acrylic rod frag set up?

[alphaferret]

anyone see the article in the latest free reef hobyist mag. on this subject. At first I thought it was alittle overboard but after reading the article I was impressed. wondering if anyone round here does anything like it.

The clear acyrlic rods provide clean up crews a great oppertunity to keep all detritus at bay. The rods are held up in the rack by scraps of airline tubing slipped over the rod-I guess it increases flow around the frags. the author sdid state that he/she still uses frag plugs for lps frags. So not a cure all.

Any thoughts?

 

[block head]

i saw the article,plan on doing it myself. i think i saw pisces did it here in roc,was planning on finding a local sorce of acyrlic

 

[alphaferret]

yeah he talked of getting scraps for a low price from bargain bin at local acyrlic shop- Ilove the clean look-and that you can put a very small frag of sps on a rod and basically suspend it in the water column allowing max. nutrient uptake and very lil detritus build up.

 

[dreaminmel]

I saw that article as well and was impressed at the creativity behind it. My concern is this... Acropora typically lay down a base of encrustation prior to upward branching growth because this helps them obtain a stronger hold for when they become a larger & heavier colony. I wonder if these little mini colonies on acrylic rods have been shown to still form an encrusted base once placed in a rock? And on the rock placement, how hard is it to break these acrylic rods if they need to be shortened?

 

[captain7359]

I've been using nylon rivets for my sps frags recently and have had pretty good luck. Other than taking a some balancing to get glued they work pretty well, slip securely onto eggcrate, give a larger head to encrust onto, and are soft enough to cut with side cutters or bone shears.

 

[alphaferret]

ah yes I remember seeing acouple of systems w/ that in place. I htink I may be taken in by the clean clearness of the acrylic when the main purpose is really just to get frags to grow-which both ways do.

 

[reefboy87]

if anyone finds acrylic sheets for sale in the buffalo area, let me know. I read this article too and want to get away from using the egg crate and switch to acrylic but haven't had luck with finding any. I went to the local hardware store with no luck.

 

[alphaferret]

have you tried glass shop?

 

[reefboy87]

never heard of it...where is it located?

 

[alphaferret]

check the local yellow pages under glass and call to see if they sell acrylic sheet-or google it in your area if your good like that!

 

[reefboy87]

thank you! Did you ever end up going through on trying the acrylic rods?

 

[alphaferret]

no but I have access to the reg. plexi sheet so I figured if i ever did go w/ a frag tank set up it would not be much $ to start up. I need to really be able to grow and sustain corals in my maintank before I go fragging for myself or $.

 

[reefboy87]

Yeah, I hear ya. I would love to stick to using egg crate for $$ reasons, but the stuff is just an algae magnet for me.

 

[Posidion]

guys that acrylic rod thing works really well. i read about mounting sps frags to acrylic rod years agoe and tried it, verry happy with results. I stopped doing frags that way after only a few dozen because my buyers were put offf by it, they didnt fit well in any of the racks avaliable at that time. I was drilling rocks to hold the frags at that time,but ended up going back to alge magnet egg crate and standard plugs for sale purposes. I still mount all corals I buy this way as placing them in holes or cracks between rocks is super easy. The new ideas shared in Reef Hobbist about the rack and air line trick are a great addition. i think that with that in mind im gonna again get rid of the eggcrate again. The latest issue also has more acrylic rod frag mounting ideas for zoos. Hope to try this soon.

 

[reefboy87]

Finally found the acrylic sheets at Home Depot. I forget the actual dimensions but it was about $30 for a small sheet. Not as cheap as egg crate, but the money and time I've spent on keeping the algae off the egg crate, i'll make the investment. I'll probably start the project of building it after graduation, but i'll be sure to post pics to show you guys the progress.

 

[fred12344]

Wouldn't it just be cheaper to buy frag racks? I bought a frag rack other day hold 23 large plugs i think it was $15 and it looks great and has magnets to mount anywhere in tank.Could someone post pick of what your making?

 

[reefboy87]

Wouldn't it just be cheaper to buy frag racks? I bought a frag rack other day hold 23 large plugs i think it was $15 and it looks great and has magnets to mount anywhere in tank.Could someone post pick of what your making?

not the exact article, but very similar...

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/archives/vol_4/issue13/pages/6.htm

 

[Flanders]

seemed to me that the space-saving advantage would be lost with coralline algae.

 

[johnd651]

any pics? i dont get this reef magazine... and where can i find it

 

[reefboarder]

Someone should post this in the general interest forum. It would be a great way to spread the word and perhaps this method would catch on.I have the plexi sheet and want to try this out does anyone in the roc area know of anyone with the rods for cheap??