How to Frag and Mount Coral
Fragging corals is so widespread and mainstream now that even novice reefers are doing it. It is a great practice for when you want to replant or spread a particular coral species throughout your tank, to save a dying colony, for trade with others, or to create a side hustle for an extra dose of income to support your reefing passion.
Whatever the reason you decide to frag a coral, it's easy to do, is not costly, and is a great way to help make the hobby more sustainable for all of us.
Safe Fragging Methods
Fragging a coral is the process of cutting a small piece of coral from a larger "mother" colony, then relocating that fragment to grow somewhere else. We typically mount the coral frag onto a frag plug, coral mount, or piece of rubble rock so you can safely handle the frag and easily mount it in a frag holder or somewhere in your tank.
There are various approaches to cutting corals that are based on the type of coral - Soft Coral, LPS, & SPS.
Break Them
Its often by accident but can also be done purposefully, simply breaking off a piece of coral is an effective way to frag stony corals. This includes plating and branching Monitpora, Turbinaria, Seriatopora, Echinophyllia Chalice coral, and most any branching SPS. All that it usually takes is to gently hold a piece between your thumb and forefinger, then gently apply leverage and it should break off in your hand fairly easily. The downside is the lack of control on where exactly the coral breaks, this approach is usually only opted for when other methods are not possible. If the coral is too thick to break by hand without damaging tissue, opt for cutting with some coral shears instead.
Slice Them
A sharp razor blade, X-Acto knife, or even scissors can come in handy for taking frags of soft corals like Mushrooms, Toadstools, Finger Leathers, Pulsing Xenia, and Green Star Polyps. Take them out of the water, place them on a hard surface and make a clean slice in one smooth motion. Leathers and branching soft coral can easily be cut using sharp scissors underwater where they will retain their shape.
Cut Them
Coral cutters or even garden pruners will cut through branching stony corals such as Acropora Torches, Hammers, and Duncan corals. The first step is to make the polyps retract before removing them from the water, this is especially important for LPS corals like Euphyllia. It is best to cut the coral at the base of a branch and be sure to choose a healthy stem with healthy tissue to create a successful frag that will regrow. Coral cutters give a cleaner cut and do less damage to the flesh of SPS compared to breaking pieces off by hand.
Saw Them
A coral bandsaw is best for coral species where you have to cut through a thick skeleton and coral flesh. This includes the encrusting LPS corals like Acanthastria, Catalaphyllia, Goniopora, Chalice, Goniastrea, and Favites. It works just like a wood bandsaw but has a diamond-coated blade and is safe for use with salt water. The idea is to cut along the coral's ridges or in between the mouth or "eyes" of the coral. The technique takes practice and different corals will require particular cuts based on their particular growth patterns and skeletal structure. This technique is very clean and efficient but does require a bit of experience.
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Mounting Options
There are a variety of coral mounts available and all of them are quite versatile. Frag disks, frag plugs, and rubble rock can all work to hold just about any type of coral. Frag Disks work best for encrusting corals like zoanthids and montipora, frag plugs are perfect for SPS and fit nicely into most frag racks, and rubble rock holds anything but also looks more natural in your aquarium.
Most hobbyists use Cyanoacrylate gel (a superglue gel) to stick and mount corals. This creates an instant bond and can be used to mount all hard corals and many soft corals to frag plugs. It can also be used to adhere frags directly to your aquascape. Epoxy can also be an effective adhesive and is great for creating a base where a coral frag can then be superglued onto the epoxy directly. This works well for attaching frags to an aquascape and mounting larger branching LPS.
How To Attach Soft Corals: Soft corals will eventually attach themselves to the rock as they grow. You just need to hold that coral in place long enough for it to attach itself. Wedge the coral in place, gluing it to the rock directly, holding it to the rock with a rubber band, or using the toothpick method are all viable solutions.
How To Attach Stony Corals: Stony corals are often best adhered with super glue. For larger corals like Euphyllia, you can use Epoxy to create a foundation that will hold the coral, then glue the coral base into that epoxy foundation with super glue. Small sticks of SPS can easily be removed from the coral mount and glued directly to the rock.
How To Attach Encrusting Corals: In this scenario, you typically cannot remove the coral from the mount. Just glue the entire mount onto your rocks and it will eventually grow out and encrust onto the surrounding rock.
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