Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 This may sound REALLY silly and I have been told that I can be a bit sensitive. (Don't tell anybody that!!) Anyway, I have a purple Kenyan Tree that has been a real champ and was one of my first real corals. So this monster is getting really big and throwing my Tank-Shui off so I decided to trim him back, cut some frags and place the frags in another part of the tank to balance things out. FIRST TIME. So I cut an arm at the branch and the result tugged at my heart. The Tree seemed to "wince" and then recoil from the cut. Then it pulled itself tight and is now drooping and VERY pale. All of this occurred in about 30 seconds or so.... Now I understand/assume that these creatures don't feel pain the way we do and they are so biologically varied and different from us that it's simply my own brain applying human emotions to this creatures reaction. What interests me is how the event affected the way I FELT. It made me feel horrible, oddly greedy and strangely guilty.... Like a scientist in a lab coat prodding monkeys, or an alien probing some rancher in middle America....it just felt wrong. Has anything like this ever happened to any of you? *Disclaimer-Don't get me wrong, I'm no moralist- I'm probably still going to do it as it's a necessary application of this hobby....I just thought it was interesting that it affected me emotionally at all and thought it would be an interesting conversational topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I'm not shy to admit feeling a little bad sometimes, don't get me wrong I think that kenya tree had it coming. I think it is a simple matter of getting attached to your corals. I moved a shrimp last night from one tank to another and in his little pinchers stuck to the net and he came right out without them. I felt pretty bad, he didn't seem to mind though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 "don't get me wrong I think that kenya tree had it coming" -OMG, I laughed out loud when I read that... That was GOLD. Yeah I know what you mean about getting attached. Can't help it. If I didn't care then I wouldn't put forth all the effort I guess. If it was just for looks and for my friends to gape over I'd pay a guy to maintain it for me. But, I love this hobby and the benefit of knowing that it's something beautiful that I helped build, like art. Poor little shrimp by the way...it's fine because he is now going to upgrade to bigger, more bad-*ss claws. So you helped him out really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClayTheSavageFraser Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Yep, I have been so frustrated watching mine slowly die. I also love seeing big colonies and when someone says "I'm gonna frag it..." I always go "NO, Look how beautiful that is and it's still tiny" "Wait till it's double or triple then frag it" I love my coral and there is nothing I want more for my coral then to watch them get huge and amazing!! I can't wait for the day my frags become fraggable. I know I will really be bummed if anymore die!! I am checking my shizzy everyday now!! LOL!! Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I had a colony of duncans with around 150+ heads on it, and I bought it to frag and sell but after a short while in my tank I just couldn't get myself to cut it up so I sold it to Garrett for price, I am pretty sure he had no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Yep, I have been so frustrated watching mine slowly die. I also love seeing big colonies and when someone says "I'm gonna frag it..." I always go "NO, Look how beautiful that is and it's still tiny" "Wait till it's double or triple then frag it" I love my coral and there is nothing I want more for my coral then to watch them get huge and amazing!! I can't wait for the day my frags become fraggable. I know I will really be bummed if anymore die!! I am checking my shizzy everyday now!! LOL!! Clay I thought I was the only one! I prefer to get small frags, seriously little tiny five dollar frags and grow them myself so that I feel like I've "earned" them. Then when they are twice as big, then thrice...I get so proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 I had a colony of duncans with around 150+ heads on it' date=' and I bought it to frag and sell but after a short while in my tank I just couldn't get myself to cut it up so I sold it to Garrett for price, I am pretty sure he had no problem.[/quote'] I love hearing this....makes me feel normal. I don't think I'll be cutting anything again anytime soon. It will give me an excuse to upgrade to a 90! Whoo-hoo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltfinsax Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 You tree hugging wimps. hehe JK I feel your pain, as I was trying to scrap some big Tonga shrooms of a rock that was really porous. I was just tearing them up and they where squirting stuff from who knows where. Only half lived it was so bad, and looks like some of the pieces our starting grow on the rock now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I've never seen a "purple" Kenya Tree can you post a pic I would like a piece and uasually have stuff to trade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 I've never seen a "purple" Kenya Tree can you post a pic I would like a piece and uasually have stuff to trade Oh I don't know if it's actually anything special...it just looks light purple when it's all clenched up and that's what I call it. It's actually kind of fleshy colored when erect, like silly putty. The small piece I got from MIKE on here was light green. So just a designation....You are more than welcome to have a piece as a gift if you'd like, as I just cut one. I'm pretty sure it's super common... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Give me a few and I will shoot and load a photo.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapture Rabbit Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Here we are....notice how it looks like a dusty purple when tight. Other wise quite fleshly...(background) BTW...The tree is in the background in the second shot because it's an older photo and it was happy before I cut it's arm off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culp686 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 My wife feels the same way about her corals. She gets so upset when something dies or it doesn't go quite right. We even shooed the coral banded shrimp away from some frags we got from moovinfast because it got to close. She likes the feeling of accomplishment when she gets something to grow or even open up for the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I am that guy in the white lab coat that will cut anything that does not move fast enough... LOL. The first couple of times I cut a living coral I was reluctant. Now I am like "give me the dremel and a razor blade... :)" The deflating response is partly just water being expelled from the tissue. It is a defense mechanism that pulls all that nice, tender, flesh into a protective ball that is not so nice to chew on. I have graduated from coral up to RBTAs. I started with one, now I have 10 in my tank and have sold about 10 others. I am just waiting for the ones that I have to grow out so they can be cut again. If you want to feel nervous about cutting, try cutting an animal that you paid $100 for, and there is a chance that 1/2 of it won't make it. I am recently experiencing success with cutting a Ritteri anemone. The first two times I cut it, one half died. The first one, I don't think I cut enough of the foot for half of it. The second time was going good until one half got sucked through a powerhead. This time both halfs have lived for three weeks. Both are healing fine, and attaching to the rocks again. One half looks better, but they are both inflating fine. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 That's why your the mad scientist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I am a little on the fence. If it's something I have had a long time that's nice, I have trouble fragging it up.(scary) Also if it's something pretty rare I feel bad too.(sad) With that said, everything else is meat in a butcher shop!!!(rock2)(rock2)(rock2) I literally took a meat cleaver to my giant sinularia and made frags of it with little to no remorse. I can get the bone cutters and frag sps all day long and not thing twice. The one coral that was the hardest for me to frag(dare I say "emotionally") was my Supernova monti. I must have put it off in my head 100 times. It took me forever in front of my tank trying to find the right cut line and just to get up the nerve. I have a few others now that I think will be just as hard when the time comes. If people want me to frag for them though, no emotion there at all, just thoughts about making sure I think enough about my cuts to show them I care for there corals like my own...(nutty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 I am that guy in the white lab coat that will cut anything that does not move fast enough... LOL. The first couple of times I cut a living coral I was reluctant. Now I am like "give me the dremel and a razor blade... :)" The deflating response is partly just water being expelled from the tissue. It is a defense mechanism that pulls all that nice, tender, flesh into a protective ball that is not so nice to chew on. I have graduated from coral up to RBTAs. I started with one, now I have 10 in my tank and have sold about 10 others. I am just waiting for the ones that I have to grow out so they can be cut again. If you want to feel nervous about cutting, try cutting an animal that you paid $100 for, and there is a chance that 1/2 of it won't make it. I am recently experiencing success with cutting a Ritteri anemone. The first two times I cut it, one half died. The first one, I don't think I cut enough of the foot for half of it. The second time was going good until one half got sucked through a powerhead. This time both halfs have lived for three weeks. Both are healing fine, and attaching to the rocks again. One half looks better, but they are both inflating fine. dsoz YAH! I think Dennis has fragged every single coral in his tank! In case it makes you feel better, I have a kenya tree story. I have had this kenya tree for a couple of years. Got it as a tiny frag (maybe 1") from dsoz, the mad scientist. It has grown to about 7-8" sitting at the very bottom of my 30" tall tank. About a month ago, it started to look all shrunk up and wilted. Some of my other softies do this for a day or two at a time, so I didn't worry about it. But, it stayed that way for like three weeks and started to get black spots on part of it. My parameters all test fine, and all my other corals seem OK. I'm thinking "What is up with this? I have SPS doing great and I can't keep this kenya tree alive?" Finally, it perks up and I look around and realize what was going on. There are at least 3 baby frags latched onto rocks in different places around the bottom of the tank. The sucker was fragging itself! So, if you hadn't cut yours, it may have done it all by itself. BTW - anyone want a kenya tree frag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Dennis, I know you have kids -- they wouldn't happen to be twins, would they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 That's why your the mad scientist. I am not "mad" I am rather happy... YAH! I think Dennis has fragged every single coral in his tank! Not true! I have a piece of elephant skin from Calvin that I have not cut yet. And I think I have yet to cut up the neon-green toadstool leathers that I have. I just moved both of them over to the 40b under the halide. I have the feeling that something is picking on them because they don't have much growth. Dennis' date=' I know you have kids -- they wouldn't happen to be [i']twins[/i], would they? No, they are 2.5 years apart, and different genders. I keep my experimenting on clones to the fish room... dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 I am not "mad" I am rather happy... dsoz Ah, but you're like Mad Magazine kind of mad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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