Propagating zooanthids

[Zookeeper]

On another thread, Fisherman asked:

"how do you split zoo's? i want to make a few mixed colonys?"

[ijo]

This is a good one.. there was that thread on Reefcentral about someones dog dying from eating zoo's and ever since I have stayed clear from propagating them.

IJO

[Fisherman]

wow that deadly lol..

[thien]

so how do you split them, zoomaster??

[Fisherman]

sorry about last topic zoo!! won't heppen again!!

[Zookeeper]

Here are some tips, based on my experience fraggin zoos, and on the reasearch I've done.

Safety Tip:

Always wear rubber/latex gloves when fragging zoos, as they contain a toxin, and don't rub your nose, eyes, lick your fingers etc.

The Easy/Safe Way:

Break the rock that the colony is on, into smaller pieces. I take the rock out of the tank, place it on a hard surface, and use a hammer and chisel. I try to keep at least five + polyps on each piece.

Another Easy/Safe (but very slow) Way:

Place a bare piece of rock or shell next to/touching an existing colony and wait for the colony to spread onto it. Once it has spread, take a scalpel or exacto knife and simple cut the two rocks apart.

A Useful but Riskier Way:

In many cases, you want to get a frag faster, but can't remove the rock that they are on. For this, you can take an exacto knife and carefully work it under the poylp mat (try to even take some rock with it as well). Once you have worked a piece off (again try I try for at least five polyps), you can then use superglue to attach it wherever you want. This does work, but this method has resulted in the most lost frags for me.

Tip for supergluing mats:

I've noticed that a colony will spread faster if attached to a fairly smooth surface, as opposed to a rough or bumpy rock. I like to use oyster shells.

[Fisherman]

i've decide not to frag zoo's lol..

[Zookeeper]

To the above post, I should also add to wash your hands when you are done.

[Zookeeper]

More on zooanthid toxin. This thread is a "sticky" on the zooanthid forum at reefcentral.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=158730

[Azonic]

All of my zoo fragging is done by slicing off sections of the "polyp mat" as Zookeeper called it. Out of the ones I've done, I only lost 1 but that was my own fault because when I glued it onto a rock, I got glue on the polyps and I think I killed them that way.

I just take my dead time with it, making sure not to slice into the zoo's themselves....seems to work for me.