Need some education on frag mounts

[doliver]

I just got a bunch of LPS frags from Reefer Madness that are not on mounts and I'm trying to understand the best way to handle them.

I don't fully understand the hows & whys of frag plugs -- I understand the part about mounting the frag to it so that you can stand it up in egg crate, but I'm not sure what to do with it after that.

When you're ready to move it somewhere permanent, do you break off the peg at the bottom of the plug and then glue the disc to the rock? Or do you break the whole mount off the coral and glue the frag directly to the rock?

Lastly, given that mine are not on mounts (right now they are in my tank and laying on egg crate for acclimation), is it useful or important for me to first mount them to plugs, or should I just glue them to the rock where I want them to live?

 

[dc_909]

What kind of LPS? Not all frags have to be on plugs. You can also just mount to small rubble. I prefer mounting to small rubble so when it comes time to place in my LR, It blends in more.

 

[snuggle2me]

You definitely want to mount them to something besides directly to your rockwork. Use a plug or like dc_909 says you can use rubble. That way later after you have glued the mounted frag to a rock and it doesnt look good there or seems not to be thriving in that spot you can just move the plug to another spot and not worry about damaging the actual frag.

 

[pammy]

Re: Need some education on frag mounts

Glad you asked this question, because I was wondering about the same thing!! Also...what is the best thing to use for glue/adhesive? I've heard Super Glue GEL is one option, and I've heard others use something specifically made for aquariums.

Thanks, Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9732146#post9732146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by doliver
I just got a bunch of LPS frags from Reefer Madness that are not on mounts and I'm trying to understand the best way to handle them.

I don't fully understand the hows & whys of frag plugs -- I understand the part about mounting the frag to it so that you can stand it up in egg crate, but I'm not sure what to do with it after that.

When you're ready to move it somewhere permanent, do you break off the peg at the bottom of the plug and then glue the disc to the rock? Or do you break the whole mount off the coral and glue the frag directly to the rock?

Lastly, given that mine are not on mounts (right now they are in my tank and laying on egg crate for acclimation), is it useful or important for me to first mount them to plugs, or should I just glue them to the rock where I want them to live?

 

[Sk8r]

the pegs are for sticking into places to make them stay put.

Some unscrupulous people are making plugs out of some pretty nasty stuff, as i hear, so you're actually better prying the coral loose from the plug and reattaching to rock rubble. Any bit of rubble, dry being best, will work for this. Acroporas tend to overgrow their plugs before beginning to take off and branch, so getting them a 'feel' of rock-hard stability tends to hasten this process and thus hasten growth, imho. Corals don't like change, and this includes wobbling in the current.

Put a blob of IC-gel on the dry rock, lift the coral from water, stick its broken end into the gel and count to 30 slowly, then slowly lower into the water [yes, a film will escape] and put it gently where you want it. It will harden quickly underwater and be nearly permanent.

Less permanent, and a good way to stick a frag/rubble bit to your live rock, is a little well-worked ball of reef putty [comes with a green shell, white interior: you work it like clay in your fingers until it's all one color, then stick the ball where you want your frag to be, underwater, then jam the frag base into it. It will harden nasty white, but will eventually algae-over and look like rock. It can be broken free at need.

Reef putty can also be used between two rocks that won't stay balanced: put a ball between the touch-points, jam the top rock down well, hold there for a 60-count, then release and don't jostle it til it sets.

 

[doliver]

dc_909

What kind of LPS? Not all frags have to be on plugs.

That's a fine question -- being very new to corals, I'm not really sure. This was one of the frag packs from RM, so I think it's just a variety of stuff -- mostly LPS, with some zoos and SPS pieces thrown in.

Here's a picture of the pack shortly after arrival. I'm planning to identify what I can after they open up a bit and I can compare them to some pictures, but of course I'd be grateful for any assistance in identifcation.

For size reference, the egg crate in the picture is 10x14". So several of the bigger pieces are on decent chunks of rock already. With those then, does it make sense to mount them directly to another rock without another piece of rubble in between?

 

[doliver]

Does anyone have a link for a good article in Reefkeeping mag or post here that discusses the ins and outs of working with frags? Not surprisingly, searching on "frag" and/or "mount" returns a ton of results across a wide spectrum of topics.