Mounting SPS Frags

[er1c_the_reefer]

in eric borneman's propagation video, he talks about mounting SPS frags. he basically saids that on a reef, its natural for coral to propagate via fragmentation and settle on the bottom of the ocean side ways. it's more natural for a coral frag to be situated laterally than vertically and that coral spread faster and develope a base quicker this way.

 

i've been trying this method on a few pieces, but haven't noticed any significant difference in growth. the main thing i like so far is that on corals with thick enough branches you can cut them in half length-wise and get two frags instead of just one. downside, however, is that on smaller pieces you can't cut in half you're basically forced to glue over live polyps, which would seem contrary to getting them to grow faster.

 

does anybody else mount their frags like this and want to share opinions?

[pico1]

I've mounted sps both ways and the colonies grow out into more pleasing shapes once it grows into a whole colony when you mount it side ways. If you think about it corals don't land pointing straight up when they fall in the wild.

[andykee]

good tip! never thought of this until now.

[The Propagator]

The only benefit is faster encrustation which allows the coral to grow some what faster on a more stable base.

 

Both ways will yield the same results one just does it a little faster than the other.

 

If you mount an sps frag right side up it will usualy encrust and branch at the same time, but take longer to fill out.

Make sense?

[tinyreef]

If you think about it corals don't land pointing straight up when they fall in the wild.

disclaimer: i'm not a sps-guy.

 

but i would think a flat (or relatively flat) and open space is extremely rare on the reef. i would think it's more common for frags to land in a crevice or mini-valley among the reef/rocks.

 

i'll give that landing perfectly vertical is probably as rare as landing perfectly horizontal though.

[pico1]

good point tinyreef

[Raskal311]

I read about this awhile back and have given it a try and haven’t noticed any major different. I’ve also tried mounting the frags at a slope and also not any major different in growth. I find that if I clip the tips of the frags or colony actually force the frags to branch quicker.

[tinyreef]

I find that if I clip the tips of the frags or colony actually force the frags to branch quicker.

i'm curious, rask, what do you mean by clipping the tips? is it like how you prep a gorgon base into a hole (shaving off a bit of the flesh to expose the skeleton a bit)?

 

if so, do you just cut open the tips or just shear the very most tips off? ouch!

[er1c_the_reefer]

you snap off a small piece of the tip. you can use it as a small frag. goal is to break corallites. broken corallites means more branches.

[The Propagator]

Took the words out of my mouth Eric.

[sea man dan]

Sorry for being dumb , but what is a corallite?

[The Propagator]

A coralite would be like an eye socket to us. It is what the polyp sits in on the skeleton.

[firefishbrain]

I read an article by anthony calfo on rc about this, if you lay it horizontally, all the polyps will grow up thus creating a colony faster, and if you cut it hot dog style you get even more sps fun!!!! I'll try to find it...