Wade Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 What do yuo all do with your zoa frags? They're glued to these little mushroom ceramic things that don't really fit anywhere securley, especially where you want them to be which means snails and crabs are constantly upending them. Do you preety much just have to make do as best you can until they overpopulate the base they're on? Gonna cook me some snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post +KimP Posted March 19, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted March 19, 2013 Yes, very frustrating. People all do something different. A lot (including myself) pop the coral off of the frag plug and super glue the coral to the rock. Others drill holes the size of the stem of the plug into the rock so they are more secure. Some just glue the plug wherever. I find the plug to be a source of pest algae and they look so unnatural. That's just me though! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 When I'm trying to incorporate it into the rock I just cut the frag plug so it's smaller or like Kim said you can remove it then re glue it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct67stang Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 i had the same problem i have over 20 zoa frags that were very happy in my sand bed, until my hermits roll them upside down or sideways. onet thought i had was to buy a bunch of very small hermits that cannot lift the frag plugs to replace the big ones i have. one thing i did that worked well is to grind most of the plug off so i could still have some plug left to glue on to the rock. also i glue the frags side to side so they could not move them, that worked good. ultimately i bought a magnetic frag rock from Mitch and was able to keep the hermits away from my zoas. if youre not ready to glue them on to the rockscape i suggest glueing the frag plugs to eachother to form a sort of zoa train they snap apart easily when youre ready to move them hope this helps good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 Thanks all. The answer to this question is obviously yes since you're doing it, but does the glue stick well to the wet rock? Also, what kind and where are you getting your glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I go to dollar general and get super glue GEL. You can use any super glue but it must say gel on the package or it won't work. Also watch your fish, there is always lil glue bubbles that come up and my fish like to try and eat them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Just in case it wasn't clear, you can use the super glue under water, you don't have to pull the rock out, although that is easier! Just glob it on the coral, plug, whatever, then put it under water and hold in place, wherever you want it, until it holds. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thanks Kim! I'm glad you added that because I was all set to pull out the a piece of rock and dab it with a towel to dry it a bit. Seriously. A frag noob I be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 When I place frags, If I have some aqua putty I make a small ball, then put glue on the bottom of the ffrag, press the ball on then put glue on the ball and then press in place inside the tank. Probably overkill but works really great. like stated above, get gel... the liquid just doesnt work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I agree as well with gel. But I dont use frag plugs any more. After reading about a lot of phosphate leaching from them, and witnessing hair algae growing on one I changed plugs. Now I use sea cookies. Dirt cheap and easy to cut down to size. If you need the actual plug, I just cut a 1/2" piece of rigid tubing (or soft) and glue it to the base of the sea cookie and pop it into place. If you ever want to frag the coral, all you need is some needle nose pliers. Crack the sea cookie up into pieces, and use a sharp blade for clean up work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Now I use sea cookies. Dirt cheap and easy to cut down to size. If you need the actual plug, I just cut a 1/2" piece of rigid tubing (or soft) and glue it to the base of the sea cookie and pop it into place. If you ever want to frag the coral, all you need is some needle nose pliers. Crack the sea cookie up into pieces, and use a sharp blade for clean up work. What are sea cookies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 We always call sand dollars in Galveston sea cookies, I dunno if that's what he's talking about tho lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 sea cookies are smaller sand dollars. You can buy 50 of them for like 4.00 on ebay or in corpus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I'm actually thinking about hitting the coast this weekend, I might have to grab some of those.... where would you find them in corpus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 you can find them at any of the souvenir shops. They usually sell them in little baskets as souvenirs. But if you go to the areas where they have bulk shells, you can pick them up cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I have some small zoas and rics that I got on plugs. I hate the plugs, too. Can I scrape the zoas/rics off without hurting them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I dremel the base of the frag plug and will attach it to my LR using Ecotech coral glue. If I am able to remove the frag easily then I will just through it on a piece of LR rubble and stick it on that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I have some small zoas and rics that I got on plugs. I hate the plugs, too. Can I scrape the zoas/rics off without hurting them? I wont hurt them per-say, but they'll be annoyed by it. What I generally do is use a sharp x-acto (fresh blade) and filet them off the plug. Then I give them a dip in Coral-RX/Lugols (whichever) and glue them back onto my sea cookies (or rock!). Just try and keep the knife as close to the plug as possible. And go slow and gentle, you don't want to just slice them off 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 or your finger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct67stang Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 tweezer work best for me on zoas i just get the edge of the zoa skin and peel up slowly and work it around till its off. no damage and no more plug. on rics i grind most of the plug off with a dremmel because ive cut some up trying to peel them i feel its more humane to keep some of the plug its attached to. but its not enough left to be visible 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 It's tough to do with zoas. You gotta have a super sharp blade and be real patient. Once you manage to get a corner up you can usually just peel the whole frag right off easily. I've butchered several zoas and some GSP in failed attempts to do this though. Easier said than done. If its something super glued to the frag plug that's a bonus. Usually with a razor blade you can just pop the super glue chunk right off and the frag will be none the wiser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Wear your gloves for this process 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 +1 Additionally, if your sandbed plugs keep getting up-ended, you can take a plastic washer thats a bit bigger than your plug base, glue it to the bottom, and wiggle the plug back into the sand. The flat part at the bottom will act as an anchor. Wear your gloves for this process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneysReef Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 You can usually pop the base of the plug off with a pair of dikes and then take the flat part and glue it on a disc or rock or whatever you want. Just get a little bit of the base in the dikes, not the whole thing, and pop it off. You can also use a saw like the gryphon diamond band saw to make precision cuts anyway you want but that is not cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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