Can I remove these acans from their plugs?

[Austin Weinerman]

I just picked up these two acan frags and after acclimating and dipping, added them to my tank. While I was acclimating them I gently tried to remove them from their plugs, but didn’t pull too hard because I was afraid to damage them. Now that they’re glued in my tank, I’m wishing that I tried harder. I just hate the look of the plugs. I know that they will eventually be grown over, but I can’t stand looking at them until then. I’m considering taking them out and trying harder to separate them, but I want to make sure that I won’t be damaging them if I do this. I successfully separated an acan frag from its plug a few weeks ago, but these look more securely attached. I can’t tell if the skeleton has started growing on the plug and has attached to it. If anyone can give me advice on if it would be safe for me to separate them, please let me know

 

[WWIII]

I would say judging from the pictures these would be removable without too much effort. I use a razor knife and or a flathead screw driver. Try to chip down into the plug and they should pop off, probably with the superglue still attached.

 

[tiggs]

I think you should be able to get them off without issue, since they look very freshly fragged/mounted. If I were doing this, I'd get a knife (or other pointed metal object) and try to stick it gently between the skeleton and the plug, then wiggle, pry, wiggle, pry, etc etc. Obviously be very gentle, but you should be fine.

 

[Austin Weinerman]

Thanks for the quick response guys! That makes me feel a lot better about removing them. I’ll give it a try!

 

[Austin Weinerman]

Well, last night I successfully removed them from the plug. I glued them back on the rock & they seemed ok. This morning I noticed my rainbow acan has one damaged head so I guess I damaged it while doing that I figure if I keep my water quality good and try feeding it some mysis once it sticks its sweepers out that should hopefully help it heal. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to help it or if it will recover?

 

[rkpetersen]

I remove all my frags from plugs, unless the frag has already grown onto the plug such that trying to remove it would damage it. I use an edged frag tool to get between the frag and the plug, apply a bit of pressure, and most of the time, the frag just pops off. Rarely any damage at all.

 

[Austin Weinerman]

I remove all my frags from plugs, unless the frag has already grown onto the plug such that trying to remove it would damage it. I use an edged frag tool to get between the frag and the plug, apply a bit of pressure, and most of the time, the frag just pops off. Rarely any damage at all.

I used a flathead screwdriver. The frag did pop right off once I applied a good amount of pressure. I think I might have damaged this one when I was trying to glue it down (I might’ve been rubbing against one of the heads on accident). Is it likely that it will grow back with good water quality and feeding?

 

[rkpetersen]

Is it likely that it will grow back with good water quality and feeding?

Perhaps, but they can be finicky.

With the right tool, it's more like a squeeze, which will make the frag release in a more controlled gentle way. Also, practice. Attaching them to rocks without injuring them, other corals, shrimp, or fish, is also an art.

 

[Austin Weinerman]

Perhaps, but they can be finicky.

With the right tool, it's more like a squeeze, which will make the frag release in a more controlled gentle way. Also, practice.

Sounds like I just need to get better at it, haha. If it doesn’t heal, would the damage spread to the other heads or would only this one head die off? Sorry for all the questions, this used to be my seahorse tank before I moved them to a new tank so I just started diving into LPS. I have no experience with acans other than my other frag I got a few weeks ago & what I’ve read online, so I feel pretty ignorant when it comes to them haha.

 

[rkpetersen]

Even if the head dies, the other heads should be okay assuming they like the conditions, etc.

 

[WWIII]

Acans can be tricky at times, but that little damage (if there is any) shouldn't hurt them at all. If they don't do well it won't be from removing them from the plugs. After all, they were fragged with a power saw cutting right through them. We can just do our best to limit irritation and damage and keep the best water conditions possible! Now if it were a wall hammer or something, that would be a different story perhaps!

I think they're looking good so far!

 

[Austin Weinerman]

Thank you everyone! You have all eased my mind

 

[TheLadyCrash]

For future reference, bone cutters probably would have been the easiest way to remove the plugs. A good pair of bone cutters allows you to get between the coral and the plug to kind of snip away the glue/putty and you don’t need as much leverage/pressure.

 

[KeepReefin407!]

For future reference, bone cutters probably would have been the easiest way to remove the plugs. A good pair of bone cutters allows you to get between the coral and the plug to kind of snip away the glue/putty and you don’t need as much leverage/pressure.

+1 on this. Tried it today, worked flawlessly. Thank you!