Fuzzy blue mushroom fragging

[RockStacker]

I decided to experiment with fragging this fuzzy blue mushroom (could be a St. Thomas).
It has just been growing bigger but not splitting or producing any little ones so I wanted to help it along.



Once I pulled out the small rock that it was attached to, I saw one fully formed baby fuzzy blue mushroom on the bigger rock it was sitting on (insurance yeah!)
So I left that baby alone where it was attached to, hoping it would grow as big as the mommy eventually.

So I cut the mushroom away from its rock and cut it into 4 pieces.
The frags are now in a HOB refugium hooked up to the frag tank.


Close up of the 4 frags - they look like crap :(. I hope they make it.


I am also hoping that the portion of the original foot that remained on the rock would also start to form little babies in the main tank.

 

[Waddi]

Those things are hardcore. Tiny pieces of feet that i cut would regrow no worries.

 

[RockStacker]

Thanks Waddi.

Also, if you look at the original mushroom, there is a discoloration or stripe from the mouth going all the way to the outside edge of the mushroom. Like two or three rows of the "fuzzies" are bleached.

At first I thought that this was a natural color morph, but now I am wondering if this could have been a healing scar if this mushroom was also fragged in the past.

 

[RockStacker]

The little frags are still alive, so that's a good thing :).
The cut wounds appear to be healing nicely and no more coral guts are dangling out of the edges.

I will try to take pictures tomorrow when the lights are on, although there's not a lot to see yet.

They have not attached to any rocks in the container yet and still tumble every now and then.
I did notice that two of the frags have curled up around their corners where the mouth was. And one frag has not fully curled up yet, but has an almost fully formed mouth already.
The fourth one is a bit weird. I it looks like it is forming a mouth on both top and bottom of the disk.

It has only been 4 days since fragging them and they are already starting to hold their own.

The little baby mushroom that was left with the original foot has grown to about twice the size since I removed the mommy mushroom. I guess since it is no longer under the mommy's shadow it is now able to grow faster.

 

[2XAl]

good news! throw some pics up

 

[RockStacker]

Here are some pictures.

The frags are still tumbling around a little bit, but are healing up nicely.
The one on the left is clearly start to grow into a complete disk, and the "tentacle" rows are starting to line up.
Each frag is about the size of a penny.



I'm not sure if you can see the baby mushroom in this pic.
It is in the center of the picture. That was where the original mushroom was growing and sprouted off a baby.
When I took the mushroom out and fragged it, I left the baby in place.


If this works out, I might frag the frilly mushroom on the left. I bet it is very nervous right now. :)

 

[RockStacker]

Two frags are out of the nursery and placed in the main tank :)

 

[gpix]

Looks good! If you keep fragging it I might be interested if at some point you are willing to ship out. I'll be in touch if that is something you would consider doing.

Anywho, keep it up!

 

[RockStacker]

Looks good! If you keep fragging it I might be interested if at some point you are willing to ship out. I'll be in touch if that is something you would consider doing.

Anywho, keep it up!

In the near future I would be interested in trading. But I want to make sure I have a sustainable population in my tanks first :)
Right now I'm still learning about best practices for fragging and these little guys are in no way ready for shipping.

 

[gpix]

Sure thing man, I approve of your learning of alllll the knowledges in terms of fragging and such. :) Again, they look really neat so nice job. (I can't say they look good because I'm not experienced enough yet to know if a coral really does look good yet. I know if it's alive or dead!, but not if it looks "good" haha)

 

[RockStacker]

So far so good.

Of the four original frags, two seem to have attached really well to the rocks they were on. The other two bailed out of the rocks and are attached somewhere in the tank (I don't know where).

Also, I see three additional small but fully formed mushrooms where the original "foot" was.
So out of one mushroom, I now potentially have eight :).

 

[gpix]

Congrats! I hope you locate the other two as well. Lol

 

[RockStacker]

Congrats! I hope you locate the other two as well. Lol

I'm sure they will turn up.
They always do. :)