Out of control toadstool

Ok...so I have had my aquarium since June of 06; it is a 125 gal reef. One of the very first corals I put in it was a small toadstool leather that was about 6 inches in diameter.

Today that coral is probably about 1 1/2 feet across and when stretched out (and at a slight angle) can almost touch the glass on both sides of the aquarium. Is there any way to safely reduce the size of something like this or am I going to have to see about removing him from my tank?

 

I would really like to see a photo of this awesome coral in your tank please

Yes - you can reduce the size and create several new toadstools at same time
and I have done this many years ago and did it like this

1 - cut a ring around the edge of the existing coral - using very sharp carpet scissors
that ring can be 2, 3 or 4 cm wide - basically cut the coral head to the size you want it to be
2 - with this large ring section. cut it into sections of about 5 cm long
3 - with these oblong shaped pieces, use bridal veil or mesh material to make bands to tie them to a piece of rock - 1 piece , 1 rock - you want them held secure but not overly tight
4- place these rocks into gentle flow areas of your tank, and in about 2 weeks they will have secured themselves to the rock and you can untie the mesh bands

your original toady will eventually develop polyps on the cut section (it looks a bit strange for a few weeks as its bald in that area 1st and then develops polyps that are shorter than the existing polyps.

your new frags will expand polyps even while they are in the strange oblong shapes
they will eventually become round and look like smaller versions of the parent

there will be a lot of slime/ mucus from the cutting operation and for a while afterwards
so if you can remove coral from main tank and do this work in a bucket of tank water which you can then discard thats the best idea

good luck with it, but honestly, the success ratio when doing the above is very very high

Steve

 

I #1 that.. Have read the same thing..

Would like to see a picture of it..!!!

Larry

 

ya i know what you mean. my toadstool has at least tripled in size (in a year and a half) now it is probably 10 inches wide and its in my BC 29 i just cant bring myself to cut it just yet.

 

I have seen a video on youtube on it. Try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj766-9gWDI

and this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhf_86twRkg

 

We want pictures!!! We want pictures!!!

 

ive got a toadstool who is growing nicely. now i know what to do in regards to it gettin too big. k for you steve and jbl, great vids. ty

 

Damn man where be the picture!!

 

Hey guys...

I really appreciate all the replies. I didn't mean to post and bounce...I took the kids camping this weekend. I tried to get a pic of the tank and coral this morning but of course the camera's battery was dead. I have the battery charging now and will take the pics tonight when I get home from work and post them either tonight or tomorrow.

 

Ok guys...sorry about the delay but here is a pic of the beast in my tank...I should have figured this out quite a while ago but I guess better late than never.



and just to put it in perspective here is my tank...it is a 125 gal.