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Anchoring
Coral Fragments |
There are three things you need for
this critical task of coral propagation:
1. Anchor bases
2. Coral fragments
3. Stabilising media/AdhesiveThe coral fragments,
or frags, should be chosen for shape and size.
They can theoretically be as small as is needed
to contain at least one polyp, ..but you don't
want to wait two years for the propagated new
colony to attain substantial size!
Stylophora spp. coral are what this webpage
devotes propagation discussion to (for now at
least), and for this species of coral, a 2.0 cm
to 5.0 cm long branch is more than satisfactory.
Shape-wise, the more protuberances developing on
the branch, the better.
The anchor
base can be a piece of live rock, beach
stone, or pre-cast concrete plugs. The base must
be stable and heavy enough, to keep the mounted
frag from tipping over, and non-toxic to the
frag. Coral will try to grow onto almost any
relatively clean surface it comes into contact
with.
However, the contact must be stable and
prolonged. Under ideal conditions, I've had
Stylophora coral grow firmly over a contact
surface
within one and a half days! To give a frag a
decent chance to latch onto its base, aquarists
have used drilled or precast slots in the base to
receive the frags, and/or plastic pins, rubber
bands, elastomerics and cyanoacrylate
glue, the last of which is the option
dealt with here.
"Super" glue was actually developed
decades ago as a kind of instant suture for use
on the battlefield, and has proven its worth in
all sorts of live-tissue gluing jobs: coral
propagation definitely included.
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 A
newly-anchored coral stub in a pre-cast
cement base,
flanked by two older colonies anchored to
drilled pieces of
beach stone. The top colony, a different
species from the other two, was very
branchy to begin with, and has grown
moderately
in the two months since anchoring;
the bottom colony was originally just a
thick, unbranched frag anchored
horizontally. The white tips of its
branches attest to its
rapid growth: 0.4 sq.cm. per week, over
one month.
Sea urchins
(Diadema sp.) keep the basin, and most
notably
the beach-stone bases, mostly
free of algae!
This diadema is a baby, about 2 inches
across, spines included.
It's elders can have spine-included spans
of well over 60 cm.!
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Preparing
the Anchor Base(s) |
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Bases
of live or inert rock will need little discussion
beyond the already-treated topics of weight,
stability, and non-toxicity.
Live rock
DOES need to be as free of algae or other living
material as possible AT THE POINT OF CONTACT with
the coral frag.
Anyway, for precast cement plugs,
a plastic eggtray is used as a
mold. Short sections cut from a hot-glue
stick are affixed upright to the bottoms
of the egg-sockets with a dab of melted
wax. These provide the cast with peg
holes to stick frags into. Once the cement
is mixed and poured in, you wait for them it to
cure. The glue sticks are easy to pull out of the
hard cement cast: just remember to leave enough
length of glue stick to grab onto when you cut
them in the first place.
The dry plugs are popped free, the glue stick
sections yanked out, and the plugs soaked in a
neutralizing bath of fresh water (slight acidity
will help) for a day or two. |
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There's
two ways to anchor a frag, orientation-wise:
vertically and horizontally.
I use vertical anchoring when
the frag is on the smallish end of the size
scale. The physical lock provided by the peg hole
of the base is made full use of.
On the other hand, horizontal anchoring
provides a larger area of attachment to the base,
and is ideal for coral frags possessing larger
size and numerous budding branches.You need to take your
relatively dry bases, and set them down on some
stable, clean work surface. Your frags should be
sitting in saltwater, and your cyanoacrylate (CA)
glue should be ready to go. A gel-type CA glue
dries more slowly, giving you a few extra moments
to work the contact about; and it furthermore
doesn't run or spread out on its own like non-gel
CA glue.
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The
frags in the saltwater basin;
the bases, and the superglue on a board above.
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 Anchoring frags is easy and fun.
The challenge is in the weeks ahead!
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First,
study each frag and how it would best be
anchored. If need be, you can break up a frag
further. Pick a frag up out of the water, apply
glue to the base and/or to the frag at the point
of contact, and without delay, gently press base
and frag together.
Let the assembled colony sit out of the water a
few moments (I give it ten seconds) to let the
glue 'skin' a bit. Return the assembled colony to
the second tray of saltwater. The glue may whiten
on contact with the water, --this is normal and
inconsequential.For a vertical anchor,
I emphasize application of glue to the frag's tip
AND the base socket. You're fairly sure of the
contact point, and so can commit the glue with
confidence. For horizontal anchoring,
I apply glue to the base only, and maneuver the
frag to sit on the glue.
As soon as possible, put all mounted coral into
their grow-out basins, and let them grow!
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