Sun Coral Fragging, Part 3

Why, when, how to and how not to

6. More about being prepared:

1. Have a spare solid surface for frags, or a permanent place in the tank for them.

I expected to have just two frags, and had few flat pieces of live rock. As appeared later, they were too small for providing the surface for encrusting.

All other rock is a branching type - totally useless for the task, and all big solid rocks are already used in aquascaping.

Mounting the frags right onto these rocks inside the tank was not an option: one of shortcomings is that Locktite superglue gel (just like any other superglue or aquarium epoxy) doesn't hold anything for long for me. The last support, glued to the colony a month ago, came out in the same day - this is why the fragging started. Let alone trying to glue them to the wet vertical surfaces.
Update: eventually was able to glue these frags to the vertical rocks, to keep them safe from mechanical damage. Under water, using the same Loctite Superglue Gel: half of 5 ml bottle on each frag, multiple attempts. Yes, I rubbed both sufraces with blobs of glue on the gloved finger. Hold is so-so, but holds for now.

Ended with attaching them on what was at hand - marble tiles. Somehow I'm sure, that nobody wants to see such thing in their tanks, gluing to the solid rock is preferable:
Final result - all on marble tiles
Glued to the rock two months later:
Glued to the rocks

2. Have a heated bowl - fragging can take a lo-o-o-t of time, and cold water doesn't help the coral health.

7. Recovery:

All frags next day after fragging and one month later:
Next day 1 month later

Dremeled pieces one month and 1.5 month later, but for a few days after fragging the grey necrotic tissue was siphoned out daily:
Dremeled piece Dremeled piece

Even the single polyps survived, next day photos:
Single polyps after fragging Single polyp after fragging

3 days and 1.5 months later:
Single polyp 3 days later Single polyp 1.5 month later Single polyp 1.5 month later

8. Ending on a good note:

As you can see, even after this barbaric treatment the all sun coral frags survived, including the small single polyps, and the growing tissue started to cover the bare parts of the skeleton.

The feeding during this time was increased to small daily feedings, mainly not for them, but for new, starved suns with badly recessed tissue. The difference in speed of growth was remarkable. Of course, there were unfed times up to 4 days, but rarely: when was red cyano outbreak and the brown jelly disease on one of the brains (lobophyllia). All suns were unaffected.