Frag Plugs (Ceramic or Aragonite) - Pros and Cons of Each - Which do you use?

[that Fish Guy]

Do you use Ceramic or Aragonite Frag Plugs?

Why do you use one type over the other?

Please Post Why.

And Please participate in the attached Poll.

I ask this question because it seems that all the Big Coral Dealers use Ceramic (Typically from Alternative Reef).

http://www.thealternativereef.com/ar/Products.html

I was wondering why?

Are Ceramic Plugs better than Aragonite?

I know Ceramic Frag Plugs cost a little bit more.

Are Frag Plugs from "The Alternative Reef" the best out there?

 

[PotteryMan]

Ceramic because...uhhhh, well look at my username.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Ceramic because...uhhhh, well look at my username.

I see but why do you feel that Ceramic is Better than Aragonite?

 

[Guygettnby]

I use both, but I prefer aragonite. The corals seem to cover the base a big faster. Maybe it's just the plugs I have used, but I will keep using them both.

 

[Pife]

I make my own. Cheap and easy.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I hate all of them, but seem to have to use them. I reuse what ever I have after I popped it away before putting the coral in my tank, where I prefer mounting to rubble. The frags I make are usually large and I prefer digging in my rubble bucket for tiles, and argonite composit disks don't hold up over time for reuse. I miss seeing the plastic mollies or "shields" that we're popular a few years ago, back when I did not remove frags from plugs. Fixed with sg, Self tapping mollies would tighten themselves nicely into holes in the rock and stay put.

 

[rgulrich]

I use both for stability on eggcrate and management, as well as large ceramic discs for larger "sub-colonies" in my hydroponics/frag system. I prefer to mount a small piece of rubble to the frag plug, and then the frag to the rubble either directly with super glue gel or a bit of epoxy putty and super glue gel - this allows whoever gets the frag to snip off the piece of rubble and easily mount it to their reef.

Cheers,
Ray

 

[that Fish Guy]

Somebody sent me this.

"Aragonite plugs have Portland cement in them. If a large number was added to a system or the water volume was small it could impact the pH. So most people would cure them by soaking them in fresh water and changing the water regularly until the pH was no longer a concern"

Is that True?

 

[Guygettnby]

Somebody sent me this.

"Aragonite plugs have Portland cement in them. If a large number was added to a system or the water volume was small it could impact the pH. So most people would cure them by soaking them in fresh water and changing the water regularly until the pH was no longer a concern"

Is that True?

The brand aragonite plugs I use are in fact cured before they are sold, so this may be true. I have never had this problem though.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Somebody sent me this.

"Aragonite plugs have Portland cement in them. If a large number was added to a system or the water volume was small it could impact the pH. So most people would cure them by soaking them in fresh water and changing the water regularly until the pH was no longer a concern"

Is that True?

From a chemistry perspective, any of the aragonite plugs will have to have some sort of binder to actually make a disc/tile or other solid shape. One could potentially use a binder consisting of pure calcium oxide/hydroxide, but commercial Portland cements are typically calcium oxides with a substantial amount (up to 20%) of calcium silicate, and also contain aluminum, iron and sulfates.

One can also use a binder that's primarily alumina-silicate; this is sometimes termed "hydraulic cement" because it will set under water. Finally, one could simply use epoxy and aragonite sand, but because of the expense, I'm not aware of anyone selling frag plugs made this way.

Personally, I use live rock rubble. It has a much less artificial appearance when placed in a reef, and doesn't contain any aluminum.

 

[that Fish Guy]

I noticed that when I added a bunch of Ceramic Frag Plugs to my new frag tank the Alkalinity went up a couple of points.

Will the Ceramic Frag Plugs raise the Alkalinity as well or no?

 

[dkeller_nc]

Will the Ceramic Frag Plugs raise the Alkalinity as well or no?

No, or at least that's unlikely. True ceramic is fired at very high temperatures, which will fuse the materials used to make them, and generally won't affect your water chemistry, at least what you can test for.

 

[that Fish Guy]

I just noticed that I have a couple Frag Plugs that are Ceramic and they do not have much Algae on them.

Then I have a bunch of Aragonite ones with lots of Algae.

Is this coincidence or do the Aragonite ones attract (produce) more Algae than Ceramic Frag Plugs?

Has anybody else ever noticed this?

 

[that Fish Guy]

Anybody notice that Aragonite Frag Plugs Grow More Algae on them?

Or is it just me?

 

[reddtiger88]

Now, this is just a guess, but I believe the ceramic is fired glass basically and has a much smoother texture. That means less texture for the algae to grasp on. The aragonite is just glued together with cement and has a ton of texture. The extra nooks and crannies probably help.

 

[JB NY]

So about 5 years ago a switched from frags plugs to natural rock. I went to Home Depot and bought a bag of red crushed rock that you put down in flower beds or walkways, the rocks are about 1-2" in size red so they look very similar to coralline algae when in the tank, and they are heavy so they don't blow around. Corals quickly attach to it and I have had not issues using it at all.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Now, this is just a guess, but I believe the ceramic is fired glass basically and has a much smoother texture. That means less texture for the algae to grasp on. The aragonite is just glued together with cement and has a ton of texture. The extra nooks and crannies probably help.

Interesting.

Makes sense.

 

[fity2pounder]

now, this is just a guess, but i believe the ceramic is fired glass basically and has a much smoother texture. That means less texture for the algae to grasp on. The aragonite is just glued together with cement and has a ton of texture. The extra nooks and crannies probably help.

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