Anyone every try growing SPS on acrylic rods ?

[Ober_Reef]

Hey Everyone,

I have basically ran out of room(in my opinion) for SPS on my rock work and I have some space behind the rock work so I had the idea to attach a piece of SPS to a 20” acrylic pointer rod. I’m wondering if anyone has tried this or if there would be any major drawbacks due to the coral not being able to encrust rock work. I have not implemented this idea yet to test it out but in wanted to grab some insight from other with more experience than myself. Any insight is appreciated !

 

[KrisReef]

The rod, how will you keep it stable & in place? If it's twisting in the current the frag isn't going to encrust very fast.

 

[Ober_Reef]

The rod, how will you keep it stable & in place? If it's twisting in the current the frag isn't going to encrust very fast.

Oh for sure I was either create an anchor or attach it to rock work.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Used to have a good hobbiest near dc that would grow fragments out on tips of acrylic 1/4” rods and sell them like that. Very profitable because they would encrust down the rod quickly and once a little new growth starts on the axial it looks like a decent branch from what was a small tip off a colony. Imagine how many small rods you could make a rack for in a 40 gallon breeder, a lot. Once they are stuck inside a small hole in the rockwork they stay put really well too.

 

[LOVEROCK]

Guys got a link these arylic rods ?

 

[ScottB]

Somebody around here was doing this with regular success. Trying to recall who it was. @Perry maybe?

 

[ScottB]

Guys got a link these arylic rods ?

This is the 1/2 version. I used this stuff to raise all my base reef rock on to acrylic pylons. Makes keeping the sand bed managed much easier.

 

[rtparty]

Years ago, we had a coral retailer come to my local club and show off how they grew SPS and this is exactly how they did it. Acrylic rod and some airline tubing around it to hold it in place on the rack.

I always thought it was a WAY better idea than big ugly frag plugs and the rods would go into holes in the rock very nicely. It got better flow around the whole coral plus snails and fish could keep it cleaner

 

[Ober_Reef]

This is the 1/2 version. I used this stuff to raise all my base reef rock on to acrylic pylons. Makes keeping the sand bed managed much easier.

Yep the one I currently have for my tank is labeled as and acrylic pointer and purchased from Amazon it also has a ribbon of neon green going down the center. If I did this I would shoot for a 20”+ clear rod and attach it with a frag plug holder from printed Reef.

 

[Perry]

Somebody around here was doing this with regular success. Trying to recall who it was. @Perry maybe?

I haven't tried acrylic rods, seen a tank on IG using them for height, concept is really cool. I have used pvc for coral mounting and scaping, and have a plan to use something similar with hollow acrylic in the near future

 

[spsick]

Ye works great. Less time encrusting and they get straight to branching.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

The 1/4” rods work just fine too. I believe the guy I knew was using a custom rack that had holes drilled tight together because the fragments were sold before they started branching sideways.

 

[Sabellafella]

Definitely works great. Can peg stuff to grow above or off the size of your rockwork to fill out some empty spots. Doesn't hurt to try

 

[Ober_Reef]

Definitely works great. Can peg stuff to grow above or off the size of your rockwork to fill out some empty spots. Doesn't hurt to try

Wow that’s awesome, I’m going to give it a try!

 

[JCOLE]

I made some acrylic rod mounts for the same reason due to lack of space. My old system is down and now I have a larger peninsula. I will add these down the road if I ever need additional room.

Post in thread 'JCOLE's ACRO Dominant Build' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jcoles-acro-dominant-build.557921/post-9628404

 

[Ober_Reef]

I made some acrylic rod mounts for the same reason due to lack of space. My old system is down and now I have a larger peninsula. I will add these down the road if I ever need additional room.

Post in thread 'JCOLE's ACRO Dominant Build' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jcoles-acro-dominant-build.557921/post-9628404

Just checked it out that almost exactly what I was thinking but better.

 

[MelancholyBlenny]

I made some acrylic rod mounts for the same reason due to lack of space. My old system is down and now I have a larger peninsula. I will add these down the road if I ever need additional room.

Post in thread 'JCOLE's ACRO Dominant Build' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jcoles-acro-dominant-build.557921/post-9628404

What size are the v2 smaller acrylic rods you used? I love this idea and want to bookmark the info for future use

 

[LOVEROCK]

are these reef safe I assume .25 is a 1/4 of an inch ?

 

[exnisstech]

I made some acrylic rod mounts for the same reason due to lack of space. My old system is down and now I have a larger peninsula. I will add these down the road if I ever need additional room.

Post in thread 'JCOLE's ACRO Dominant Build' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jcoles-acro-dominant-build.557921/post-9628404

How large do you think a stick can grow on one of these before it has to be moved? All I have is frags and am new to sticks so not sure how heavy they get as they grow into colonies.

 

[biecacka]

I too am interested in this. My question is what happens as the frags become larger? do they eventually encrust to the rock to support the weight or could the acrylic rod eventually lose its strength in the epoxy?

corey