Devil's Armor Paly Propagation Guide

How to propagate the Devil's Armor designer Palythoa by dividing the colonial mat between polyps, with strict palytoxin safety precautions for handling.

Overview

Devil's Armor is a designer Palythoa (family Sphenopidae) with a metallic-green skirt and a red-orange centre. Like all Palythoa its polyps are partially embedded in a colonial coenenchyme mat covering the substrate. It is photosynthetic and, as a Palythoa, carries palytoxin, which the genus is notably high in. The colony spreads over rock under stable reef parameters.

Reproductive Mode

This morph is increased asexually. New polyps bud from the colonial mat, expanding the colony across available substrate, and propagation harvests sections of that colonial tissue. Asexual division preserves the metallic-green and red-orange coloration in daughter colonies.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

Following Reef Builders' zoanthid method, slice the colonial mat between polyps with a razor blade, then trace the cut with coral cutters until a section frees, cutting as close to the base as possible. Mount the divided cluster on a plug, where the solid surface eases gluing and protects the polyps' internal structures.

Wear gloves and eye protection - Palythoa palytoxin levels are notably high.
Cut the colonial mat between polyps with a fresh razor blade.
Trace the line with coral cutters until a cluster separates near the base.
Dry the plug and cluster base, add a little glue, and seat it gently.
Return it, baster off mucus, and let the mat re-encrust and bud new polyps.

Conditions for Propagation

Lighting: 75-175 PAR (medium)
Flow: low
Temperature: 24-26 degC
pH: 8.1-8.4; salinity 1.024-1.026
Nitrate below 15 ppm, phosphate below 0.1 ppm

Palytoxin Safety

Palytoxin is documented across Palythoa species, and home aquarists in the USA, Germany and the UK have been poisoned by skin contact or by inhaling aerosol when handling or boiling Palythoa. Use full protective gear for any propagation work on this morph.

Common Challenges

Glue creeping onto the skirt, deep cuts into the coenenchyme, and unstable parameters that keep polyps closed are the usual reasons frags stall. The colony also secretes mucus when cut, which should be blasted off the fresh frag. Use minimal glue, cut cleanly near the base, and keep chemistry steady until new polyps appear.