Alternatives to frag plugs

[Reefer08]

What are some alternatives to ceramic frag plugs? Is there anyway I can find a website that sells the frag discs that are sold with maricultured corals?? They are made out of cement. They are a lot nicer than attaching acroporas to live rock rubble.

[dots]

Make your own using paint wells, sand, and a couple of drops of Superglue gel.

I prefer rubble, more natural, guaranteed the coral will grow over it. I find the plugs an eyesore and cut them off immediately.

[eagleONE]

You could take a tonga branch and slice them with a dremel and diamond bit...

[flyyyguy]

the tonga isnt a bad idea if thats what you want...i prefer rubble myslef as well

but if I was going to slice a bunch of tonga branch up like that I would use a cheap wet saw if yu have it....it would go quite a bit faster and you can pick up a cheapo wet saw at ahrbor freight or HD for 50-70 bucks....they are great for lots of things reef related really.....

[snorvich]

Along with dots and flyyyguy, I strongly prefer rock rubble.

[gmatt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12575595#post12575595 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Along with dots and flyyyguy, I strongly prefer rock rubble.

Ditto.

I can buy dry rock at the LFS cheap. Go to town with hammer and chisel. Wallah! Mounting plugs. Also it allows you to move the frag around the aquarium until you find the right flow / lighting then glue it if you like. Coral grows over the superglue gel and the rock easy. No drilling for post plugs, and no unnatural looking disks. Also if you change your mind about locaiton later and you have already superglued the rock plug to your live rock. You can break it loose with a twist!

my 2 cents.

[Joshua76]

I always have the greatest luck using rubble. it seems to be easier to match a piece of rubble to a divit in the rock then a disc or plug.

[fittiger]

I hate the plugs with the stems, ORA and otherwise. I can't mount my new frags where I'd really like them. How can I deal with this?

[flyyyguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12576628#post12576628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fittiger
I hate the plugs with the stems, ORA and otherwise. I can't mount my new frags where I'd really like them. How can I deal with this?

cut the [lug off near the base with a dremel or angled cutters (dremel necessaryfor those awful black rubbery things)and epoxy it to a piece of rock...then epoxy tht pice of rock wherever you want.

Be carefull with those new crappy ora plugs though....if you get too close to the base with the dremel, you will cut ththrought he skeleton of your hawkins and it will fall off the plug and shatter all over the floor and get cat hair and dirt on it the crumbles and you will lose half of it

[kev apsley]

Rubble is by far the best way to mount frags

[matan_grin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12575689#post12575689 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gmatt
Ditto.

I can buy dry rock at the LFS cheap. Go to town with hammer and chisel. Wallah! Mounting plugs. Also it allows you to move the frag around the aquarium until you find the right flow / lighting then glue it if you like. Coral grows over the superglue gel and the rock easy. No drilling for post plugs, and no unnatural looking disks. Also if you change your mind about locaiton later and you have already superglued the rock plug to your live rock. You can break it loose with a twist!

my 2 cents.

nice 2 cents..great idea

[pIankton]

I would use aquastick or some other epoxy and cut slices off. Roll pieces into little "nails" or thin "stems". glue the frag to the nail. It's like pegging.

[NewbieForever]

Be carefull with those new crappy ora plugs though....if you get too close to the base with the dremel, you will cut ththrought he skeleton of your hawkins and it will fall off the plug and shatter all over the floor and get cat hair and dirt on it the crumbles and you will lose half of it

ROFL

I just snap my ORA off the plug, if it was one like the hawkins that are too branchy near the base to snap off easily I might dremel through the plastic plug to get rid of the base and push it out from the bottom, just an idea never tryed that though. Sometimes I will just pop them off with a flat screwdriver.

Either way I try to never put a plug or base of any acro that comes in into my tank. I always snap them off and treat them with TMPCC and interceptor if I have it on hand.

As far as mounting frags, if I was farming them I would for sure use a eggcrate stand and use discs with pegs so I could get a lot in a small space. If I was mounting them for grow out and they had to be in the main system then there is nothing wrong with LR rubble.

[Reefer08]

I guess I agree with LR rubble being the nicest looking option but frag plugs sure do make it easy to place all frags on an eggcrate and not have to worry about running out of room. Ill just stick to lr rubble and squeze for space