Orientation of Frags

[acroholicreefer]

Does anybody else glue their acro frags laying down? I have had experience with this in the past and they grow much faster this way, turning into a mini colony in a short time frame. Most hobbyist tend to glue frags sitting up and down. I wish I had taken picture to document this but I do not have any.

 

[reidcrandall]

I've heard of this, but have not done it. You're not the only one!

 

[MarinaP]

I glue tabling acro frags in that manner. Here is a pic of hyacinthus and suharsonoi

 

[GSMguy]

I do it, they encrust faster and have a more stable base for future growth.

 

[smtank]

It's my preferred method.

 

[jammoye2]

It's how they would grow in nature if broken off a colony. They would naturally lay sidewise.

 

[kaserpick]

Glueing them sideways also exposes more surface area to the light.

 

[SpinyReef]

I'm not convinced. If light were to come from a single point, yes. But with MH reflectors, T5s and LEDs, light comes from different angles. By glueing it sideways, you're effectively killing part of the frag that could help growth with photosynthesis. I think I'll try to do a somewhat empiric test in my frag tank and use the frag weight as a way to measure growth.

 

[kaserpick]

I'm not sure how angles affect efficiency, when it concerns lighting. But, given the lighting equipment/sources that you mentioned, the light would have a greater chance of hitting the exposed coral at a perpendicular angle. If the angle increases efficiency of uptake, then both linear and point source (with or without good reflectors) lighting would benefit from mounting the corals with more exposed tissue. This is HIGHLY speculative; it's just my opinion and thoughts. I could be off base.

From personal experience, I have noted this in my old 65g: Two Millepora frags from the same colony (I bought 2 in case one died...I liked it that much) were placed in my 65 in close proximity. They both had flow coming from separate MP40s, set at 100% on Reef Crest. They both were positioned almost the same distance from one of my 250w Phoenix MH. The only difference was how they were mounted; one was mounting vertically (still leaning at an angle), the other horizontally glued.

The horizontal one grew slowly, only spreading a base for the first few months, while the vertical one grew new branches. During the next few months, around a dozen tips sprouted on the large base of the horizontal frag, while the other continued the grow longer. 9 months from buying them, the horizontal was a nice mini-colony, while the vertical was half the size, by comparison.

This is a year: you can see them both on the left and right side of the Cali tort. The long breaches on the smaller coral were the new growth.

 

[kaserpick]

Here's a pic with a green Millepora frag mounted horizontally. This was 6-8 months from fragging. It's the far right green SPS.

It's good to note that they're both Millepora sp. GARF has an article on actually mounting the plug to your rock at a horizontal angle and slightly downward. They've had good results with that. I think that actually mounting the coral horizontally on the plug seems to encourage more base growth at first. As it grows, the exposed surface area is exponentially increased. It seems slow, but once the ball is rolling, it'll take off. Again, this is just speculation based on my limited experience.

 

[Sander_Bos]

This is interesting, I'm gonna try it with future frags
Sounds amazing

 

[SantaMonica]

Does make sense, as it happens naturally, including my digi's branches that get broken off due to fish.

 

[acroholicreefer]

Great looking corals MarinaP and Kaserpick. Yes, they do encrust much faster this way. I have always assumed that this orientation provides several benefits that helps the acro mature faster. The increase in surface area allows the acro to absorb more photons, allowing more photosynthesis to occur. Also, the frag is allowed to freely grow naturally in the flow pattern that it is placed in. When we snip a frag off of a colony, that frag was grown in a particular flow pattern. If we place the frag up and down, it has to grow in a new pattern depending on the flow. The growth on a frag placed horizontal takes less energy to branch, resulting in more branches growing at a faster rate.

This is just me making assumptions with no scientific evidence to support my theory. However, this is just what I have observed over the years.

 

[tonytboss]

sounds intuitive

 

[seamonkey84]

I've done a side by side comparison in my tank with two frags I made, and the one on its side definitely encrusted faster and started sprouting new growth tips for more branches. I recently sold the one I mounted standing up, so I don't have the comparison anymore to take pics of lol. It also just seems more natural, since when do broken prices ever land standing straight up in nature.

 

[DNA]

Here you are talking about how severe change in the light hitting a coral is a clear benefit.
Meanwhile in another part of this forum someone is talking about how new corals need to be adjusted to the lights.

Is there any issue in this hobby with a clear outcome?
I guess it all depends.