clink51 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Im just curious as to how people are mounting frags on to the tanks. i find a hole that fits the plug in an area that i think the frag would do good and hope for the best. but im trying to get rid of all of the damn plugs. I have heard glue, wedging and even sowing into place. i wanna hear all the ways you guys mount them! (the corals to the rock not the.......) Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I pop them off the plug they came on, dip the coral, then use small pieces of dry rubble as "plugs" I hate the look of frag plugs, so getting rid of them serves to avoid pests and also not look like crap. Link to comment
mattyfelts Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 sometimes i take them off the plug, sometimes i leave em... depending how visible it is. then just glue and leave. Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 ORA frag plugs are the worst - they are plastic- most of the ones I have encountered always have the corals encrusted on them so can't cut off the coral, I'm loathe to lose even a mm of it. Had to dremel their plug off just yesterday. major PITA. Other plugs are cut off the stems and glue straight on. Link to comment
clink51 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 so just scrape off with a razor and glue to the matt? is crazy glue okay or something different? Link to comment
seanoli Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 If it can be popped off of the plug entirely, I'll do that and then glue it directly to my rock. I Dremel off the bottom half if it can't come off completely. Sometimes, I'll glue frags to rubble rock. Plugs are hideous distractions...especially when you're just getting started and things haven't grown much. Link to comment
clink51 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 do you glue the frag outside the water or inside the water? that confuses the hell out of me lol Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 do you glue the frag outside the water or inside the water? that confuses the hell out of me lol I glue outside the water, then place in a bowl of tank water till the glue dries Link to comment
seanoli Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I glob the glue on outside of the tank, dip it in the water until it turns milky white, then press it into place (underwater). Link to comment
clink51 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 I glue outside the water, then place in a bowl of tank water till the glue dries what if you want to add it to a big rock? or a rock that is not removable Link to comment
seanoli Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 You could do two things: 1. Glue it outside the tank, in a bowl, to a small piece of rubble rock that won't be as noticeable. 2. Just dab the glue on over the tank and stick it in, per my earlier comment. Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I try to break off as much of the plug as I can, then use the tunze coral gum(expensive but doesn't make my skimmer go crazy for two weeks, so worth it), in conjunction with super glue gel from loctite. Link to comment
Spoon Fed EM1 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 i hate frag plugs as well, usually i just break the frag off the plug and glue it to the rock or whatever lol Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 what if you want to add it to a big rock? or a rock that is not removable then just let it dry in the tank, but make sure no glue flies around in the tank, a buddy had a purple tang get its lips glued Link to comment
JavaJacketOC Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I pop them off the plug they came on, dip the coral, then use small pieces of dry rubble as "plugs" I hate the look of frag plugs, so getting rid of them serves to avoid pests and also not look like crap. ditto Link to comment
AdamNC Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Cut the stem off and 2 part reef putty to the rocks. If I can find a hole in the rock that the stem fits I'll leave it on but still use putty to hold it tight. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 All my corals are still plug mounted I have egg crates around my tank. Waiting for grow out. I only buy single polyps or mushrooms. I should have started with a frag tank... Link to comment
clink51 Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 All my corals are still plug mounted I have egg crates around my tank. Waiting for grow out. I only buy single polyps or mushrooms. I should have started with a frag tank... yea, my tank is a grow out tank basically. i buy my zoas with one or 2 heads and just put them in place. waiting on my amazon order to come in for glue to start gluing them everywhere Link to comment
D Z Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 There are really 2 ways to go about this if you want a nice, clean, and as much natural looking scape as possible. 1) If the coral is attached to the plug via a piece of rubble and is not at all growing onto the plug yet: Use a screwdriver, knife, or whatever fits your fancy to pop the rubble and frag off the plug, then glue the piece of rubble down onto your rock. You can use bone cutters to trip the rubble to your liking. Try to find a crevice or hole that the rubble will fit into for the best, most natural look. For glue, I use super glue. You can buy the "reef safe" stuff, but it is expensive and not really necessary, unless you want the stuff that dries to look like coralline. If your don't care about the color of the super glue then any cyanoacrylate super glue will work fine. Just make sure it doesn't have any other ingredients in it. For bigger frags, you may need to use a combination of glue/epoxy/glue. 2) For when the frag is directly mounted to the plug or has grown off the rubble and onto the plug. I usually just trip the plug itself with bone cutters(as long as its a ceramic plug) to remove as much or the visible plug as possible. Then, try to find a crevice big enough to hide the plug and glue it down per the same directions as above. For SPS, if it is completely covering the plug, I just trim the pin off the plug and go ahead and glue the entire thing down. If it is only partially covering the plug, I may sacrifice the new growth and cut the frag off the plug with bone cutters to ensure I don't get any pests along with the plug. Which ever way you go about it, make sure you are dipping your frags in something like Revive to remove pests before placing frags into your display. For SPS, it is advisable to dip in Bayer to remove SPS pests such as red bugs or AEFW. Also, if you don't already own a pair, invest in some stainless steel bone cutters and they will quickly become your best friend! You can cut the pin off a plug very easily with a pair of bone cutters. No need for breaking out the dremel just to remove a pin. Hope that helps. Link to comment
Brooklynreefer Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I use StevieT's method.....works pretty well Link to comment
Jellyingabout Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 If its easy i rip it off the plug and put it on rubble, then I superglue it to the rock, i also drill a small hole and use a cable tie if its gonna get large. If the frag is delicate,expensive or slow growing then i don't risk removing it from the plug to minimize disturbance, instead I chip away at the outline of the plug with some pliers then glue gravel to it to hide its shape. Link to comment
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