Keraxis February 3, 2015 Share February 3, 2015 Was just wondering what kits you would recommend. The ecotech is nice but expensive. Whats a good value for the money kit that will last me years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 3, 2015 Share February 3, 2015 Go to Home Depot and buy a set of garden sheers and some razor blades. Ta-daaaaa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis February 3, 2015 Author Share February 3, 2015 Go to Home Depot and buy a set of garden sheers and some razor blades. Ta-daaaaa! Thats why I love you.... your the redneck hobbyist. I thought about getting some quality wire snips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM February 3, 2015 Share February 3, 2015 I bought the BRS bone cutters with the teeth At first I was upset that they didn't close completely, but those things can cut some hard coral or can cut the stems off frag plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme February 3, 2015 Share February 3, 2015 Revlon toe nail trimmers.... Idea care of Dave Lin. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis February 3, 2015 Author Share February 3, 2015 Think the wife told me I could spend $50. Not a bad budget. I would like to get something from a vendor and support the club if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S February 4, 2015 Share February 4, 2015 http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-coral-propagation-kit-standard-2.html we have vendors who sell BRS stuff. quantum reefs for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis February 4, 2015 Author Share February 4, 2015 http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-coral-propagation-kit-standard-2.html we have vendors who sell BRS stuff. quantum reefs for example. excuse to go out to quantum..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 4, 2015 Share February 4, 2015 http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-coral-propagation-kit-standard-2.html we have vendors who sell BRS stuff. quantum reefs for example. Excellent direction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 February 4, 2015 Share February 4, 2015 Hacksaw, bone cutters and a scalpel. Don't forget goggles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto February 4, 2015 Share February 4, 2015 I bought the ecotech for $50 brand new like 4 months ago on a deal ecotech had. The kit is very high quality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis February 4, 2015 Author Share February 4, 2015 I like the ecotech but its $100 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtelles February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 Bonecutters are great, but I made the mistake of trying to frag a duncan with them (I'm an idiot) and broke the cutters (again, I'm an idiot). Picked up a dremel with a diamond tip saw and it's worked really well on a few different LPS, including the stupid Duncan. Simple razor blades work wonders on softies. Than from Tidal Garden's had the really great idea of using a sashimi knife for anemone's and soft corals, and those are pretty cheap on amazon. Have to 2nd the Quantum Reef's recommendation. They know their stuff, though you'll be paying full retail. Reef eScape also sells a small number of fragging tools and kits, including some reasonably priced BRS stuff. What do you plan on fragging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 +1 on the toenail clippers. I bought 2 different "bone cutters" from online aquarium vendors and they look just like the toenail cutters from the beauty supply section of the drug store, except one was anodized and is supposed to be more rust resistant. Now that I'm checking the prices...it looks like the toenail clippers at Walmart and CVS are the same price or more than the fish store prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis February 6, 2015 Author Share February 6, 2015 Bonecutters are great, but I made the mistake of trying to frag a duncan with them (I'm an idiot) and broke the cutters (again, I'm an idiot). Picked up a dremel with a diamond tip saw and it's worked really well on a few different LPS, including the stupid Duncan. Simple razor blades work wonders on softies. Than from Tidal Garden's had the really great idea of using a sashimi knife for anemone's and soft corals, and those are pretty cheap on amazon. Have to 2nd the Quantum Reef's recommendation. They know their stuff, though you'll be paying full retail. Reef eScape also sells a small number of fragging tools and kits, including some reasonably priced BRS stuff. What do you plan on fragging? Just a few mushrooms and trim back my hammer. Probably try to take it down to 4 to 6 heads. Its starting to get close to touching things around it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OcalaReefGirl February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 It all rusts, buy cheap and keep replacing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 It all rusts, buy cheap and keep replacing them. I disagree. I wash mine with freshwater and dry after every use, no sign of rust yet. I bought two sizes of Fiskars trimmers from Home Depot, about $25 each.The small set can cut the tiniest sps, and the big set can cut through rock, and it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 I use a hammer and a screw driver for all my fragging needs. They are all rusted and they haven't hurt anything in my tank, it's just like adding a little Ferric Oxide to the tank, thought I haven't notice any changes to my PO4 when I do frag.Just stay away from stainless steel and you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 I disagree. I wash mine with freshwater and dry after every use, no sign of rust yet. I bought two sizes of Fiskars trimmers from Home Depot, about $25 each.The small set can cut the tiniest sps, and the big set can cut through rock, and it has. What trimmers, Isaac? Are you talking about bypass pruners or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 What trimmers, Isaac? Are you talking about bypass pruners or something else? The big set, yes, the small set is made for rose bushes, or something of the sort. I use scalpels from a medical supply store for zoas. Those rust, but they are one time use for their intended purpose. If I kept care of them like I do the trimmers, they would go dull before they rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi28982 March 9, 2015 Share March 9, 2015 Hey I have frog spawn and I have never fragged mine before and want to know if there is a safe way to use everyday tools to cut the heads and than should I glue them to a disk or what?? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet March 9, 2015 Share March 9, 2015 Hi Bambi, Frogspawn is pretty easy to frag. All you need to do is take it out of the water so you can see the branches. Then once you can see the branches cut them just above the "V" the branch makes. I use bolt cutters to cut the branches off and frag them that way. Short of bolt cutters you could just break them with your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 9, 2015 Share March 9, 2015 Bambi, I use either a Dremel tool (with a cutoff wheel) or a saw to cut the branches. If you irritate the coral some, the fleshy polyps will retract and expose the branching skelton more. Cut the branches where you don't see the flesh. These techniques allow more control over how the break is realized, but any technique that breaks through the somewhat porous skelton in the non-fleshed area is acceptable. Some people have used hammers and chisels, a screwdriver (to pry branches apart to the point of breaking, and even just dropping them onto the floor (with a higher incidence of collateral soft-tissue damage). As for gluing to a disk, I rarely do so for Euphyllia species because they don't really encrust to the plug where you glue it. Instead, the reason that people glue to a frag plug is to do what's desired to keep the soft tissue exposed to flow on all sides. (Otherwise, the head is laying on it's side.) You can easily do this by placing the branch in a convenient hole or jamming it in between a couple of rocks, or any other technique that stabilizes it. As for a coral propagation kit - it's pretty much anything that works and is available. The list can get longer and more expensive if you're trying to cut certain oddball species or are trying to be more precise or to control soft tissue trauma: Bone cutters (or wire cutters), razor blades, paring knife; xacto knife or scalpels; screwdriver, a small tack hammer or ball peen hammer; rotary (Dremel) tool; wet (tile) saw; wet band saw; etc. I don't really get into specific "kits" that are offered. Remember, Mother Nature frags using violent waves and shifting boulders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now