SPS FRAGGING 101
by VCoo71 (Charlie)and Saltysooner (Lori).

Well, Paul asked me to do a little SPS frag demo so I will give it my best shot.....first I would like to thank Lori (saltysooner) for lending the coral and her time...

There can be many reasons to frag an SPS coral....to spread it to different friends tanks (its always nice to have a backup!), to try to stop RTN/STN,or due to the fact it is growing into other nearby corals.  This can lead to death of the coral tissue where the two touch each other.

In this case the coral (a Dr. Mac blue tipped staghorn coral) has been growing rapidly in to two nearby corals.  You can see in the first picture how it is about to touch the smaller blue tipped tenuis colony.  The stag is the main coral to the left.

and here where it is about to touch one of the other SPS frags that is in the same tank:  The smaller coral frag is a new acquisition and may be damaged by the rapidly growing staghorn.

The tools of choice for cutting SPS corals are hemostats and wire/bone cutters.  These are available at various online vendors such as Premium Aquatics (www.premiumaquatics.com). 
The picture shows both of these tools. On the left are the hemostats and on the right are the wire/bone cutters.  Using these tools gives a neat cut without causing major damage to the coral.  It also avoids having to handle the coral excessively.

I personally wouldn't recommend taking any SPS coral cuttings that are smaller then one inch in size as the more polyps that a frag has the better chance that frag has of surviving. Also it really helps to make a colony that much quicker!
In this picture Lori is using the wire/bone cutters to clip through a branch of the staghorn to mak ea single one and a half inch branch off of the parent, or mother colony.

Similarly, she cuts a second frag from the other branch of about the same size.  As you can see, the parent colony does not have to be removed from the tank to perform this.  This is useful since often times the parents can not be moved.  Alternatively, the parent can be removed to a large dish or bowl full of tank water.

As the cuts are made it is not uncommon for the parent to slime.  Here you can see the mom sliming after the cuts.....the cuts will heal over quickly and the staghorn will start branching out again from here......which I am sure will have to be fragged again soon!

and here is the other cut.

After the cuts are made, both of the frags are collected and are placed in a small bowl filled with tank water.  To help collect the frags it is sometimes useful, if you have space, to place a small net under the branch to catch it.  It can be easy for a frag to get caught by water flow and get blown behind a rock and lost.  Once in the bowl, they can wait till you are ready to mount them to their new rock using superglue gel.

This is my preferred make of the superglue gel.  Most superglues will work, so long as they are the gel variety.  The standard liquid gels are too thin and will not allow the making of a blob to push the frag into.   The best location for a frag is either a small hole or next to a “bump” that will help support the frag as the glue dries and the frag grows.

In this picture Lori is using the superglue gel and gluing one of the two frags upright to a piece of base rock.  Before using the glue, dry the area of the rock with a paper towel.  Also, gently dry the cut edge of the coral.  Lori wears a latex glove because she has experienced skin irritations after touching some corals (can you say nematocysts?).

In the next picture Lori is gluing the other frag sideways to the base rock.  You can either add glue to the rock, then push the frag into the glue, or hold the frag on the rock and then add glue.  Ideally all of the cut edge needs to have glue. This helps seal the flesh of the frag and prevent disease and or tissue loss.  Some people will recommend gluing a frag on its side while others will recommend upright.

I really dont have a preference myself but i do try to get an unglued surface touching the rock (it seems to encrust wherever it touches) and would have gone with the sideways gluing in this case.  Here we have both frags glued to pieces of rubble.  It doesnt harm them to sit out of water for a few few minutes.

And finally, both frags are returned  back to the tank and are sitting on the bottom.  The upright frag is at the front and the sideways mounted frag is to the back.  Ideally, frags should be grown on for a small period in a tank that they came from, this reduces stress and lets them grow in the same conditions that have already helped the parents grow.

I/we  will update in a month and see how they have started to encrust and which one seems to be doing better.

Charlie and Lori
(Vcoo71 and Saltysooner)