How to frag a Chalice??

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I have grown my RSC Rainbow Chalice into a nice piece. Part of it got stung by my anemome so I cut out the dead spot with my dremel with diamond blade. I decided to frag 2 small 1/2 by 1/2 frags with my dremel while I had it out of the water. Did this on Saturday and both frags are now completely white. Very mad I lost both frags of this beautiful chalice. Main colony still has about 30 eyes on it, so it could be worse.

Before I try this again I want to know the best way to frag a chalice and should I dip after I frag?
 
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thank you for askin, cuz this is what i am lookin to do as well...my LFS who specializes in chalices uses a band saw, which my fiancee and i were online looking for earlier. it seems that it makes the nicest and cleanest cut. i always believe in dipping after cutting, i.e. revive or something similar, but now i have heard it is not necessary at all. hopefully someone who has done it often can answer...
 
Inland band saw is what a-lot of people use for chalices. Cuts so smooth and nice! Also leaves like no tissue damage, really awesome how well this saw does.
 
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Window scraper with fresh razor blade, cutting board and a hammer.
 
band saw would be a perfect tool.. you cant go wrong with this
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
Brett, I think the thing to do would be to bring it over here, and I'll frag a piece off and keep it for long-term observation. ;)

Not sure how you went about fragging it, but I've had great success with using a dremel and diamond cutting wheel. I do make sure I put the frags and colony back in the water ASAP after fragging to reduce stress. Also, if cutting is taking a little while, I continue to periodically dip during cutting to rinse and wet the coral. I've had nearly 100% success with this. The only frags I lost were a couple of really tiny chips of MH that I had left after fragging that had no eyes.

Good current is key after fragging, both for the frags and colony. This will help rinse off any debris from cutting and prevent infection. I also put the frags in lower light for a while so they can heal up.
 
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Brett, I use the same setup and it works great(a dremel with ebay diamond blades).
I usually try to cut them from the back if I can(unmounted) and then cut the flesh with a clean razor, but either way works well for me.
I put all the frags in a revive dip for a few minutes, then mount and dip in tank water and return to tank. ;)

FWIW: I'd be interested in trading for a piece of that chalice when you frag it again. I've got a few things you might light.

The only issues I've had is when I don't return the frags to the same location the colony was for a few days. I usually just wait a few days and then move them to the frag tanks, if their not full already.
 
Nanofins said:
Brett, I think the thing to do would be to bring it over here, and I'll frag a piece off and keep it for long-term observation. ;)

Not sure how you went about fragging it, but I've had great success with using a dremel and diamond cutting wheel. I do make sure I put the frags and colony back in the water ASAP after fragging to reduce stress. Also, if cutting is taking a little while, I continue to periodically dip during cutting to rinse and wet the coral. I've had nearly 100% success with this. The only frags I lost were a couple of really tiny chips of MH that I had left after fragging that had no eyes.

Good current is key after fragging, both for the frags and colony. This will help rinse off any debris from cutting and prevent infection. I also put the frags in lower light for a while so they can heal up.
Click to expand...

Was out of the water like 60 seconds at most. I should bring it over to your place next time. I actually fragged this thinking you would want a piece of it.

chris goetz said:
Brett, I use the same setup and it works great(a dremel with ebay diamond blades).
I usually try to cut them from the back if I can(unmounted) and then cut the flesh with a clean razor, but either way works well for me.
I put all the frags in a revive dip for a few minutes, then mount and dip in tank water and return to tank. ;)

FWIW: I'd be interested in trading for a piece of that chalice when you frag it again. I've got a few things you might light.

The only issues I've had is when I don't return the frags to the same location the colony was for a few days. I usually just wait a few days and then move them to the frag tanks, if their not full already.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris. I will put you on the list. Your in MN too right?
 
In a realistic world all of us would have acess to an inland band saw. But with the tools that you have the best that you can do is mount the plug frag plate or substrae to the chalice via what ever prefered method you chose. then once the chalice has grown naturally onto the plug then you come back with the dremel and score the back, flip it over and cut the rest with a sterile razor blade. the issue you are having is coming from first stressing via the cutting process then killing it with the mounting of it!

If you limit the stress on the coral at the time of cutting the you will have greater sucess! try dipping it in Revive after the cutting!

here is an example of (SDguy) doing this with a chalice, that is to be cut later.

DSC00805_1-1.jpg
 
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I usually try to cut them from the back if I can
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention, but this is also something I do. I prefer to score the chalice from the back with the dremel, cutting almost all the way through, and then do the final severing with a razor. Back to the same tank and similar area, but I prefer to go with reduced light.
 
Inland saw did this... ;)

01-07-10_OrigME.jpg


01-07-10_OrigME2.jpg


01-07-10_OrigME3.jpg


01-07-10_OrigME4.jpg


my bro got saw happy since it's his first time using the saw...
01-07-10_Carnage.jpg


didn't lose a frag... we also used saltwater on the saw... :)
 
Avast
I'm investing in a inland bandsaw myself!
I've been using a dremel with diamond blade it does the trick but i've notice it takes out 3 times the blade which i don't dig!
 
Did you cut off the dead stuff first then the frags? I ask because I wonder if your blade got hot and thats why they died. I lost a FTer chalice frag a while back and thought that the inland band saw would of just paid for itsself. I got the saw and haven't lost a chalice frag yet.
 
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