Budding Kenya Tree

JeffDubya · 04-26-2008, 01:45 AM

So my Kenya tree has been very happy and healthy for a while now and all the sudden it is finally budding out... going crazy!

I have been collecting the new little frags at every opportunity but I am having a hard time geting them to attach to anything. I tried sticking them between a couple of small LR chunks and rubberbanding them together but so far no dice...

I have well over a dozen, maybe 18 of these now. I would sure love some guidance so I can propagate each of these into individual critters.

**Amphibious** · 04-26-2008, 11:47 AM

For softy frags, I use a piece of PVC, or in this case, a PVC coupling...

I've learned to notch the top so the rubber bands stay in place. You can see I place the PVC on a flat rock, rubber band the PVC to it, drop the softy inside and place in the tank.

It takes anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks for the frag to attach. Once attached, remove the PVC, place the frag/rock where you want. You can see one of the frags behind the PVC to the right.

Dick

JeffDubya · 04-26-2008, 11:54 AM

That's a great idea... of course, with this many frags to deal with, It's going to be a bit space-intensive. Right now I am taking the buds as they drop and putting them in a little hang-on acrylic box normally used for catching or acclimating fish. This way they stay out of the current and get all the light they need. I am carefully replacing water with a syringe every few days.

Can these frags be kept this way indefinitely, allowing me to attach the others a few at a time?

Have you ever used your little contraptions for mushrooms and/or xenia?

Those were some of the first critters I attempted to aquaculture and success was generally determined by how they attached.

**CarmieJo** · 04-27-2008, 07:38 PM

What if you used Dick's idea with some rubble and a few frags? The only downside I see is you might come out with more than 1 frag per rubble. If this happens chances are you could break the piece of rubble and individual frags.

**Phurst** · 04-28-2008, 12:37 PM

For that large ammount, you may want to use the method i use when fraging mushrooms and leathers. I got one of these:

I filled the bottom with rubble. I just toss the frags in and set it on the bottom of the tank. hey still get plenty of light, and a little bit of flow due to the ventilated top. the rubble keeps it from floating. Seems to work great.

poppin_fresh · 04-30-2008, 08:25 AM

Thats a cool little gadget P. Last time I tried to get some shrooms to attach I placed them in a small water bottle with some rubble on the bottom. It didn't work so well and eventually the bottle looked like an in tank phyto culture.

microbius · 05-02-2008, 06:38 AM

my kenya has gone bud crazy also

i find drying the base and superglueing to rock rubble works well, the trees are well atatched and growing within a week, within 2 weeks i sell them on e-bay so far its paid for every coral in my tank

kenyas rock

**CarmieJo** · 05-03-2008, 12:59 AM

How do you ship them?

microbius · 05-03-2008, 04:09 AM

i dont ship em carmie just collection only can't be bothered with the postage thing
but even with that restriction theyre going fast it also gives me the chance to meet
local reefers that way

**CarmieJo** · 05-03-2008, 11:45 PM

Good deal!

***lReef lKeeper*** · 05-03-2008, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDubya

So my Kenya tree has been very happy and healthy for a while now and all the sudden it is finally budding out... going crazy!

I have been collecting the new little frags at every opportunity but I am having a hard time geting them to attach to anything. I tried sticking them between a couple of small LR chunks and rubberbanding them together but so far no dice...

I have well over a dozen, maybe 18 of these now. I would sure love some guidance so I can propagate each of these into individual critters.

i like to use a needle and fishing line or rubberband and toothpick. see my fragging a toadstool leather article for the how to ...

Fragging a Toadstool leather