Bernard Dupont
MICHAEL RICE
A GUIDE TO FRAGGING
SOFT CORALS
C
oral fragging is one of the most amazing aspects of this hobby, giving us the ability to reproduce rare reef animals in our care and make our hobby more sustainable in the process. There are many species that require specialized tools and skills to frag, but there are also some that can be easily propagated using tools commonly found around the house. Leather corals, Xenia, green star polyps, and clove polyps are among the very easiest, and for this article, I would like to show you how to start fragging these easygoing softies. These corals can be cut up into nearly any sized pieces, with fragments taken from nearly any part of the animal, and these will eventually grow to be full colonies themselves.
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Toadstool leathers are among the most popular of these corals, and their unique shape lends itself to a specific technique for fragging colonies while still maintaining their natural form afterward. To accomplish this, I like to perform what I call a "halo" cut. I begin every soft coral fragging session with a new, sharp razor blade to be sure no potential infections are spread between corals. Many other tools commonly found around the house can also be used, but be sure to clean them thoroughly before and after use. First, I place the toadstool leather colony upside down on a smooth surface so that I can easily cut a strip from around the entire perimeter of the top. The width of the cut strip depends on