Cut Zoa polyp melted

[Nick Rose]

My GMK got to 16 polyps so I decided to try fragging it. I just did one polyp to see how it went. A week later and the single polyp melted. The mother colony is fine.

I used a fresh scalpel to make the cut and then took a small bone cutter to get some of the frag plug with the polyp. Glued it to a fresh rock and dipped it in Seachem reef dip for 10min.

What did I do wrong?

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Read the below thread

Fragging Zoanthids

How to frag zoanthids.

www.reef2reef.com

What I can tell is you only did one polyp, some zoanthids can handle that some cant. Probably dependent on how good of a cut you made (not cutting organs). I always try to get at least 3 polyps at a time, worst case 2 because of this. Another possibility is getting glue on the polyp and it couldn't open, another reason for 3 polyps.

 

[Nick Rose]

I was hoping that it would do fine. I bought it as a single polyp last October and the LFS had several single polyp frags. It’s definitely not glue getting on the mouth. Could dipping be to stressful?

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I doubt it, I had the same issues when I was first fragging them and after I read that article I havent had one melt since. I can do single polyps with my hardier zoas but with ones that cost a fortune or grow slower I dont take the risk. Just make sure when you cut its as close to the surface it is clinging onto as possible. I bought a wood chisel so that I could chip below the footing and not even cut the zoa.

 

[littlebigreef]

I was hoping that it would do fine. I bought it as a single polyp last October and the LFS had several single polyp frags. It’s definitely not glue getting on the mouth. Could dipping be to stressful?

The fact you dipped is a good thing. I'm not familiar with the Seachem product, I usually use Lugol's. That said, you always want to minimize the amount of tissue you're cutting and if possible keep the frag in somewhat similar conditions to the mother (accounting for light, flow etc). Sometimes you do everything right and for whatever reason it just doesn't work out. It's been my experience that GMKs grow well but can be hit or miss when it comes to fragging.

 

[Nick Rose]

Well I decided to try it again but this time I did no dipping. Its been 3 days and so far its staying open. The first frag never really opened. This time around within hours the polyp opened. I guess this could be the hit or miss of fragging or the dip stressed out the first polyp.

 

[720 Reefer]

When I frag my zoas, i dip them in a lugol's iodine dip for about 5 minutes after they are cut. Some do well after being fragged and some don't (even from the same colony). I think how clean the cut is can be one of the biggest factors.