Island Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Been slowly stocking my 4 month old IM 30L with mostly LPS. I try to be meticulous and anal and drip/light acclimate. I think I procrastinate adding the corals onto the rocks because I know what a nightmare it can be getting them off the ugly plugs. I finally added my 8 new frags to the rocks and after 4 hours of frustration, I just ended up putting half of them on my rock with the plugs on, because I about butchered the acan skeletons trying to get them off the plug. The war corals were even harder. I try to take my time and go slow, but I just have not been having success getting the frags off the plugs. I get really pissed and mad and end up damaging the corals out of sheer frustration. I thought this hoibby was supposed to be enjoyable. LOL Anyway, any of you guys got any advice? I have good tools and blades. I have a dremel, but I found other then using it to cut the stem, it does more damage to the plug then anything. I guess I can wait for the coral to grow/encrust over the ugly plug, but looking at these ugly frag plugs drives me nuts!! Link to comment
Psychosis Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I've found using bone shears to trim as much of the plug away as possible is the most effective method for me. You don't have to remove it completely, just keep chopping until it doesn't look like a plug. Just be careful, I have caught some skin trying to cradle the frag in to position for the next cut. I've always simply popped off acan and favia though. Don't ask me why, I've had frags bounce off walls because of it, never had a loss or significant damage though. Link to comment
hypostatic Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Cut bottom off. Apply glue to bottom. Glue frag wherever you'd like. Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 This is what I do. It's not perfect, but over time you can't really tell that it's on the plug Link to comment
jservedio Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Your reef tank is for the long term - what physchosis said is the best thing you can do - you can get really close to the coral and you can make it so the shape of the plug isn't recognizable. With the post gone, you can use epoxy around the plug almost entirely to make it look like live rock rubble and mask the shape further. After a year or two, even the most slowly growing coral will completely cover the frag plug and you won't be able to see it at all. Here is what I mean about using epoxy on/around the plug to change the shape: That picture is before I cut the post off and put it on the rockwork. Here is what it looks like about 6 months after the above picture was taken (sorry about the garbage quality - they were taken on my 3 year old android): Even though the acro is mad cause i just did a water change 15 minute ago, you can see it completely covering the epoxy and starting to sprout branches off the base. In another 6 months you won't be able to see any hint of a plug. Even without any epoxy or any trimming, here is what a year (left) and a year and a half (right) will do to a frag plug with LPS: Both of these started as 2 or 3 heads on a standard frag plug - it doesn't take all that long for them to completely cover them and look natural. You can of course buy bigger colonies, but they never look as natural in a nano since they just look haphazardly placed since they didn't "grow into" their spot in your tank. Again, sorry about the TERRIBLE picture quality - I used my crappy android camera with default white balance and "edited" them in MSPaint. Link to comment
Island Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Ya thanks for the replies fellas...Jservedio, I already use the epoxy/superglue method after I cut the stem but seeing how you use the epoxy th build around the frag, looks like a good idea. I have the two fishies red epoxy stick but have also used their grey epoxy. I will try and see how it looks. thanks to the other replies as well.... Link to comment
jservedio Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Ya thanks for the replies fellas...Jservedio, I already use the epoxy/superglue method after I cut the stem but seeing how you use the epoxy th build around the frag, looks like a good idea. I have the two fishies red epoxy stick but have also used their grey epoxy. I will try and see how it looks. thanks to the other replies as well.... That is just super cheap JB Waterweld from home depot - I don't spend lots of money on special reef glue/epoxy. Extra thick superglue gel from BRS and JB Waterweld from wherever. Coral and/or coralline algae grow on it super fast, so it never looks bright white for more than a couple months. Link to comment
jestep Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I use these: http://cerameco.com/gallery/fragging-supplies/plugs-discs/ Break the stem off and you can hardly tell it's a frag plug. I do like the red epoxy though. Doesn't turn green like the white usually ends up. Link to comment
Drexellake Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 This is the part I'm dreading as a newb. Link to comment
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