Fragging 101 I Duncan Coral

https://youtu.be/W7GKNu2qk4k

Methodology:

The method I use for fragging the majority of hard corals is primarily the same with the cutting tooling being a Gryphon band saw.

Cooling liquid used is fresh mixed saltwater with enough iodine to color it a light amber. This helps to disinfect cuts as they're made which has shown to greatly increase frag survival.

All corals are stored during cutting in a small bucket holding water taken directly from their home aquarium. This water is used both to keep them wet as well as for rinsing any flesh away from cuts while I'm working on them.

All finished, and rinsed, frags or trimmed colonies are soaked in Brightwell Aquatics Restor dip to insure that minimal flesh is lost.

Both soak buckets are rinsed and replenished between colonies to reduce the risk of interactions between loose flesh of different coral species.

Notes about duncans:

Duncans have extremely sensitive flesh that is susceptible to infection if damaged. As always, while handling torch, be sure to keep specimens fully submerged until polyps retract.

Duncans form in varying densities of branches which can make fragging them different for every colony. Be sure to cut between polyps and always cut branches off as far below the polyp as possible.

Some colonies can form in extremely sight bunches like the one in the video. For these, cut them up directly along the ridges that divide the polyps.

If there's a specific species you would like to see fragged, leave a comment below.

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Please watch: "Lets Talk Beginner Soft Corals"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql6WKQQ7wH8
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Does using saltwater as the cooling fluid cause any issues of rust or rapid oxidation on the blade and equipment?

Not that I've noticed, but the only metal on the saw that the cooling liquid really comes into contact with is the blade. We end up burning through them faster than they can rust if they are rusting.

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Cut up another big colony of duncans recently and had awesome survival rates as usual. These are definitely one of the toughest and easiest healing of LPS corals. The key is not to get into the flesh when cutting below polyps. If you can see flesh inside the skeleton when looking at the base of cut branches, than you're cutting to close to the polyp. Usually at least one inch below the polyp is space enough.

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