Does Fragging Induce Growth?

I got 3 big colonies of coral (stylphora, bird's nest and a acropora) and I was wondering whether it was best for their growth to frag them, by doing this they get smaller but I figure they would get way more light to the bottom area of the coral, allowing more growth. Is this correct or it doesn't really matter?

 

I would say no because you are reducing the surface area to acquire nutrients for growth. You are also reducing the area that growth can occur.

 

i dont know, i frag corals and they seem to bounce back 10 fold, or if damaged from other corals they seem to rebound super fast.

 

I cant say either way firsthand, but I would think that if a large colony is split up into 2 or 3 colonies you are allowing each new colony to have more room to grow in every direction.

 

Idk for certain, either. I could say as the above did, or say that as the colony is one whole, there would be more branches to keep up growth.

 

i agree, but seems like when i cut an encrusting monti or a digi or bust up my cap the grow back asap almost like weekly growth progress lol or atleast it seems that way, my perception of time is somewhat skewed

 

I don't think so. I fragged a green cap last week and both the mother and frag have rolled rim along the cut already. I thought I was seeing things.

 

It really depends on your lighting and water. IME a fraged area will be more likely to sprout a new branch, so if you want to thicken out an area, frag the area with sparser growth. As to pure growth, IME frags and colonies grow the same, it's just that larger colonies have more area to grow, more growth tips etc. so they do grow faster overall.

 

cool deal just seems they grow back like weeds

 

I would point out that Eric Borneman did some research into this, and got faster growth when corals had 4 directions to grow.

ReefTube - Eric Borneman on Coral Fragging