How do you frag zoa's????

moppy · #1 10-18-2010, 09:38 PM

My tank is doing pretty well except that I have a number of zoa colonies that are overgrowing others. What do/can I do about this?

Can I just rip the polyps off???

Any thoughts as to what I should do?

THanks

Atomikk · #2 10-18-2010, 09:45 PM

Use a machette!

Seriously now, first is safety. Gloves and eye protection is a must. Next use either a scalpel or small snips to cut the zoas/palys from the rock. If the rock is too thick, use a dremel tool to cut the underside of that rock into smaller pieces.

HTH

reefwars · #3 10-18-2010, 09:58 PM

If you don't have a dremel you can use a sharp chisel, just place it between polyps on the mat and give a good hit with the hammer, also never frag anything in your tank and like mentioned above use gloves . Zoa's are somewhat tolerant of being out of water so I place the rock in question on a towel and do the deed quickly. I've also used a metal dish filled with tank water fir smaller pieces, be sure to shake off any debris and don't add the eater back to your tank as they are going to go into defense mode and slime

I only do this for zoa's or paly's and only for ones that are to big to cut. As mentioned above with zoa's toucan use a eazorblade to cut the mat and snip smaller pieces

goldie · #4 10-19-2010, 09:56 PM

what I did was take the rock out of the tank, used a razor blade to cut the polyp as close to the rock as possible and then used super glue to glue it to a frag plug. I put about 6 polyps per plug and on most all 6 or at least 5 were alive and open in a day or 2. Do make sure you use gloves and goggles though, zoos can make you really sick

fishytime · #5 10-19-2010, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldie

Do make sure you use gloves and goggles though, zoos can make you really sick

Or worse

moppy · #6 10-20-2010, 03:10 AM

I guess I'll give it a shot. The only problem is that the rocks the zoa's are growing onto are huge and have 4 or 5 different corals and zoa's on them. And what do you do if the rock s at the bottom of a large pile?
Thanks

Zoaelite · #7 10-20-2010, 03:29 AM

After all the good advice all I can say is make sure you are easy on the colony and dip both it and the frags after the snip. Fungus infections can be a real PITA after a frag session.