Propagating Soft Corals

Introduction

From 1998 to 2005 I ran my own Coral Farming business, called The Other World. As well as propagating a large variety of coral species, part of my 'mission' was to encourage other fishkeepers to have a go at propagating their own corals. One of the most popular parts of The Other World's website was my coral propagation guide, parts of which are reproduced on Gabooch.co.uk. Below is a brief description of my method for propagating soft corals.

What you need:

Method

Step 1 - Select a healthy parent coral to propagate from. You should look for an animal that is growing well, showing good polyp extension (where applicable), displaying good colouration and is generally in an all round healthy condition.

Step 2 - Select the branch / section of coral you wish to remove and cut it from the parent animal cleanly and quickly, with a pair of scissors or a scalpel. The cutting will probably shrink a little, as will the parent. The parent coral should recover from this within an hour or two, and the 'wound' should completely heal within 2 weeks (maximum).

Step 3 - Use the needle and thread to 'stitch' the cutting onto the substrate. The stitching should be fairly tight, but not excessively so, as this will damage the tissue. As a rough guide, you should not be able to see "daylight" between the cut base of the cutting and the substrate after you have stitched it. It is best to use two "loops" of thread, in case the cutting tries to 'escape' from it's new home!

Finger Leather frag "growing out". The yellow arrows indicate the position of the two threads holding the cutting to the substrate as it attaches.

Step 4 - Place the new frag in a suitable position in the tank - preferably with the same amount of water movement and light as the parent coral was in. Within 2-6 (depending on species!) weeks the cutting should have attached itself to the substrate completely, and be growing well.

Step 5 - Rinse any equipment you have used in freshwater, to remove any coral mucus and saltwater. Wash your hands thoroughly!

I have used this technique on approximately 20 varieties of soft coral; including 'leather', cabbage and pussey corals (and also on Pulsing Corals), and found this method to be by far the most effective way of propagating soft corals - far superior to cable ties, cocktail sticks or rubber bands!