Baby Toadstool Leathers

My toadstool had four little baby toadstools hanging off under its canopy.

After they were there for about two months and not getting any bigger, I decided to snip them off to see if I could get them to grow on a rock...and if they'd do better after being separated.

They are still very small... about 1/4 inch in diameter...with very small stalks. I tried rubberbanding them to a rock...but when they close up..they just fall out of the rubber band.

For now I have them in a net inside the tank...so I don't lose them. Anyone have suggestions on getting them to attach to something? Can I just glue them to a rock?

 

Best method is the impale method. Use a toothpick to pierce it, then place it on a rock with a rubberband or stick in the rock, etc.

 

My scleronephthya are very tiny to being with. I take the small coral and put it in any small hole that I find in the rocks. I don't use any toothpicks because they are small. I turn reduce the flow in my tank until it takes to the rock.

 

For leathers I prefer the rubber band / wedding vail method. For other soft corals like colts, I like to use the tooth pic method (PLASTIC ONLY). Check out http://www.garf.org/MPegs/SarcoPropagation.html. Also take a look at the rest of the prop technics at Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation Home Page .

 

Yeah...they are so little..I think a toothpick would be fatal.

I will try picking up some netting tomorrow..then take the netting, place it over the toadstools on a frag disc...and then rubber band the netting to the frag disc with the toadstools under the netting..that will probably work.

They were so small they kept falling out of the rubberbands!

Thanks for the links! Good ideas.

 

An alternative is to use a plastic or plexiglass holder(raising baby fish or shrimp etc.)sold at pet shops. Basically it is a rectangular plastic see through box/container with corrugated sides for water movement inside the container. You could place frags or baby soft coral as in your case without any problem of killing them or having the minute corals fall between your rock work making for a long and stressful night of rearranging your rocks etc. to find the frags and small baby corals!!!!! Eggcrate could work as well for small coral until it grows and you are able to place it in a suitable and proper place within your tank.

 

two ways-

use the method mentioned above but use a sewing needle instead, use the needle to pull a very fine thread through the base of your sarcophyton. once the thread is in place, remove the needle and gently tie the coral to a small peice of rubble and place in a low flow area until the coral takes hold of the rock. once the coral takes hold, simply cut the thread and gently pull it out of the toadstool. easy-peasy...

another option, use a small container (tupperware or gladware comes to mind) and place some small rubble in that container. place your frags in the container and allow them to attach themselves naturally. the walls of the container will help keep the current out but keep in mind you'll need to place the container in a low flow area also.

HTH.

 

I used a needle and thread to get mine to attach. 123 done, cut it two weeks later, been attached ever since.

 

I actually ended up putting them in a fish catching net at the top of the tank with rock in their with them... two of them have attached to rock and I've placed them in the tank...waiting on the other two..as they fell off when I went to move them...they don't seem to mind being at the top in a net for now though..heh.