I am going to try these small ceramic tiles I got from Lowes today for frag mounting and zoanthid growing.
They are ceramic clay, fired but not glazed. ( just like Gooch's idea and what he makes only not labor intensive, no kiln needed, and no need totry and track down the clay.)

The best part aside form cost and time, is there is no curing time either.
Just boil and rinse, rubb off the contact cement and your ready to rock.

They are roughly 7/8" x 7/8" x 1/4".
They come in 144 piece sheets set on fiber mesh.
I peel them off one by one then just take my thumb and roll off the adheasive.
( Its just a silicone or rubber cement based adheasive. Real rubbery and comes off easly once peald off the fiber mesh. it dose break down in water a bit sojust make sure you rub it all off with your finger real well)

I realy see no down side to using these.
I dont have to make them.
I dont have to cure them.
They are perfectly sized for the job.
The cos tper pice is amazingly cheap when compared to the total cost of making your own plugs, using live rock ruble, or out right buying them from some one esle.
144 of them cost's $12.50 at Lowes.

There would be only benefits in using them as well.
They are so small they will colinize with benficial bacteria in less than 24 hrs.
Its also been proven that frags ectract nutrients from what ever they are growing on as well. ( even zoanthids)
SO seeing as these are ceramic clay it woul dbe lik emounting them on a small calcium reactor LOL!

Here they are:

( tell me what you think and any experience you may have had if you have tried this before)

should be ok, but they are likely to be majority-made of silicate-type materials not calcium-type materials.

but to serve as uniform frag bases, i would think they're fine to use. i've used clay flowerpots before and they worked fine. this medium might even be better as i didn't like the slickness of the pots. that little block looks rougher (better imo). i'd still QT test them out first though.

are you going to drill some of them? they look easy to drill (for mounting ease).

edit: changed some wording, it sounded wrong when i re-read what i typed (conveyed the wrong meaning).

Cool idea. Tagging along

I may bore a divet in the center of a few for sps but not all the way through unless its a gorg frag.
Zoanthids and the like will just encrust any ways. Which is my main reason for doing this. A couple shops here localy want me to start growing zoanthid frags for them. If I do then obviously LR rubble will be out the window for cost reasons and storage. HOme made plugs wil take to long to make and cure if I need more in a hurry too.


They do have silica in them, but a but load of calcium as well.


They are much rougher than clay pots as well.
I find this more apealing too. It will give them a better foot hold when the start to spread.


I have on in my 100g prop tank as we speak.

Iam going to leave it in all this week ( bare piece with nothing on it mind you)
If nothing funky hapends around it or on it then operation tile frag is a go!
LOL!

Look around for damaged boxes to get them even cheaper (make sure not too many are actually broken though).

I think i will go in a day ahead of time and "WHOOPS! It fell off the shelf!" Pu ti tback then go back the next day!
HAHAHAHAHAaaaaa!!

No seriously I wouldnt do that. I did think about it though! LOL!
Is that still bad?

In Borneman's prop vid he talks about how he's found that corals encrust calcium based frag plugs better than other media. He even chops up some piece of white marble (other colors contain unwanted stuff). I've seen marble tile, but do they make it in the smaller versions? Hrm...

They make it in these same mat forms I bought for the same purspose.

lfs uses these too

I was going to mention that but you beat me to it. That is an interesting video, very informative. He says that because pure marble is calcium-based, the corals seem to do better on peices of that then on anything else he has tried. Crazy how he just takes the tile saw to those corals without hesitation!!

YOu know what? I am an idiot! LOL!
THey are marble not ceramic LOL!!!
SO BONUS!

I accidentaly stumbled on what the pros use. LOL!

Do you have a name or picture(packaging) of the product?

good find.

Plugs can become a bit costly. but a goos plug can make a world of difference.

Deffinately! I love goos plugs!

I want to see a picture of a frag mounted on that right there.

How about 25+ frags instead just one? LOL!!!






I have to recharge my batteries so the pics suck a bit sorry!

Niiiiiice. Very nice zoo's dude. I like that alot.

+1 hat zoa collection is awesome. I am aspiring toward that. Those "plugs" will look great once they encrust also.

umm yes i would like to place a order in lol jp i really like these tho

The Pm system here still worked last time I checked LOL!

the PM system is soo OVERRATED... lol

I think Ill start using these for frags plugs....How are they holding up? Any param swings?

Not a one. they are holding up just fine. no algae growth on them either of any kind yet.

What are they called and what section did you find them in?

They are just marble square tiles that are mounted on a fiber net backing.
You find them in the tile section.

looks like you got these things all tested out. nice cheap way...plus you don't have to have these shipped either. i may just have to switch.


xoxo

Would love to get my hands on this one!

Pm sent ENraged.




Yup
They are doing great!
The ones I have sps mounted on are doing great too!
Excellent growth so far and its only been two weeks!
My sps grow rapidly anyways though ( probably close to 1/8" or so a week) but there has definately been no adverse effects frm using them.

I thought I was the only one with super SPS growth! LOL

Negative.



I am seeing huge growth rates now too.
And the REALY wierd part is I havent performed a water change in the many months its been up as a reef system LOL!
I just use essential ellements, reef plus and calcium addetives, with some iodine and top off water.
I thought I would see how long I could go and still keep things growing and healthy.
All parameters are in check.
As the have been since it cycled.
I know all the minute warning signs with out checking my parameters though so thats a BIG help. Knowing whatto look for is EMENSLY important.
Test kits can be wrong but the corals will let you know right away somthings fooked up as long as you keep an eye on them.
DOnt get me wrong I still test every week.
I just know the little tell tale signs to look for.

(After 20 plus years of trial and error I ought too LOL!!!)
My nick name used to be crash! LOL!!

I found less frequent water changes improve growth also.

I know but that seem bass ackwards dosent it? LOL!!

My last water change was like a month ago...LOL I havent tested since last year....too lazy

holy crap i think i'm gonna have to show these to my boss. we've been trying to figure out cheap and easy ways to propagate frags, and i think these would sit nicely in our coral-sell tanks so we don't have to set up a propagation tank (long story... old owner didn't know squat about coral or anything, and the store was poorly designed to support any propagation efforts or even sell coral, haha, new owner has fixed the display aspect, but we have no room for prop tanks).

The best mount for SPS and LPS would definantly have to be base marble. You can get it in slats (2in.x2in.x4ft.) at Lowes. Marble is calcium carbonate which is the exact same thing that LPS and SPS skeletons are made from.

Picked up that tip from Eric Bornman.

BTW, I am going to have to try this no water change thing. I also know the tell tale signs that something is bad about to happen (less PE, algae blooms etcetera...). I dose Ca and pH/Alk buffer daily when I can remember.

Yes it does.
a tank has to be dialed in before you go this route however.

Yup. I should menton that my live rock, and all the substrate I used were over 5 years old and some of it as old as 10 before I set my prop tank up.

Little to no algae blooms ( save for som ebryopsis I accidently imported in !!! ARRRGGGGG!!!!!)
After two weeks it was as stable as my tanks that have been up for years.

Please guys dont try the no water change thing if your tank is smaller than 40-29g. your risks are much GREATER than mine as I have a total volume almost triple that.

My live rock is 10+ years old also and the sand is about 2 years old my tank is super stable its amazing...I do have 180-200 lbs of rock in my 60 cube system though thats probably why

Yup.

Was in HD picking up some things & found a big bag of crushed white marble for only about $3. Most of it was all white, so barely any impurities. Would most likely make for great frag "rubble", and would look more natural than tiles or plugs.

Hey I will have to check that out too !!
Thanks !!

Can anyone point me to the Borneman video? A search turned up zilch.

Thanks,

Brian

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=89951&hl=

That link in the thread you posted a link to is no longer valid.

http://www.bluemunkey.com/borneman.wmv

Propagator,

I just want to thank you for finding these cheaper for me. I was using the ones they sell at HD. It was 20 for about $4. Just went to Lowes and got 144 for $13. Awsome deal. And yeah these thing are great. I've had no problems in my main tank and my prop tank.

Happy to help !!!
The local retailers around here love me now too LOL!

I have had to bow them off a few times though.
When you place them space them apart about a 1/2" so that current can flow all around them.
( Thats why I had to blow them off ! DOUGH!!!! )

Yeah, think I'll pick up a bag of the crushed marble next time I'm up. $3 isn't much to give it a try. Some of the bags had some black specs in the rocks, but most were all white.

Honestly I used the brown too ( they are mixed). Nothing bad yet. and I have SPS mounted on them. (?)