frag plugs...
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dan10342
Well-Known Member
i like using the plugs with the small disk on the top. i saw the plug off, to make a tiny disk. then the tiny disk gets grown over with whatver frag was on it. looks way better than squares IMO
Eklikewhoa
Fish Thumper!
That's what I think too....once whatever that is on the plug encrust it it looks much better then square tiles.
dan10342
Well-Known Member
the larger disks however are great. you mount an echino to a small disk. and mount the smaller disk to a larger disk... to create a tiered look. then the echino will get a nice shape.
but im not even 1% sold on the square mounts. (i have a zoa on a square mount, and god its and ugly way to mount a coral.
but im not even 1% sold on the square mounts. (i have a zoa on a square mount, and god its and ugly way to mount a coral.
Reef Goddess
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I'm a square
Here's a shot of some covered tiles:
Its a matter of personal preference. However when you're doing it for a living and you're trying to grow as many frags as possible in a given space, then a square is better than a circle. ;p At last count I have 400-500 frags growing out.
Here's a shot of some covered tiles:
Its a matter of personal preference. However when you're doing it for a living and you're trying to grow as many frags as possible in a given space, then a square is better than a circle. ;p At last count I have 400-500 frags growing out.
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paintballer768
Master of Puppets
Where are the tiles from? And where can I get some? I just read through most of the thread so sorry if I missed it. Next time I frag I want to try and use these.
If everyones opinion, what is the best epoxy to use as well? Something that I can put on the frag and quickly squish it into place underwater on the larger rocks (since I cant take those rocks out).
If everyones opinion, what is the best epoxy to use as well? Something that I can put on the frag and quickly squish it into place underwater on the larger rocks (since I cant take those rocks out).
oceanparadise1
The Coral Dudes
thats why u frag it again and put it on a new plug. or place it on a rock so i grows onto the rock from the plug, i have some zoas doing that ill show u when u come over u cant even tell theres a plug!
Eklikewhoa
Fish Thumper!
Ordered a ton of BAF plugs/disk including some of their new ceramics.
I have always liked their old ones so ordered more of those....hate the ceramic ones I have gotten through frags but gonna give these BAF ceramics another shot.
Should be getting them tuesday so we shall see!
I have always liked their old ones so ordered more of those....hate the ceramic ones I have gotten through frags but gonna give these BAF ceramics another shot.
Should be getting them tuesday so we shall see!
Eklikewhoa
Fish Thumper!
Got my order in.....
3 bags of BAF plugs
2 bags of BAF disc
2 bags of BAF ceramic plugs
Have to say the ceramics are a bit of disappointment. After seeing all the pictures of them I was drawn to them cause of the little dimple in the center which would have allowed more glue to be used without raising the frag far from the flat portion of the plug to keep the frag flat once it encrusted. Not all of them have the indention.
Not a huge deal breaker or anything but it would have catered to my personal preference.
It is nicer then other ceramic plugs I have used since it feels quite a bit more porous and smooth at the same time.
The regular plugs/disc are not new to me and I have always liked them.....so into the toilet reservoir they go!
3 bags of BAF plugs
2 bags of BAF disc
2 bags of BAF ceramic plugs
Have to say the ceramics are a bit of disappointment. After seeing all the pictures of them I was drawn to them cause of the little dimple in the center which would have allowed more glue to be used without raising the frag far from the flat portion of the plug to keep the frag flat once it encrusted. Not all of them have the indention.
Not a huge deal breaker or anything but it would have catered to my personal preference.
It is nicer then other ceramic plugs I have used since it feels quite a bit more porous and smooth at the same time.
The regular plugs/disc are not new to me and I have always liked them.....so into the toilet reservoir they go!
Reef Pets
Bioprospector
I have used MANY different plugs and so far I have found Ocean Wonders to be the best for me. If using there Aragonite plugs I would recommend soaking them for a week or so. But, I now use there ceramic plugs and they are awesome! All you have to do is rinse them off and they are ready to go. I started using the ceramic plugs a couple of months ago and coral grow on them well and the coraline algae grows very nice and fast. I wouldnt use anything else.....
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See the whole toilet thing still irks me. We use rodi water in our tanks to avoid adding excess impurities from our tap water to avoid algae problem. Then you go and soak the plugs in toilet water full of disolved solids and all the things we try to avoid. The plugs soak up the solids and then you mount corals to them and put them into your tank along with all the solids pretty much defeating the reasons why we use rodi.
I am and was not a fan of concrete plugs even when I made my own. Having to cure something for six to eight weeks or longer before I could use it just wasn't acceptable to me. The cost of the rodi water needed to properly cure the plugs outweigh the small added cost of the ceramic plugs IMO.
FWIW yes I make ceramic plugs but have been aquaculturing corals for about ten years. We to the best of my knowledge were the first to produce ceramic plugs on a larger scale around three years ago. Now there are multiple sources making them but still not at the volume we produce them. I have used everything from rubble rock to shot gun wads to just about anything you can think of. I am not going to "attack" the competition to tell you our products are better because in the end it is all about personal preference. As long as you are culturing corals as much as possible you are cool in my book. We do feel ours are the best but we will not intentionally bash our competition on this forum. The reason we are here is the friendliness of this forum and all the freely exchanged information it provides us. It is the biggest reason I sponsor this site and I don't even run a web site.....yet.
All these plugs that are available as well as many other alternatives all work. Some better than others. Personally I would hope you use our products but as long as you are aquaculturing your coral that is all that matters. We realize that some people won't like what we produce while others keep coming back for more. Thats OK as long as people want them we will keep making them. Everyone is entitled to how they feel about a product.
Also I personally dislike the look of square floor tiles. And to tell me you can get more coral growing out on a square 1" floor tile compared to a round 3/4 inch plug just doesn't seem right to me. And it just doesn't look professional to me. Again only my opinion but when you try to save pennies on corals that are selling for high dollar amounts it to me cheapens the product. If your just a trader or selling frags for $5 a pop I understand the need to skimp where you can. But a ceramic plug costs about $.26-$.30 before shipping depending who you buy them from retail. Disks are a little more but still a small amount of the cost. If you are a store or professional grower it can cost you less than that depending on what you use. Not to mention selling the plugs and disks further reduces your cost in the long run. Heck many of my stores probably pay close to nothing for the plugs they use after you consider the additional frag plug sales. And if a store really can not absorbe a quarter into a coral they sell for $10-$100 they have bigger issues to deal with. It to me is one of the if not the smallest cost of aquaculturing. DIY will always be a strong part of this hobby due to the high costs but sometimes you have to weigh out the added time of diy to the convenience of buying something already out there.
Like I said everone has personal preferences and in the end it is all about aquaculture for us. We make next to nothing from plug and disk sales. Barely enough to make it worth the effort. But we believe in aquaculture and will make them as long as people want them.
gooch
I am and was not a fan of concrete plugs even when I made my own. Having to cure something for six to eight weeks or longer before I could use it just wasn't acceptable to me. The cost of the rodi water needed to properly cure the plugs outweigh the small added cost of the ceramic plugs IMO.
FWIW yes I make ceramic plugs but have been aquaculturing corals for about ten years. We to the best of my knowledge were the first to produce ceramic plugs on a larger scale around three years ago. Now there are multiple sources making them but still not at the volume we produce them. I have used everything from rubble rock to shot gun wads to just about anything you can think of. I am not going to "attack" the competition to tell you our products are better because in the end it is all about personal preference. As long as you are culturing corals as much as possible you are cool in my book. We do feel ours are the best but we will not intentionally bash our competition on this forum. The reason we are here is the friendliness of this forum and all the freely exchanged information it provides us. It is the biggest reason I sponsor this site and I don't even run a web site.....yet.
All these plugs that are available as well as many other alternatives all work. Some better than others. Personally I would hope you use our products but as long as you are aquaculturing your coral that is all that matters. We realize that some people won't like what we produce while others keep coming back for more. Thats OK as long as people want them we will keep making them. Everyone is entitled to how they feel about a product.
Also I personally dislike the look of square floor tiles. And to tell me you can get more coral growing out on a square 1" floor tile compared to a round 3/4 inch plug just doesn't seem right to me. And it just doesn't look professional to me. Again only my opinion but when you try to save pennies on corals that are selling for high dollar amounts it to me cheapens the product. If your just a trader or selling frags for $5 a pop I understand the need to skimp where you can. But a ceramic plug costs about $.26-$.30 before shipping depending who you buy them from retail. Disks are a little more but still a small amount of the cost. If you are a store or professional grower it can cost you less than that depending on what you use. Not to mention selling the plugs and disks further reduces your cost in the long run. Heck many of my stores probably pay close to nothing for the plugs they use after you consider the additional frag plug sales. And if a store really can not absorbe a quarter into a coral they sell for $10-$100 they have bigger issues to deal with. It to me is one of the if not the smallest cost of aquaculturing. DIY will always be a strong part of this hobby due to the high costs but sometimes you have to weigh out the added time of diy to the convenience of buying something already out there.
Like I said everone has personal preferences and in the end it is all about aquaculture for us. We make next to nothing from plug and disk sales. Barely enough to make it worth the effort. But we believe in aquaculture and will make them as long as people want them.
gooch
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treylane
Active Member
ANYTHING BUT those coral cradle things with the plastic legs is prettymuch fine. I know they work great for the eggcrate/farming crowd, but once you sell them on to us poor unsuspecting customers, we wind up with upside-down frags. HRRMPH!
Eklikewhoa
Fish Thumper!
gooch, well said! It's cool to see that a retailer can join in on the discussion involving their product without getting offensive or over the top!
I personally agree 100%, it's about aquaculture and to have the option of choice makes the hobby that much more enjoyable!
I myself ordered a ton of the BAF plugs cause well....the place I ordered from had the BAF ceramics that I wanted to see for myself and not the gooch ones. I have a 75g frag tank that I am working on so I will be in the market for tons more plugs and will definitely be giving yours a shot.
As for the toilet remark....it was a joke. I have mine in a bucket where my I store extra RO/DI which gets flushed weekly since I don't keep RO sitting for long.
I personally agree 100%, it's about aquaculture and to have the option of choice makes the hobby that much more enjoyable!
I myself ordered a ton of the BAF plugs cause well....the place I ordered from had the BAF ceramics that I wanted to see for myself and not the gooch ones. I have a 75g frag tank that I am working on so I will be in the market for tons more plugs and will definitely be giving yours a shot.
As for the toilet remark....it was a joke. I have mine in a bucket where my I store extra RO/DI which gets flushed weekly since I don't keep RO sitting for long.
Who Dah?
Exoticfrags.us
A while back, someone mentioned that there were some large ceramic discs out there. Like 2.5" or even 4" I think. Anyone know what I'm referring to? I'm having a hard time finding them. I'd prefer ceramic if possible.
Also, seeking some ceramic magnetic frag plugs. I need some that the magnets on both sides are reef-safe vs. just one waterside reef-safe and one dry side non-reef-safe.
In the mean time, I'm probably going to order some from oceanswonders. They have some 1 5/8" discs and some magnetic ones too. They are Caribsea sand based though.
Looks like OW has some ceramic ones now too. Not sure if their ceramic discs are 1 5/8" like the sand ones.
Any help is appreciated!
Also, seeking some ceramic magnetic frag plugs. I need some that the magnets on both sides are reef-safe vs. just one waterside reef-safe and one dry side non-reef-safe.
In the mean time, I'm probably going to order some from oceanswonders. They have some 1 5/8" discs and some magnetic ones too. They are Caribsea sand based though.
Looks like OW has some ceramic ones now too. Not sure if their ceramic discs are 1 5/8" like the sand ones.
Any help is appreciated!
Reef Goddess
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fraggedy
Whodah, the same place I've purchased marble tiles from on ebay also sells 2" (2.25" diagonally) hexagonal tiles which I tried out recently for my larger stuff. Not sure why they have them listed as 1 1/8" they're not.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360077017115&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=023
As for Gooch, I think its totally cool that other people like the products you guys make. I did ceramics for 10 years and I know its a lot of work and I respect you guys for that.
I have always preferred using tiles even before other companies started selling their own frag plugs. Frag plugs get knocked off my eggcrate easier than my tiles and my corals have more growing area than with the plugs. When I frag sps I prefer to glue the branch horizontally instead of vertically because I have found that they branch out faster this way. I can't do that with frag plugs. I buy marble tiles because they're cheap and my corals adhere faster to them than my well-soaked argonite tiles. I've also found that the super glue sticks better to the marble as well, probably because the OW tiles are more porous than the marble.
When you have 630+ frags (at last count) frag plug costs can add up very quickly. I can go through 200 during one frag session. That's $50 in tiles if I purchase them with Ocean Wonders. Whereas at Oracle Tile & Stone on ebay, a sheet of 144 tiles is just $5.99 with FREE shipping. I don't see anything wrong with saving a little money especially if I can pass those savings along to my buyers.
We hope to have 1000-2000 frags growing by next year and its important to us to be able to get affordable frag tiles. We also have limited growing area and every square inch counts so tiles work the best for us. Personal preference is exactly that. ;]
I don't think growing them on tiles makes them look any cheaper or less professional than growing on circular plugs, in the end whatever shape you're using they're just frag plugs and the real intent is for the coral to overgrow the plug and turn into a full colony. When that happens, no one is going to care what kind of frag plug you use. Some of my customers like the tiles better, some prefer plugs, but what they all have in common is they want to know how fast the coral will grow and cover the plug.
For hobbyists out there that are just growing a few frags and cost doesn't matter as much there are plenty of great companies like yours and others that offer a variety of neat ways to mount corals.
Whodah, the same place I've purchased marble tiles from on ebay also sells 2" (2.25" diagonally) hexagonal tiles which I tried out recently for my larger stuff. Not sure why they have them listed as 1 1/8" they're not.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360077017115&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=023
As for Gooch, I think its totally cool that other people like the products you guys make. I did ceramics for 10 years and I know its a lot of work and I respect you guys for that.
I have always preferred using tiles even before other companies started selling their own frag plugs. Frag plugs get knocked off my eggcrate easier than my tiles and my corals have more growing area than with the plugs. When I frag sps I prefer to glue the branch horizontally instead of vertically because I have found that they branch out faster this way. I can't do that with frag plugs. I buy marble tiles because they're cheap and my corals adhere faster to them than my well-soaked argonite tiles. I've also found that the super glue sticks better to the marble as well, probably because the OW tiles are more porous than the marble.
When you have 630+ frags (at last count) frag plug costs can add up very quickly. I can go through 200 during one frag session. That's $50 in tiles if I purchase them with Ocean Wonders. Whereas at Oracle Tile & Stone on ebay, a sheet of 144 tiles is just $5.99 with FREE shipping. I don't see anything wrong with saving a little money especially if I can pass those savings along to my buyers.
We hope to have 1000-2000 frags growing by next year and its important to us to be able to get affordable frag tiles. We also have limited growing area and every square inch counts so tiles work the best for us. Personal preference is exactly that. ;]
I don't think growing them on tiles makes them look any cheaper or less professional than growing on circular plugs, in the end whatever shape you're using they're just frag plugs and the real intent is for the coral to overgrow the plug and turn into a full colony. When that happens, no one is going to care what kind of frag plug you use. Some of my customers like the tiles better, some prefer plugs, but what they all have in common is they want to know how fast the coral will grow and cover the plug.
For hobbyists out there that are just growing a few frags and cost doesn't matter as much there are plenty of great companies like yours and others that offer a variety of neat ways to mount corals.
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H@rry
Troll
I use the ceramic tiles from Lowe's. I can get a 12 x 12 inch square (144 tiles) for $5 and change. I then pull the gauze off the back and cook them in boiling water. This loosens the glue holding the paper backing on. Stir it while it's boiling to scrub them together.
They work fine and you can get a lot of frag into a tray because they fit together so well. The disadvantage is that they fit so tightly together that snails can't get between them to graze the algae.
Here's a pic:
They work fine and you can get a lot of frag into a tray because they fit together so well. The disadvantage is that they fit so tightly together that snails can't get between them to graze the algae.
Here's a pic:
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Reef Goddess
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You know you don't need to boil them. I used to pull the tiles off the guaze, but it kills my fingers, so I recently tried just putting the whole sheet in a 2 gallon bucket of water. After a day or so all the tiles had fallen off. All I had to do was gently rub the remaining glue off.
I really like the OC tiles, but I don't like that I have to soak them for so much longer whereas the marble tiles are ready to use in a day or so. They don't sell small marble tiles at the Home Depot by me and the ceramic ones they have aren't plain so I'm a little wary of something leaching into the water from them. Too bad Lowes is so far from me.
The dwarf hares I carry sometimes do a great job of coming out and cleaning my frag tiles during the afternoon and evening. I usually stock about 30 of them in my big tank (they're only about 2" long), so it looks like a little herd amongst my frags. I think they like eating algae from the tiles because they're flat and easy to scrape. When I get some more I'll take a picture of a herd around my frags. They seem to have a life span of about 3-4 months.
I really like the OC tiles, but I don't like that I have to soak them for so much longer whereas the marble tiles are ready to use in a day or so. They don't sell small marble tiles at the Home Depot by me and the ceramic ones they have aren't plain so I'm a little wary of something leaching into the water from them. Too bad Lowes is so far from me.
The dwarf hares I carry sometimes do a great job of coming out and cleaning my frag tiles during the afternoon and evening. I usually stock about 30 of them in my big tank (they're only about 2" long), so it looks like a little herd amongst my frags. I think they like eating algae from the tiles because they're flat and easy to scrape. When I get some more I'll take a picture of a herd around my frags. They seem to have a life span of about 3-4 months.
