How do you attach new frags on plugs to your rockwork?

[chopper320]

Just interested in seeing how most people are attaching their frags.

 

[lemkerailroad1]

I use 2 part puddy mix on plug

great question,
but I am real curious on how to frag a sps and attach to a plug

 

[chopper320]

For the sps I frag, I either use side snip or just break a piece free and then superglue it to the frag plug. I don't have a problem getting them on the plug but I'm never sure what I want to do with the frags I receive. Especially if they are starting to encrust. I hate to break it off when they are usually only an inch or so already. It seems like it would be hard on such small pieces.

 

[Finland]

When the frag hasn't encrusted much, I remove it from the plug. If it has fully encrusted the plug, I break off the stem of the plug and glue down with a combination super glue and epoxy. I would rather remove the plug completely to reduce the chance of introducing pest, but sometimes the corals are so encrusted, I hate to stress them by removing them from the plug.

 

[chopper320]

How do you break the stem off? I've tried with pliers and can't get them to break.

 

[dots]

Sometimes parasites can get in under the plug, snap the frag off, superglue it to a piece of rubble rock, glue the rubble rock to the parent rock. It will give you plenty of time to move it to another flow or light location if needed.

Don't forget to dip and quarantine.

If you have a frag tank, keep the original frag there as a backup or to trade off.

 

[jasimek]

How do you break the stem off? I've tried with pliers and can't get them to break.

What kind of frag plugs are they? If they are regular plugs and not acrylic they snap off easily with bone cutters. If acrylic it's next to impossible to snap them off

 

[jdraider75]

I have drilled rock, used epoxy and removed from plug and attached to rock all work well.

 

[a.browning]

I normally cut off the "stick" on the bottom of the plug and glue the rest down. If they haven't encrusted at all or look fresh cut, then I'll snap them off and glue straight to the rock structure. I do like keeping them on the plug base, since that can easily be moved around for a while to find the best spot, while keeping the encrusting growth.

 

[lemkerailroad1]

thanks for the insight

i bought a bleached out pink lemonade, which i didnt know at the time for $5
got it hom and a month later 1/2 of it is doing good but the other 1/2 is dead so i am going to frag the good stuff

 

[dlaws]

How do you break the stem off? I've tried with pliers and can't get them to break.

Crush the stem with vice grips. Works every time, takes 2 seconds.

 

[chopper320]

I'll have to try the vice grips next time. I tried breaking them with pliers before and I couldn't get them to snap.

 

[tbryan]

I also cut the stem off and glue down with straight super glue gel, epoxy makes the skimmer go crazy.

 

[this is me]

I usually just cut the frag at the base and glue it to the rock. I hate the plug. For this reason, I prefer fresh cut frags when buying from local members.

 

[ganjero]

I usually use a combination of superglue and epoxy in this order:

rock-superglue-epoxy-superglue-frag/frag plug

I found this very successful and no frags has fallen of using this method

 

[Finland]

i usually use a combination of superglue and epoxy in this order:

Rock-superglue-epoxy-superglue-frag/frag plug

i found this very successful and no frags has fallen of using this method

+1

 

[fishguy597]

I prefer to break a chunk of rock off. Then glue the frag with super glue to the rock. This way I can play with trying to find a spot that makes it happy. Some people say the glue gets brittle which it can. The thing is once it encrusts its solid.