One of the many great benefits of being a paid OMAS member is being able to participate in the frag donor program. Education is one of the main goals of OMAS. As we all know the wild reefs are declining rapidly. One thing that we as responsible hobbyists can do to help is the propagation of captive corals. The more corals we can provide to one another, the less we impact the wild reefs throughout the world.

An OMAS member will donate a frag or several frags to the program. The person donating the frags will create a thread on the OMAS forum in the donor section describing the coral and its needs. Then whoever wants the frags will say so in the thread. Its really that simple.

Each frag is free to a member of the club providing that they provide the frag with the correct environment for it to grow. Basically this just means that if the frag you are receiving requires high light, you need to be able to provide it with high light. If the frag needs calcium to form a skeleton, you need to be able to keep calcium levels in your tank adequate, etc, etc.

The person receiving the frag needs to be at the next meeting, or make arrangements to be able to pick the frag up at a LFS, friends house, or whatever you and the donor decide upon.

The person receiving the frag needs to describe, in the thread, how their frag is doing. Basically we just want to know...Is it alive? Is it growing yet? Is it receding? If it dies its ok. Please do not be ashamed to let us know you lost the frag. I can speak for everyone in the hobby that it happens. We just need to know so the list can be updated and kept semi current.

This is the most important rule if you will. Once it has doubled in size it is your responsibility, your duty, to frag the coral and give the frag to the next person on the list. Without you doing this, there is no program. All you need is one frag. Once you return a frag of equal or greater size back to the program you are done. No more frags are needed unless you have an over abundance.

With a little bit of work we as a group should be able to provide the beginning aquarist with hardy tank raised frags from the donor program. Not only does this help the newbie but also the world’s natural reefs!