Zoas + plugs + super glue + shelves

[A. Grandis]

Hello,

I was wondering how people normally have their zoas on plugs.
What are the best plugs and glue in your opinion?
I believe that most people have plugs to be able to trade zoas around, and that's great!! Some others try to make some extra money and so on...
There are those who prefer to grow their new zoas on the plugs until they get totally covered. That way it is much easier to spot and solve a problem, if they need to dip the zoas.
In my case I just place them on the sand for fun.

I use only natural dry pieces of rocks for "plugs" to be placed on the sand and I'm trying the Ecotech Coral Glue now. All the other super glue gel I've used in the past were fine.

Seems like it doesn't matter how much we clean the rocks and/or if we wait a bit to glue the frag, or how long we hold to glue the zoa on the rock, but sometimes they come off after couple of days if we have snails in the system. I've removed my snails to test that out and guess what?!? No more problems!!! Just wanted to share the info for those who are experiencing that type of problem. Some times the answer is so simple and we still go crazy trying to figure out...

I would appreciate if you could write some of your experiences as well.
You can post your plugs' pictures, if you wish. I'm not that talented with pictures as I wish yet! You can also leave recipes of DIY plugs here, etc...

That way we could see differences between them and talk about the pros and cons. Just for fun!! Please keep this thread for that and hopefully we'll have a collection of pictures and info about the plugs, glues, shelves and some nice zoas on them...

Keep zoaing!!! :thumbsup:

Grandis.

 

[Sith2095]

I usually get my frags already on the frag tile from a LFS. I know he uses a reef glue that I believe he gets from BRS. I have acutally used the same glue, borrowed it from him, to glue some of the frags to my rock and havent had any of them come loose.

I have also been told, and used, super glue gel. It does work, but I did have a couple frags come loose and fall off of the rock. Im not saying it was totally the glues fault as I may have not had it glued down very well.

Hope that helps at least a little.

 

[debincalif]

When I get my zoas, I prefer them on small pieces of LR. If they are on a plug, I'll see if I can easily pop them off. If not, I cut the stem off the plug and glue it onto my rockwork.

When I get new frags, I give them a hydrogen peroxide dip, and they get to hang out in the sand bed in the front of my tank for a while before moving to a more permanent home in my rockwork. My intention is to grow out a "zoa garden" in my tank, so that's why I glue the frags directly onto my rock.

As for glue, I prefer a thick gel superglue. Recently I discovered Loctite brand and I've been having good luck with that. The tube doesn't go very far (I use a good amount of glue on my frags)... but it's my current favorite nonetheless.

 

[reefwars]

i find ecotech glue to be the best ive used and i make frags almost on a daily basis, always have over 100 frags in the fragtanks.

for plugs i use a variety of ceramic,acrylic and my own.


for my own i use shale rock, zoas grow very fast over it where there are no crevices or voids to gap over, same with coraline the rocks are covered in days.another benefit is since they are dark you dont notice ugly algae and it blends in well with the rockwork.

here are some sample pics:

the larger ones in the second pic is so once it gets glued to my rockwork i can glue a neighboring zoa frag to it for a multi garden

cheers!

 

[reefer999]

I usually get frags on the boston aqua farms plugs/disks from my lfs, but I don't buy them if they aren't established (zoa growing on to the plug/disk and not just being on the glue after the cut) because they tend to slip away. when I frag my zoas I use the tlf coraffix glue which does the job every time, keeping them in low flow to minimize the chance of them flying away.

 

[A. Grandis]

Thanks for the replies guys!!
Please keep'em coming!!

Grandis.

 

[gordonj1]

I just use locktite superglue gel and glue them out of the water to some live rock rubble or a shell and hold it tightly for 60 seconds or so then put it back in the tank. I have never had any issues with them falling off and I have turbos.

I did this one a few days ago. It is doing very well

 

[gordonj1]

When I get my zoas, I prefer them on small pieces of LR. If they are on a plug, I'll see if I can easily pop them off. If not, I cut the stem off the plug and glue it onto my rockwork.

When I get new frags, I give them a hydrogen peroxide dip, and they get to hang out in the sand bed in the front of my tank for a while before moving to a more permanent home in my rockwork. My intention is to grow out a "zoa garden" in my tank, so that's why I glue the frags directly onto my rock.

As for glue, I prefer a thick gel superglue. Recently I discovered Loctite brand and I've been having good luck with that. The tube doesn't go very far (I use a good amount of glue on my frags)... but it's my current favorite nonetheless.

I love the loctite brand. It is pretty cheap compared to some specifically made for coral glues, but it doesn't last long. buy a huge pack and save is the best advice I can give about it. I think it holds well. It doesn't upset my skimmer either which is nice. I know some epoxies can

 

[A. Grandis]

I've used Locktite super glue gel for many many years, but after a while some of the slow growing zoas did come off the rocks if they didn't have time enough to grab the rock.

I know I've had some polyps coming out of the rocks because of the Turbo snails because when I've remove them from the system it stopped happening. Perhaps because they were too big!! Smaller snails normally don't give me such trouble.

Another problem I've had was when a frag still have some macro algae among the polyps, because my tangs tend to pull it off and then the whole small colony comes from the rock.

I would say that I even prefer the Locktite brand over other brands, even the Ecotech Coral Glue, because it almost never gets clogged and you can use without messing up your hands with the nice nozzle. I use the one that comes with the blue squeezer around. I get it from Home Depot. With the Ecotech brand I remove the applicator and use a toot pick to be able to remove the glue and apply on the zoa, once I've had a hard time to squeeze the bottle.

Grandis.

 

[debincalif]

With the Ecotech brand I remove the applicator and use a toot pick to be able to remove the glue and apply on the zoa, once I've had a hard time to squeeze the bottle.

I've never tried using a TOOT pick... :crazy1:

Hahaha... that just made me giggle!

ANYWAY - bought some Coraffix this weekend and hate it. Way too watery and runny. Going back to buy some Loctite tonight. I also like the blue grips on the side of those bottles. Very easy to manage.

Grandis, I haven't had trouble with snails knocking frags loose, but I don't have any really large snails in my system. But I have had frags pop off that I used regular Super Glue on. Re-glued them with Loctite and no problems thus far.

Bought some frags in the bay area this weekend, and have some online purchases being delivered tomorrow, so I'll be having a Loctite party. Maybe I should invest in Loctite stock?

 

[bubonic]

I use several different plugs and rocks. I like oceanwonders plugs(not their ceramic plugs though) for the sheer fact that they are easy to precisely frag with cutters. I also like alternative reefs' mini plugs for selling to people because its footprint is only one square on an egg crate. I ordered and received BRS coral frag mounts this week. They were not bad on price so I decided to give them a try. They seem to be just random small porous rocks perfect to blend into rockwork. Then I have made a 4" disc out of clay that I would like to use, but I need my buddy to throw it in his kiln. Here is a pic of my various plugs/rocks.

 

[Mark 75g]

The best glue that I found was from bulk reef supply. They have a nice thick glue just like ecotech but cheaper. Also I bought their frag plugs made of real sand. I have never had a problem with my zoas coming off these plugs

 

[K-ROK]

Wow...them's some big Zoas. Never seen them mounted on a Star Destroyer before though. Very cool.

 

[A. Grandis]

I've never tried using a TOOT pick... :crazy1:

Hahaha... that just made me giggle!

ANYWAY - bought some Coraffix this weekend and hate it. Way too watery and runny. Going back to buy some Loctite tonight. I also like the blue grips on the side of those bottles. Very easy to manage.

Grandis, I haven't had trouble with snails knocking frags loose, but I don't have any really large snails in my system. But I have had frags pop off that I used regular Super Glue on. Re-glued them with Loctite and no problems thus far.

Bought some frags in the bay area this weekend, and have some online purchases being delivered tomorrow, so I'll be having a Loctite party. Maybe I should invest in Loctite stock?

TootH!!! Toothpick!!! :hmm5:
LOL!!!

Loctite rules!
They've got a larger size tube also, but without the blue squeezer.

Have a nice party!

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

I use several different plugs and rocks. I like oceanwonders plugs(not their ceramic plugs though) for the sheer fact that they are easy to precisely frag with cutters. I also like alternative reefs' mini plugs for selling to people because its footprint is only one square on an egg crate. I ordered and received BRS coral frag mounts this week. They were not bad on price so I decided to give them a try. They seem to be just random small porous rocks perfect to blend into rockwork. Then I have made a 4" disc out of clay that I would like to use, but I need my buddy to throw it in his kiln. Here is a pic of my various plugs/rocks.

Wow! You've got a collection there!!!

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

The best glue that I found was from bulk reef supply. They have a nice thick glue just like ecotech but cheaper. Also I bought their frag plugs made of real sand. I have never had a problem with my zoas coming off these plugs

Thanks for sharing! Nice avatar!

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

Wow...them's some big Zoas. Never seen them mounted on a Star Destroyer before though. Very cool.

His name is reefwars!

Grandis.

 

[eg8r210]

I usually pull mine off the plug and glue (IC Gel) them to a rock. I don't find plugs to be aesthetic.

I'm trying the Ecotech Coral Glue now. All the other super glue gel I've used in the past were fine.

I don't know for sure but judging on everything else from Ecotech I am guessing their glue is more expensive than their competition. What then would be the reason to try it if all the other glue you have used worked fine?

 

[A. Grandis]

I usually pull mine off the plug and glue (IC Gel) them to a rock. I don't find plugs to be aesthetic.

I don't know for sure but judging on everything else from Ecotech I am guessing their glue is more expensive than their competition. What then would be the reason to try it if all the other glue you have used worked fine?

Because they claim to be stronger than the others and even glue upside down!!!
Besides that, with the problem of some of the zoas coming out of the rocks I thought the other glues I was working with could be substituted by a stronger glue, that would solve my problem.
I found out about the snails after I've got the Ecotech glue.
Same happened with the Ecotech and now I know the problem was with the snails knocking them off the rocks, not the glue.

I think there is nothing wrong in trying something new to improve, if you can.

By the way, I've tried the Boston Aqua Farm's Reef Glue glue in the past and have no complains. I've got samples at MACNA.

Grandis.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

I've had some friends go to lowes and buy a sheet of mosaic tile and use that for placing frags on. I'm going to lowes and buying some this week. it'll give the zoas more room to grow.