The Gear List for a Brisbane Frag Swap Ready Coral Tank

Brisbane frag swaps come around a few times a year and July's cooler, drier weather actually works in your favour. Stable winter temps mean less algae pressure and calmer tanks, which is exactly what you want when you're growing out colonies for trade. If you've got three months before the next swap and a tank full of half-grown frags, the difference between showing up with sellable pieces and showing up with sad brown nubs usually comes down to the gear, not the coral.

This is a solid build for prepping frags for swaps around South East Queensland. It covers cutting and mounting, quarantine and dipping, lighting for fast polyp extension, and dosing to actually push growth in the weeks before the event.

The Build

• Cutting tool: a disposable razor blade with plastic handle ($2) for clean single-polyp cuts on zoas and mushrooms. Cheap enough to bin after one session so you're never cross-contaminating frags between colonies.
• Frag tiles: Ecotech frag plugs ($45 for a 50 pack) for the bulk of your zoa and palythoa cuts, and square ceramic frag tiles with stem ($18) for LPS and acro frags that need a bit more footprint to sit flat in a rack. The unglazed ceramic tiles are what coralline and encrusting tissue grip onto fast, a big plus when frags need to look established by swap day.
• Glue: a gel cyanoacrylate glue from our glue range to tack frags to tiles without smothering the base. Two-part epoxy works too for bigger plugs, but gel glue sets faster when you're processing a whole colony in one sitting.
• Quarantine and dip: before any frag goes into your main system, or before you hand one over at the swap, run it through a coral dip. It knocks back flatworms, red bugs and hitchhiker pests that spread fast in a shared tank environment. Check our pest control range for a dip suited to your coral type, and keep a spare tub for a quick dunk-and-rinse between tanks.
• Hospital tile for soft corals: a Morph and Ricordea hospital tile ($1) gives freshly cut ricordea and mushroom frags a stable, slightly recessed spot to heal without getting knocked around by flow while they attach.
• Target feeding: an Aqua One coral feeder with extension tube ($22) lets you dose amino acids or coral food straight onto individual frags without blasting the whole tank, which matters when you're trying to bulk up specific pieces before the swap.
• Frag holding tool: something to hold the frag steady while you glue is worth having on the bench if you're processing a lot of branching acro colonies, saving fingers and frustration on a production run. Compare what is currently in the fragging range.
• Lighting: a Kessil A360X over the frag rack gives even, punchy PAR across a wide spread, which is what pushes colour and polyp extension in the final weeks before a swap. Run it a touch stronger than your display tank settings since frag racks are usually shallower.
• Growth dosing: an AcroPower style two-part or amino dosing product from our supplements range keeps calcium, alkalinity and trace elements from crashing when you're running a heavier feeding schedule. Consistent dosing over eight to twelve weeks is what turns a small frag into a trade-worthy colony.
• Autofeeder backup: if you're away from the tank during a busy work week, an Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder ($140) keeps fish fed and stress low, which matters because stressed tanks bleach corals fast.

Before and After

Before: mismatched frags glued onto random rubble, no dip routine, feeding whatever's on hand, lighting set to whatever worked six months ago. Frags arrive at the swap pale, small, and honestly a bit embarrassing next to the tables around them.

After: every frag sitting on a matched ceramic tile, dipped and quarantined before it ever touched your display, growing under a Kessil tuned for polyp extension, fed and dosed on a schedule for two to three months straight. What shows up on swap day is thick tissue, good colour, and pieces people actually want to trade for, not just take off your hands.

A Realistic Prep Timeline

1. Eight to twelve weeks out: cut and mount frags, dip everything, start dosing.
2. Four to six weeks out: dial in Kessil intensity and target feeding based on how colour is developing.
3. One to two weeks out: final dip and inspection before bagging, check for any pest hitchhikers one last time.

Winter in Brisbane is a forgiving stretch for this kind of prep, cooler water holds oxygen better and algae growth slows right down, so your tiles stay clean while frags encrust. Get the gear sorted now and the next swap becomes a lot less stressful.

Prices mentioned in this article are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Please check the product page for the current price before purchasing.