Types of Corals, Captive Breeding and Coral Fragging

This website has been created to reduce our impact on the environment through educating new and existing reef enthusiasts worldwide. Conservation through cultivation and propagation of corals in the home aquarium has become crucial at this point in time. We also are promoting several breeding programs with saltwater fish including clownfish, psuedochromis, and cardinalfish. With support from you and several companies in the industry we can promote our captive breeding and coral propagation programs.
If you are farming corals or captive breeding fish please use our contact information form to be included in our our directory.
If you are farming corals or captive breeding fish please use our contact information form to be included in our our directory.
Fragging or fragmenting as the name suggests is the breaking up the corals
into smaller bits to start new coral colonies. In the wild this can happen
naturally when storms break up the larger corals and scatter the fragments
among the reef colonizing new areas. We at home use this to help keep the
tank from over crowding and to share the corals among others, lessening
the impact on the natural reefs. This is something that in recent years
many of us have become concerned about. Hopefully with your help and
others that are like minded there will be a full range of corals available
that are grown on from existing corals using the fragging techniques
described on this website.
Coral farming is the growing and fragging of corals on a large scale. Usually undertaken by large companies for profit or by dedicated hobbyists with the time and money. Although still new to most reef keepers coral farming has come on in leaps and bounds due largely to the advancements in the hobby over the past years meaning that now many of us at home have the equipment to excel in the farming of corals.
Now on to the corals themselves! These can be grouped into three major families, Soft corals, Large Polyped Stony corals (LPS) and Small Polyped Stony corals (SPS).
Soft Corals are as there name suggests soft to the touch. They don’t have a hard skeleton and because of this are one of the hardest corals to mount once fragged, quite ironic really when they are the easiest and forgiving in the fragging sense. Within the group there are two main types colonial, made up from lots of individual polyps and the branching type witch look like underwater trees made up from branches with polyps on. They can come in all shapes, sizes and a vast array of colors. Large polyped stony have a stony skeleton from which a larger polyp or polyps are extruded. There are two main types branching and plating, both of which are self explanatory. These are harder to frag than soft corals however they are easier to mount once fragged.
Small polyped stony corals (SPS) have a skeleton like that of an LPS, but are colonized by hundreds or thousands of polyps, again these are found in the plating and the branching types. This is one of easiest to frag and mount but one of the most unforgiving due to there sensitive nature.
For some of you this is all old news I’m sure but for those new to reef keeping it’s nice to go over the basics.
Coral farming is the growing and fragging of corals on a large scale. Usually undertaken by large companies for profit or by dedicated hobbyists with the time and money. Although still new to most reef keepers coral farming has come on in leaps and bounds due largely to the advancements in the hobby over the past years meaning that now many of us at home have the equipment to excel in the farming of corals.
Now on to the corals themselves! These can be grouped into three major families, Soft corals, Large Polyped Stony corals (LPS) and Small Polyped Stony corals (SPS).
Soft Corals are as there name suggests soft to the touch. They don’t have a hard skeleton and because of this are one of the hardest corals to mount once fragged, quite ironic really when they are the easiest and forgiving in the fragging sense. Within the group there are two main types colonial, made up from lots of individual polyps and the branching type witch look like underwater trees made up from branches with polyps on. They can come in all shapes, sizes and a vast array of colors. Large polyped stony have a stony skeleton from which a larger polyp or polyps are extruded. There are two main types branching and plating, both of which are self explanatory. These are harder to frag than soft corals however they are easier to mount once fragged.
Small polyped stony corals (SPS) have a skeleton like that of an LPS, but are colonized by hundreds or thousands of polyps, again these are found in the plating and the branching types. This is one of easiest to frag and mount but one of the most unforgiving due to there sensitive nature.
For some of you this is all old news I’m sure but for those new to reef keeping it’s nice to go over the basics.
Reef Life of the Andaman off of Thailand
This full marine biology documentary displays interactions among species and documents many common aquarium corals and fish in their natural environment. Use the YouTube link below to view this video (1:56:23 Min.)