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Removing Kenya Tree Leathers?????

About 2 years ago I bought a 4-5 inch tall Kenya Tree leather and about 6 months ago it started break off into peices all over the tank... I now have about 20 Kenya frags growing all over my tank.. I would like to get rid of 90% of them and I am just wondering how this can be done safely... I dont want to pull out the live rock they are on because I am worried about die off... Is it possible to just cut them off at the base underneath the water? I attempted to cut one already and after cutting some sort of debris came out... Is this safe?
 
Harmless, no toxins that i am aware of,just try to pry them off at the base or whatever is left may grow back. You can superglue the pieces to a plug or small rock and trade.
GregH
 
You can simply take a pair of scissors and cut them close to the base, even in the water. I have done it many times and there is not any release of nasties. The base will grow back. If you totally want it off, you need to get under the base with your finger nail, or a knife. The small "buds" can be pulled out by hand.

Kenya trees are VERY resilent. I even had a rock that use to have three large stalks. After I cut the stalks and totally scraped off the base, I threw the rock in the sump (were it got very little light). Well, seems that I have not go all of it. After about two months in the sump, I put the rock back in DT to prepare for a another frag. Its only been two weeks and I started to see growth where I see I mistakenly left a sliver of flesh.

Don't throw them away. What I do is when I or my wife (who hates KTs) finds them, we pull out the pieces and throw them im the fuge section of our sump. I have some rock rubble which they will attach to, and I make a hole in the chaeto so they can get "some" light. After they grow to about 2" inches, either trade or sell them. All the while using them to help filter my water as a supplement to my chaeto, since they LOVE dirty water. Thats why they are great for immature tanks.

When I started my tank, I had the same thing happen to me. I received two medium stalks and within a couple months, my entire tank was covered in KTs. Ive been removing KTs from my display for over a year now and still finding buds pop up where I pulled them up before. But to tell you the truth, I do not mind because even though they can grow very quickly, to do not seem to harm or irritate anything else. They are filler coral for spaces that my have been just plain rockf. You just have to watch the ones that are 4-5 inches tall. When you see the branches budding off, you know its pruning time. I hope this helps
 
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