Sea-Mat Splitting

[Jawbone]

are there any sites out there that show how to split this type of sea mat without poisining myself and my aquarium,

 

[Mac1]

Zooanthid polyps like that I just let encrust and grow over a piece of rock adjacent to them. If you have any small bits of rubble or LR, or even old Snail shells (if big enough), work just fine. Pile them up next to the colony, as it grows it will grow over the small pieces. When covered, simply rip them off the mother colony, and you've got yourself a frag. I wouldn't worry about poisoning your tank, I regularly mash them up and make a mess of my Zooanthids when rearranging things. They let off some slime and don't seem very happy overall, but in a matter of days they're back to their usual self. If you just want to split the colony you have, I'd remove the rock from the aquarium, get a hammer and screw driver... You know what to do. Don't worry about the corals, they're tough buggers, and will make it through just fine.

- Mac

 

[Jawbone]

youve gotta be sh!+!#& me I cant believe we just go to rip and tear construction methods.\

There is really no need to carefully cut or even mend ( Like tar on the bark of a tree ) the cut or in this case tear ??

Hell its only money I guess I will try it.

BUT... How long till they heal and will my growth rate be more substantial or lessened

 

[danmhippo]

Before you go ahead and split them, WAIT!

I think you should at least wait and see if there are new growth of them in your tank. You should split only if you have seen new growth in your care. New growth indicates they are comfortable with the water chemistry and other environmental factors of your tank.

If they are not showing sign of new growth, don't expect them to heal well under your care.

 

[Jawbone]

Thanks for the input on the growth factor... Seems logical.

 

[Rich-n-poor]

Razor Blades the propagators secret weapon:

I use a sharp razor blade to cut connections between polyups and if possible I try to cut the top layer of coraline and or rock off under the polyups so they are still attached to something.

Live rock can be easily scrapped with a New razor blade and this gives you something to glue the new colony to another rock with.

I always add Iodine and Vitamin C to my tank when proping to prevent infection.

rich
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