The propagation of SPS corals (small polyped stony corals) has progressed in great strides in the last year or two.  This enables  hobbyists all over the country and elsewhere, to make cuttings of many forms of SPS corals and grow new colonies without too much difficulty. Coral propagation farms and businesses are popping up all over the place.

The most advanced one that I have seen to-date is certainly The Aquatic Wildlife Company in Cleveland TN (423) 559 9000. I have described what they do, and the text of interviews with Dana Riddle and John Walch on our web site in the SW Library. If you have not read them, you are encouraged to do so. Our support for these kind of endeavors is crucial to the future of the hobby. Support the AWC and purchase your frags from them. They are of real high quality.

The same cannot be said for large polyped stony corals (LPS corals) such as Catalaphyllia, Plerogyra, Euphyllia, Nemenzophyllia, Symphyllia and so on. That is still an area where little information is available, although propagating these corals can now easily be done.

In fact, I have been experimenting with various methods for quite some time and have had great success with most corals that I have artificially propagated by breaking their skeletons.

Propagating LPS corals in such a manner is not new, but the techniques are not really described anywhere that I know of, except for the article in the NetClub Library on how to propagate Elegance Coral in this manner.

Bubble coral is not as easy to deal with because it's skeleton is different than that of many other corals.  The manner in which the polyp itself is embedded makes it a little more touchy, as it is easier to damage the polyp than with some other LPS corals. Keep this in mind when you apply the technique described below.

Let me try and explain how to go about the process:

First let me list the tools you will need:

• A so-called Dremel Tool with adjustable speed, or similar type of a different brand is needed, and a drill bit that allows you to make a groove in the base of the skeleton. What you want is a groove that looks like a V. Various bits can be bought for these drills and you want the one that looks like a wide V not a narrow one. The angle is larger. This results in a groove of about 30 degrees.
• A drill bit that allows you to drill that groove out deeper. You drill into the V shaped groove, and drill deeper (I will explain how later as this requires a drill that looks like a little ball).
• Wedges that can be inserted into the skeleton after you have drilled into it, to force it to split, gently. This is done by taking a plastic wedge and forcing it into one of the deeper cuts you will have made (more details later).
• Three or four plastic wedges with blunt ends about 1/2 inch wide. They do not need to be long but need to be thick (about 0.25 inch).
• pliers to hold the wedge and be able to push and twist it into the skeleton, gently without forcing too much so you do not damage the polyp.
• gloves if you are allergic to saltwater or coral slime.
• protective eyewear.
• a plastic tray on which to lay the coral. This should have raised edges to contain the water.
• towels.
• First-Aid kit just in case you hurt yourself.

So much for the preparation and assembling the needed tools and other implements we will require. 

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What one needs to understand when propagating LPS corals is that real care must be taken not to harm the polyp itself. This is unlike fragging SPS corals where one just takes a piece of, say, Acropora sp. and nips off a branch and then epoxies that down somewhere in the tank in an appropriate spot, and you are basically done.

With LPS corals things are a little more complex, and the method used differs depending on the coral you are dealing with. Bubble coral happens to be one of the more difficult ones, well maybe not difficult but more complex, to split and propagate. It requires more work than most of the others that I have been working on.

Now that we have all the tools ready and of course a Bubble Coral, we are ready to start the procedure.

The Procedure Described

• Plug the drill in after having inserted the V-shape drill bit and put the drill to low speed. If you have a high end one you can adjust the RPM's. If this is the case set them to 500. If not set the speed to "low". Do not switch it on yet though. We first need to get the coral ready,
• I assume that the coral you are going to use is now in your tank,
• It's "bubbles" are probably expanded,
• We need to get the coral to retract its bubbles so they cannot be damaged,
• Submerse your hand (wear gloves if needed) and wave your hand over the coral at about 2 inches distance creating a good water flow,
• This will get the coral to retract its polyp and close up,
• Remove the coral from the water,
• Place it on the plastic tray (this should be a tray with a raised edge so the water that comes out of the coral does not drip every where),
• Because of the shape of this coral, it will lay on its side,
• Switch the drill on,
• With one hand hold the coral on its side and start drilling a groove starting with the outer edge and running all around the skeleton,
• To do this you will be coming downwards first then will need to turn the coral over so you can continue towards the opposite outer edge,
• Try to make the groove as straight as you can so the line you form runs as a continuous straight groove,
• The skeleton is longer than wide and you make the cut on the narrower side, not length-wise but width-wise.
• The first time do not drill deeper than about 1 mm. You are actually barely scratching the skeleton, yet there is a groove running all along the skeleton from one side to the other. Apply pressure to the drill bit but not much as the coral skeleton is not that "hard" and the drill will make the groove real easily,
• Make sure you do not touch any of the polyp, especially when you are close to the edges,
• You can now drill a little deeper and follow the contour of the line that is already there, making the groove a little deeper. I usually add about 2 more millimeters at this point,
• When this is done you should have a wide angled V-shaped groove about 3 mm deep, and you should still no have passed through the skeleton,
• What I mean is that the skeleton is still intact and no openings have been made through it, but you have a V shaped groove in it about 3 mm's deep,
• This is the end of the first step.
• You can now place the coral back in the water if you wish, or you can continue the procedure.
• The first time you do this, time will fly quickly, meaning this whole process may take 6 to 7 or more minutes. Once you have done this a few times you can probably do this entire step in a minute or two maximum.

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