Frag to propagate?
 

I was reading a thread on RC and the consensus seemed to be in order to get good propagation rates a person needs to frag.

It seemed that the best rates came from fragging from the middle of colonies or the sides of smaller frags in order to kick in the survival "replicate or die" reflex. What is the experience of the members here?

I break corals all the time. The spot where it breaks off always seems to grow faster than the other branches not touched. It's not fragging but close.

I would tend to agree with this, especially on my stag corals. Anytime I break them off, the point of the break usually forms three or four fast growing branches. I've often wondered what biochemical cues corals use to guide their growth and form development - if they're like plants that have meristems which emit inhibitory hormones that reduce in concentration the farther you get from the active growing point (which is how conifers get their christmas tree shape), or if there's something else going on.

The fact that as soon as a terminal node or branch on a coral is severed, the wound suddenly develops several new growth points makes me think that there is some sort of signal being sent by the growth tip or terminal point of the coral that dictates how, when, and where branching occurs, likely through an inhibitory process. That inhibitory process very likely is species specific and is probably responsible for the macro scale growth form of different species.

Any damaged area (in SPS anyway) seem to grow quicker. I'll often shape a coral by nicking a branch with my cutters causing a new branch to sprout from the spot damaged.

I wonder if the growth factors that are triggered to repair the coral tissue cause a flush of growth that just ends up turning in to a new branch? Man the things I would study if I could get a PhD in whatever I thought was cool and not the things that I think would have some sort of market value...

What about for zoas? I've got frags of 7-10 heads and the wisdom was to cut them down to 2-3 and the plug the cuttings thereby encouraging the growth on the original frag and then buds off of the cut and plugged ones.

Man, I'm just so happy that they reach those numbers, I get would get nervous cutting them down to just two or three to encourage growth.