Coral Frag Plugs?

[Kasey Grohowski]

Should you always switch the coral frag plugs with your own? Also should you take the coral out of the plug before mounting it?

 

[RandyC]

Yes as long as doing so doesn't carry a high risk of killing the coral entirely.

Frags plugs and dead portions of skeletons is usually where eggs or nuisance algae are located. No (or very minimal) foreign rock or plugs in your tank is a good practice.

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

Yes as long as doing so doesn't carry a high risk of killing the coral entirely.

Frags plugs and dead portions of skeletons is usually where eggs or nuisance algae are located. No (or very minimal) foreign rock or plugs in your tank is a good practice.

In what scenario would it kill the coral?

 

[Salty Lemon]

I'm not going to even attempt to be a coral expert here, but I've read it is better to remove the plugs and dip the corals than to use the plugs that have been sitting in holding tanks for who knows how long and then putting it your tank. You are less likely to pick up hitchhikers/algae/eggs and misc problems if you get them off as soon as you can. Whether or not you want to reglue it to a new frag plug for the time being will be up to you.

 

[RandyC]

In what scenario would it kill the coral?

One example would be a mushroom. Taking a shroom on the plug/rock has a high chance of damaging the foot and killing the whole thing.

Another would be an encrusting montipora or a cyphastrea. Trying to get that off would be next to impossible without demolishing it into tinier pieces. This might now kill this coral, but you'll be left with a bunch of tiny pieces.

 

[RandyC]

For those coral that you can't remove, coral QT is essential for minimizing your exposure to potential pests in your main tank.

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

For those coral that you can't remove, coral QT is essential for minimizing your exposure to potential pests in your main tank.

I have a coral qt, is it not necessary for corals that the plugs can be removed?

 

[RandyC]

I have a coral qt, is it not necessary for corals that the plugs can be removed?

I'd still QT. They can still carry live pests, for example, aefw or red bugs for acros.

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

I'd still QT. They can still carry live pests, for example, aefw or red bugs for acros.

How long do you qt? Out of curiosity.

 

[RandyC]

How long do you qt? Out of curiosity.

3-4 weeks, unless I "trust" the source then I may cut it down to a couple of weeks. Though, that is probably not good practice.

Everyone's mantra should be "trust no one's tank, but your own."

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

3-4 weeks, unless I "trust" the source then I may cut it down to a couple of weeks. Though, that is probably not good practice.

Everyone's mantra should be "trust no one's tank, but your own."

I don't have corals yet, but I will be getting some softies soon. I feel like 76 days for QT is a long time, but worth waiting.

 

[RandyC]

I don't have corals yet, but I will be getting some softies soon. I feel like 76 days for QT is a long time, but worth waiting.

If ich is what you're trying to avoid, 76 days is the number for the least amount of risk.