helping out again

oh ok i saw the picture and just assumed that they were soft the base looks like a anthelia. that was my bad :)

Interesting now I know their classification. :-)

BTW, Thanks John, for jumping in and helping out again
Your Welcome!
:)

:hat:*sniff sniff* it smells like a big gun was in here! wow, missed this thread!
john, pop in on a regular basis if u want, im sure we can provide a plot of land for u to cultivate!

john 's got one of those expensive fancy crayons as well...lol
that was a close one! Q my girl, lol, i think we will pull your lovely finger nails off for a test bed of your theroy:p

jay how did u go>have u become Hanibal Lector yet?

just to add a tiny why to the mixing pot, the reason why u make an effort to drain as much water from the corals as possible before extracting from the tank is the soft tissue can tear easy, leaving the area & whatevers attached to it to a slow death in the worst case situation! just like we should leave the removal of water filling animals like anems & fungia to the time when they deflate

jay how did u go>have u become Hanibal Lector yet?


Unfortunately I did not become hanibal Lector yet because my weekend was extremely hectic being dragged from store to store for summer sales. I might take a crack at it this weekend but during the week is no go for work. I'm just curious if someone is interested in a trade for another coral?

How quickly do goni's grow out like this? Are we talking a frag per month. From the gonipora ep. it sounded like much less.

i believe it is much slower than this, but i have never had a goniopora that was fragable.. (at elast by me)

just to clarify ... goniopora = "flowerpot", this one just happens to be a branching goniopora. branching is a LOT easier to frag !!