Cutting up Colt Coral?

[oimate84]

My Colt coral is huge and I want to trim it off..but its stuck to some large rocks that I dont want to mess my rockword by taking it out of the tank...I will if I have to, but my question is, can I trim the colt inside the tank without risk of having toxins kill some of my montiporas? I know the Colt is on the less toxic side of the leather corals but I wanted to make sure...

 

[4angel]

I have cut a colt inside the tank housing other corals including SPS with no adverse affects. What I can say is that I also had to detach the coral from from rock. The colt came out with some resistance but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. By the way the colt frags look great and in one case better than the mother coloney. Good luck
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Slingshot paintball

 

[Expos Forever]

Running a quality carbon will help.

 

[ZigZagZombie]

I also have cut a colt inside the tank with no problems. Make sure you have a new blade though. I use a box cutter blade. Cuts like butter.....

 

[Anonymous]

IF you have to do it in the tank run carbon and inly do a few cuts per week. This way you can limit the anout of stuff that gets released. I frag my leathers in tank and only take a cutting or two every couple of days.

 

[liquid]

One thing you could try is taking a tiny rubberband and wrapping it real tight around the branch that you want to remove. Eventually the branch should just bud off on its own. Try it and see what happens.

Shane

 

[oimate84]

Not a bad idea Shane. Ill try that and see if it works...never heard of that method before..cool deal

 

[liquid]

I just thought of it on the spot. Heck it works with castrating animals, so why not corals! lol

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I just thought of it on the spot. Heck it works with castrating animals, so why not corals! lol

Shane

LOL, I'm glad you mentioned that shane, because I was about to! :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that colt is a real bugger to attach. You may want to consider wedging a piece under some LR and get it to attach before you hack it off. Some methods that work farily well are bridal veil, sewing it down lightly with dental floss or fishing line, or pushing a tooth pick through it and ribber banding it down. Just be careful colt tears easy. I have never managed to attach a frag.

 

[smokinreefer]

i have a colt that is 15 x 15 x 15" that i just hacked off about a dozen frags, or should i say branches in side my 180. sps dominated, no problems.

but yeah, to be safe, running some carbon and a water change wont hurt.

and yeah, like mentioned, colts tear easy and are a bizotch to attach.

 

[liquid]

FWIW, mine seems to want to throw off buds at any change in the water chemistry: pH spike? bud like mad. Salinity change? Bud like mad. The stuff is a weed! heh

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I've been thinking about adding a colt to my tank for awhile now. I think I might go look for one this weekend.

 

[Ralphyhp]

I use a sharp sissors a little piece of live rock a toothpick and a rubberband. I cut it on the tank and take the frag to a plate with some water from my tank then i proceed with the toothpick method. I wait two weeks to remove the rubberband and the toothpick from the frag. Here some pics.

 

[o2manyfish]

Nice mother colony -- Looks like it wants it's own tank.

Dave B

 

[Ralphyhp]

Dave, it use to be bigger than that. I already frag this monster over 20 times or more and still growing.

 

[Rlumenator]

Are you selling frags of this?? All I can find are beige colored varieties in my area.

 

[Ralphyhp]

Yes i do Dawn but her in Puerto Rico. Sorry :wink: .

 

[atvtony]

my colt is growing like mad also
its got to be about 18 inches tall i had to move it to bottom of the tank
now its attached itself to live rock and growing like crazy i would like to split it off and plant some of it on the other side of the tank
i see people taliking about using rubber bands to choke it off but do i cut it at the top where the BUDS are ?? or at the bottom where the stalk attaches to the rock mine have about 12 inches of stalk the tops keep reaching the surface of the water ....
this is the best growing coral i have ever seen ....
i read previos threads about using a razor or fishing line i undertsnad how o make a cut ...my question is where do i cut it??

 

[qwiksilver]

Cut it at the base of the bud or stem if you want a few buds. A trick that has always worked for me to get it to drop branches is to change the flow on it to really high turbulent. Every time I do this I get 8 to 12 frags easy, and it isn't cut or damaged, but does it naturally with a new bud already growing where the branch or old bud dropped off. The first time I saw it I couldn't believe it. Overnight it looked like it had developed hinges on some of the branches and buds, they were hanging by a tiny piece. Then I noticed underneath where it had been fully attached was a tiny new bud.