How is this an accident?
The technique called “microfragmenting” works by essentially cutting living corals into 1-5 smaller polyps using a specialized saw.
The technique called “microfragmenting” works by essentially cutting living corals into 1-5 smaller polyps using a specialized saw.
From "frag tanks" built wide, long, and shallow to allow light to have an easier time reaching the corals, to "frag plugs" made from ceramics that allow people to glue coral frags to to slot into existing rock, egg crate, etc.
I think maybe the accidental discovery was that the researcher found that this very common procedure to cultivating aquarium corals ended up also promoting the growth speed too.
Plus, Ive been in the hobby for 8 years, and I’ve never heard of purposely placing frags from the same colony next to to each other so they fuse.
I’m unaware of anyone studying the impact of fragging specifically on growth rate in this way.
Edit: I’ve found some discussion of at least one reef hobbyist experimenting with the method based on this research. So yes this was somewhat novel.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-microfragging-sps-exper...
I think the thing that isn't being covered in these articles is that it's the fusion of these fragments that are what is resulting in the explosive growth. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614846/
It sounds like you can fragment a larger coral, put them close together, and as they grow they'll actually fuse together, instead of competing, and becoming sexually mature much sooner.
Typically speaking, and based off a very small amount of experience of my own keeping a nano coral tank years ago, coral of the same type (zoanthids of different colors in my case) would run into each other, compete for the same space, and sometimes kill or drive back the other.