Need help fragging acans.

[ahvrivera]

Well the time has come where my acans have grown way to much. I could use some pointers on fragging them. never done it before. Will using a dremel be ok to frag them? I dont want to completely chop them up. just wnat to trim the overgrown areas. I have looked a t a ton of vids and instructions but still am a bit un-easy to try it.Or if anyone in the area could help fragging them. you can keep a frag of what ever is fragged. I have 2 chalices and 3 acans that could use some fragging. Thanks for the help.
Austyn

 

[Loki]

Post some pictures and it will give us a much better way to help you. We can give general statements like cut the rock first then the highest ridge between each head you want to frag.

If we had a picture we may be able to even draw some lines that we would cut on.

 

[ahvrivera]

Thanks Loki. Ill get some pics up when i get home. I guess the best way for an acan is to have it retract so you could see the pattern on the skeleton, right?

 

[Loki]

Yes. And there should be a high ridge from what I've seen it's almost always the point you should cut on.

 

[fish&corals]

the way i frag mine is with a drumal and a diamond blade with alot of water you dont want to let your coral get to hot .. like loki said a pic would help you then we could show you where to cut it do you dont damage the mouths on it .. if i lived closer i would come up and help you frag ..

 

[ahvrivera]

the way i frag mine is with a drumal and a diamond blade with alot of water you dont want to let your coral get to hot .. like loki said a pic would help you then we could show you where to cut it do you dont damage the mouths on it .. if i lived closer i would come up and help you frag ..

Thanks. Thanks good to know. ill post some pics in a bit.

 

[ahvrivera]

Ok here are some pics. I apologige now for the pics. My charger for the camera battery took a dump and had to use my phone. I understang if the help is limited by these pics. I appreciate it though.
Acan #1

 

[Loki]

Nice! I'd say you have had that one a while.
:nerd:
Where are you wanting to cut and how many? and are you bringing them to MACNA?

 

[ahvrivera]

Acan #2

 

[Loki]

I like that one too! It looks like you have metal halides. If you were to put these guys on the sandbed or even in the shade it would really bring out more colors in them.

Now on to fragging. I assume they are attached to the rock that each of them is on. Decide how many heads of each you want off or what your goal is. I like the dome look to them I would try to get the bottom ring or two to just trim it up.

 

[ahvrivera]

Nice! I'd say you have had that one a while.
:nerd:
Where are you wanting to cut and how many? and are you bringing them to MACNA?

I wish i was able to go to MACNA lol. I would say at least 5 frags, Minimum 3 polyps each.and i was hoping you could tell me where would be best to frag them at . I got this acan as a 4 polyp frag little over 2 years ago. The second acan i got as a 2 polyp frag 1.5 years ago.

 

[Loki]

yeah let me take a look and see.

 

[ahvrivera]

Thats another reason i want to frag them is so i can detach them from the rock and place them on the sand bed. they where placed there and grew onto the rock. I want to cut up the chalices too so i can get more sand bed to place them on. the chalices have grown to almost 4-5" taking up a lot of sand bed. I also would like to pay it forward to a few friends that have helped me in the past and maybe put some up for trade.
Really appreciate your help on this/.

 

[Loki]

This isn't a perfect science and I am doing this on my phone with a new app.

So this is kind of what I am thinking.

I just realized that the pictures are small. I'll see if I can change that.

 

[Loki]

Okay new pics. They should be better.

That is seven frags out of that one and it should detach it from the rock.

 

[Loki]

 

[greybolt03]

Looks like your planning on doing a lot of fragging you might want to look into one of these
There's actually videos of fragging corals on the site too
ReefKeeper Saw, the Coral Frag Saw

 

[jonbar1]

I used a dremel on my big colony and it was not terribly easy. Cut from underneath the coral if possible to score it and don't cut more than 30 seconds before dunking the coral back in water to cool for a few seconds. Once the bottom is cut, cut the polyps apart from the top with a razor blade to separate. I did it in the living room and the whole room smelled like burnt bone/hair for a while...and be prepared for stuff to go spraying off everywhere while cutting.
I didn't worry about cutting heads in half, they regrow very quickly and were fully healed in a couple days at most.

 

[ahvrivera]

Thanks. Appreciate you taking the time to do this. My next question is. Do i cut all the way through the rock? or can i cut just under the lip to lift the frag? Im not huge into fragging yet so the Inland wet saw is a future option. looking at cutting these with a dremel.

 

[ahvrivera]

I used a dremel on my big colony and it was not terribly easy. Cut from underneath the coral if possible to score it and don't cut more than 30 seconds before dunking the coral back in water to cool for a few seconds. Once the bottom is cut, cut the polyps apart from the top with a razor blade to separate. I did it in the living room and the whole room smelled like burnt bone/hair for a while...and be prepared for stuff to go spraying off everywhere while cutting.
I didn't worry about cutting heads in half, they regrow very quickly and were fully healed in a couple days at most.

When you mean from under the coral. do you mean the rock. Its like 1.5 inches before i would get to the coral. And it will not peel off the rock. thanks for chiming in.