Zoo Propagation - With Pics!

[ReefMatrix]

A couple people have asked me about propigating zoos and what not in the chat. So, I decided to take some pictures of how I am propigating zoos and other corals that "spread" via mats.

 

Pic 1 - The Plates

 

Instead of using more natural resources such as live rock, even though it may already be in your tank, I decided on something different. I also hate those concrete plugs or plugs in general. They never fit anywhere and they don't look natural. I also do not like putting frags on rocks, unless requested. This makes shipping harder because the frags will bounce around and the rock or plug can damage the coral. So, I decided to use acrylic plates.

 

 

I went to Lowe's and purchased a 6x8 sheet of acrylic and had the guy cut them up into manageable squares. Since acrylic is smooth, I thought this might pose a problem for getting corals that grow in mats attached, so I decided to rough up the surface to allow for some friction and gripping. All you need to do is frag your coral, zoos, xenia, gsp, whatever it might be that grows in matts and glue them to the plates.

 

The main advantage to acrylic plates than with any other form of fraging are as follows:

 

1 - Allows me to see new growth more easily.

2 - They can be packed more tightly into tanks since acrylic lets light pass thru.

3 - A flater surface for growing.

4 - No bulky plugs, rocks or other items.

5 - When the frags have grown, they can be peeled from the plates and safely shipped without worry of damage, to its destination. No punctured bags.

6 - Allows the hobbyist to place the mat on existing rock in his/her tank anywhere. No more weird frag rock shapes or plugs. Just glue it in place with a couple dabs of glue.

 

Here are some more pictures for you to enjoy!

 

Xenia Plate - New growth has already started to spread on the plate.

 

 

Green Zoo Plate - Opening very nicely.

 

 

Orange Zoo Plate - Beutiful color

 

 

Finally, the full tank shot. See how easy it is to keep them in place?

 

 

Enjoy!

[arpanlib]

hey,

thanx for sharing this, but i dont see any description how you did that.

 

kindly tell us what is the setup you are using, what lighting, SG etc.

 

also let me know how fast do they multiply. i mean one polyp will becmoe how many in 1 month ????

 

if you could give details how you disattached them from the reock and put them on the plate etc, it will be of great help.

 

thanx for the lovely pic.

 

arpanlib

[tinyreef]

abs, (easier to call you that for some reason, no offense meant)

 

that's a great idea. i had been using pvc couplings but they're too hard to peel off without gooshing because of the curvature. (zoo juice) :x i was NOT meant to be a surgeon obviously.

 

you could also use flexible acrylic/plastic strips (like those used at the checkout counters to hang impulse-buy goods). you could mass grow and then separate them. they can then be wrapped around target LR. albeit, they'll be in long rows but they should quickly grow over and beyond the strips.

 

btw, that xenia looks unusual, almost like a tubipora. is it an anthelia maybe?

[ReefMatrix]

arpanlib-

 

Basically to frag zoos, you need to cut them as close to the base of the polyp as possible with a fresh razor blade or very sharp scalpel. Or, you can attempt to pull up part of the mat if the rock is somewhat flat/smooth and cut a section off. Sometimes, zoos will grow over sand or up creating a protrusion from the colony just dangling in the air. You can cut that and place a tiny drop of glue - the size of a pin head on the plate and attach them.

 

If you try and cut them with a dull blade, you will make them ooze and that is not a good thing. Like what tinyreef said.

 

As far as how fast they grow, it depends on conditions of your tank and the "biological clock" of the zoo's themselves. A rough estimate might be around 10 new polyps in a month if conditions are right - perhaps more.

 

The setup is a 28 bow with a 150w 10k halide pendant.

 

 

Tinyreef-

 

I don't know what that xenia is. I was told it was pom-pom xenia. It could be something else. When the polyps retract, they go into a tube kinda like gsp's do, and the tube is kinda "furry". Other than that, I do not know

[SAILFIN]

it looks to me like a pipe organ coral not sure on the scientifc name rightof hand but imo thats what it looks like

[jdiver]

That's an interesting prop method. Is this something you just started doing, or have been doing for a while?

 

FYI, I believe the coral on the first sheet are clove polyps. My gf has some that are a bright green that I'm going to steal soon. lol

[ReefMatrix]

Yeah, I don't know what they are. Ugh. I did this a few weeks ago and so far, I like the results

[harbingerofthefish]

Neat idea, I tried the same thing a while back but in my small tank the little acryllic squares looked like crap, so out they went.

 

The first pic, are the tubes hard or soft? If hard pipe organ (tubipora musica) if soft then probally clove polyps.

 

it'll be intresting to see how fast these guys spread.