Plate Coral

racerw · Jul 7, 2009

What is the best way to frag one??

Blackhawk Fan · Jul 7, 2009

Wet saw would make sense, but I've never tried it.

tc269 · Jul 7, 2009

the best way I have seen is accually almost kill it!! sounds wierd but true. if it almost dies like in certain parts, the parts where the tissue is alive will grow new plate corals. I would amost think you could sprinkly strait salt mix on some parts to kill it and than the part where the salt didnt kill would grow new plates. I know sounds crazy but it works.

Hungriee · Jul 7, 2009

tc269 said:
the best way I have seen is accually almost kill it!! sounds wierd but true. if it almost dies like in certain parts, the parts where the tissue is alive will grow new plate corals. I would amost think you could sprinkly strait salt mix on some parts to kill it and than the part where the salt didnt kill would grow new plates. I know sounds crazy but it works.

Have you tried this? This sounds crazy but interesting actually.

tc269 · Jul 7, 2009

yea I have tried this but not on a plate coral but my bubble coral. I now have about 10 tiny bubble coral growing. i have read about people doing it on plate corals. Ill try to find where i saw this at.

racerw · Jul 7, 2009

tc269 said:
the best way I have seen is accually almost kill it!! sounds wierd but true. if it almost dies like in certain parts, the parts where the tissue is alive will grow new plate corals. I would amost think you could sprinkly strait salt mix on some parts to kill it and than the part where the salt didnt kill would grow new plates. I know sounds crazy but it works.

I have heard this as well. Someone told me to let a frogspawn burn it and where there were mouths it will start to redevelop. I am just to nervous to try this.

I have tried a band saw the main plate looks ok but the fragged piece looks rough.

tc269 · Jul 7, 2009

they are pretty hardy corals im sure it will turn around and look great!

dfisch1 · Aug 24, 2009

I am going to try and use a diamond cutting wheel on my drimel. I will let you know how it works out.

oceanparadise1 · Aug 24, 2009

why would you frag it? this is a coral that might take a year to regrow if not more they are VERY slow growers

RadReef · Aug 24, 2009

oceanparadise1 said:
why would you frag it? this is a coral that might take a year to regrow if not more they are VERY slow growers

I couldn't agree more. I've seen some plate fragging jobs consisting of scoring the plate on the bottom with a dremel and then using bone cutters to snap the pieces apart. Unfortunately, the pieces are not round and may never be. I can only speak for myself, but I'm only interested in plates that have some semblance to round. Not to mention that they are a very sensitive coral that takes years to grow to an adult size. I would just be happy with it and let it grow. My .02

aquascapesofla · Aug 25, 2009

RadReef said:
I couldn't agree more. I've seen some plate fragging jobs consisting of scoring the plate on the bottom with a dremel and then using bone cutters to snap the pieces apart. Unfortunately, the pieces are not round and may never be. I can only speak for myself, but I'm only interested in plates that have some semblance to round. Not to mention that they are a very sensitive coral that takes years to grow to an adult size. I would just be happy with it and let it grow. My .02

Agree 100% "plate" corals should be "platelike" round.

stunreefer · Aug 25, 2009

"Frag" of the Month - December 2006 - Propagating Fungia sp. (Plate coral) - Reefkeeping.com

Sikryd · Aug 25, 2009

stunreefer said:
"Frag" of the Month - December 2006 - Propagating Fungia sp. (Plate coral) - Reefkeeping.com

Thanks for the article. That was pretty informative.

I'll probably try out one of these methods, just so I can see for myself how it works out :xd:

racerw · Aug 25, 2009

oceanparadise1 said:
why would you frag it? this is a coral that might take a year to regrow if not more they are VERY slow growers

This is my plate coral that I plan on keeping. I have a friend that wants a piece and I do not want to get rid of it (it is bright yellow with splays of green thru it). SO I am not worried about the round shape or how slow it would re grow.
On a side note, I received a small frag of a plate that was the size of a dime and is now the size of a 1/2 dollar in about 6 months.

inactive · Aug 25, 2009

Dremel the underside about 1/8 inch away from where the flesh comes out. Get it close... then flip her around and use a fresh razor blade to separate the fleshy pieces.

stunreefer · Aug 25, 2009

IME over time the frags will re-round over time, a year or so...

dfisch1 · Sep 6, 2009

I gut two frags from mine. One I am trading with a friend for some Sudo Purple Hornets. The other I will be giving to a friend of mine. Both of the frags are doing very good and were open two hours after being fragged.

Djtonton · Nov 26, 2009

I fragged mine one time I used a dremel to score the bottom of the plate then i was able to cut it apart. I sold 3 pieces and kept one and that piece is now starting to grow again. Its amazing

I used that article that was posted earlier. works great

Just Clownin Around · Dec 13, 2009

i used a the tic tac toe board method and outta 7 pieces 3 survived and are doing well. the started to round out very quickly even though i made them into squares