Who out there "Frags" corals?

Since many of us support or encourage "Captive" raised animals...Who out there Frags corals for trade or sale? I am kinda curious what kinda numbers there might be that do VS those that dont. For those that do Frag, How many frags would you say you make a year?

Right now at the moment I am getting about 6 a month. Some of mine are going to fellow reefers and some are going back to the LFS. I am hoping real soon to double or triple that figure by the end of the year as a lot of things I have arent quiet colony sized yet.

Most of what I have done is SPS and Xenia. All of those the LFS has picked up didnt last more than 8 hrs in thier tanks before being sold. Right now I am trying to work on Zoanthids, Leathers, Gorgonians, and Capnella as there is more of a market for these in this area than SPS corals.

[gman0526]

That's great... I for one have been exploring the idea of investing in a coral farm. I just started adding corals to my tanks after 5+ yrs. with FOWLR.

The first coral I bought was a zoo patch that has been fragged 4x and each of the patches are propagating, so the little experiment is working.

Hopefully one day I can be a full time coral farmer, that would be awesome!!!!

[Condiman]

I have been fragging my corals every chance that I can get. I believe it is the best way to help out new reefers. By selling them at a low price.

[FishinInTheDark]

I fully intend to frag my stuff once my tank is well established. My vision is to have an egg crate rack along the back of my sump with little frags of zoos and whatnot and such cooking away. At this point, I'm just happy to see that things are healthy. I'm not ready to cut at them yet!

Conni

Well its good to hear that some are doing it and some are thinking about it.

I agree it is a great way to get someone new into the hobby with out breaking the bank too bad. It has helped me finance a good portion of my tanks! I know I have let a lot of mounted frags go for almost free to more than a few newbies!

I am just now starting to get some really choice colonies going, so I am all pumped up to expand things a bit and see if I can actually make some decent money at it, at least enough to support my "habit" in full. Besides its a enjoyable thing to do anyways and adds to the hobby in my opinion.

I thought about the egg crate thing but used sand. My next frag tank just might utilize it though. I mean...egg crate is cheaper than sand for sure! I was kinda hoping to trade some notes or observations with this thread as well...

[icereefer]

I'm fragging leathers, zoa's, mushrooms,xenia,RBTA clones,and soon ricordea's. and suppling small amounts of macro. Im just doing my research on shipping across the states right now just been shipping maybe 2 states away until I'm sure I can ship safely.

icereefer, Thats cool about the shipping. I have thought thats a bit beyond my ability from a realistic stand point. It would be great to get together and trade notes so I can see how you are doing this and get some "spiritual enrichment" of the finer points of that aspect.

[icereefer]

sharing notes is know problem once I know more, I've shipped mushrooms and zoa's like I said a couple of states away with know problems, my last shipping went good to except there star polyps I sent turned to mush, so I will have to find and different method on shipping them.
talk to you later
icereefer

[Zack]

I frag many things as well, mostly zoos. Imaexpat2, I would be very interested on trading notes and maybe talking about shipping zoos. i have been in contact with Jim about the shipment of zoos and the new way to send them. How do you usually ship or have you ever shipped before?

[mdmaquatic]

Zack and Imaexpat2....as you too know i'm looking into getting more into the zoos and muxhroom field. What new methods are you thinking about in regards to shipping?? I'm curious as i would like to know the best and safest method. Did you guys also know that you can use UPS ground for overnight if you are within say few hundred miles of the sender?? Saves alot of shipping cost, although most places will not surantee then item for you. Just my 2 cents.

[icereefer]

well I'm not zack or Imaexpat2. but I have been shipping frags since july,knock on wood I haven't lost a shipment yet. Zoa's and mushrooms are one of the easiest to ship, of any coral. I ship USPS priority,or express.
mushrooms ship well in water and zoa's ship best is a method zack told me about , it's called dry shipping. you just wrap a piece of plastic loosely around your frag, some use paper towels but myself believe the plastic works better because it doesn't sponge up the toxins that the zoa's releases when stressed. and add just about a 1/4" of water in the bag, just enough to keep the zoa's damp. I use a seal mechine to seal my frag bags this way it locks the water in and keeps every thing sealed nice.
just my 2 cents.
icereefer

[mdmaquatic]

Thanks for the help there icereefer, i wonder if thats why i can never get a decent zoo colony from one of my shipper...lol I'll have to try that technique.

[Zack]

Ice explained it best mdm. It has worked great for me.

[mdmaquatic]

Awesome Zack and it saves on shipping weight too. ORA uses that techniqe to ship their conchs. They come bundled in a wet paper towel. I'll have to try it when i send you those new zoos we should have soon. Talk to you all later. BTW Zack you gett first stab at them too, you have been a great help for danielle and i.

[kouma]

Wow we have a lot of experts here that frag coral. Is it possible that someone writes an article about how to frag corals for beginners like us?

[Sugar Magnolia]

hmm, that's interesting. I'll have to try shipping zoos that way. I've always bagged them up in tank water. your shipping method sure would save space in the shipping box ice! wish I'd known that yesterday when I begged up zoos to ship.

[mdmaquatic]

Isn't that already being done??? Maybe zack or one of the admin for coral forum would know where to look.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yep, theres a whole forum dedicated to it!
http://www.coralforum.com/forum25.html

Sorry mdmaquatic, I havent delved into the shipping thing yet, so I cant help here in this part of the thread. Thanks for the shipping of Zoos info though, thats sounds pretty cool!

[mdmaquatic]

Yeah Ray.... you get second shot at them... you and zack are my gueinee pigs...lol If they can make it to you then they should be fine elsewhere.

[newtofish]

I will getting into fragging very soon. Our local club in Dallas Fort Worth is having a prop workshop this Sat. The President of the club put together fragging kits for us to buy and alot of members are donating corals for us newbies to cut up and take home.
It should be a great day! Wish me luck. Now that I have a camera I will post a pic of what I frag. 8)

[FishinInTheDark]

Sounds like a blast, newtofish! Enjoy!

[Zack]

Wow we have a lot of experts here that frag coral. Is it possible that someone writes an article about how to frag corals for beginners like us?

Check out this article http://www.coralforum.com/reference72.html