Gluing frag plugs to rock

[Gtinnel]

I have a homemade frag rack in my tank and I thinks it's finally time to figure out and place my frags on the rockwork permanently. On all my other corals I've found places where the stem of the plugs fit tightly into a hole but I've run out of holes, so I plan on cutting the stems off and gluing the disk to the rockwork. I remember reading on here about how most people glue them down but I don't remember exactly how. If my memory is right (and it often isnt) it seems like it was layers of super glue gel and putty, but I'm not positive.

So how does everyone glue their plugs to the rock. Assuming it requires 2 part epoxy is the Instant Ocean HolFast appropriate to use, and if not what does everyone else use.

 

[MarshallB]

Epoxy holds better. I use super glue gel. It works ok and I kind of like that it doesn't create a super strong bond in case i need to move something ( I could totally be gluing it wrong too ).

I use gorilla glue. Once you place the glue on the plug and stick it in the water it develops a skin on it. I take a tooth pick and mix the glue around a bit while in the water. Place it where it needs to go, twist a few time and hold in place for about 10-15 seconds. It holds strong enough not to come lose to flow and fish hitting it, but also allows me to pull the plug off without a ton of effort.

Hard corals I remove from the plug completely and glue them directly to rock.

 

[Gtinnel]

It works ok and I kind of like that it doesn't create a super strong bond in case i need to move something

I may just go with the gel superglue then. I was a little worried about placing a frag in a place where it isn't happy and then having a hard time removing it.

I probably won't remove the hard corals from the frag plug because most of the corals I'm putting in will hopefully cover and hide the plug, but if I do decide to remove the frag from the plug what should I remove it with? Just cut it as close to the bottom as I can with my bone cutters?

 

[stephj03]

What kind of cleanup crew do you have? Urchins and large snails will dislodge frags secured with just superglue in my tank.

Epoxy holds better but takes longer to set so I make a sandwich:

Frag---suoerglue gel---WaterWeld epoxy---suoerglue gel---mounting surface.

Hth

 

[The_Skrimp]

I’ve never had any luck with putty holding enough till it dries. I usually use Gorilla gel super glue. I put a bunch on the plug and then dip the plug in a separate container of tank water to crust up the surface of the glue so it doesn’t go everywhere when I put it in the tank. Then when you get to the rock, give the frag plug a little twist to crack through the film of the superglue so it sticks.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Locktite super glue (gel) holds fine for me. I’ve got big hermits and turbo snails and they don’t knock stuff off when I glue it down with that. But it can be a pain to remove if you don’t like where you glue it if you use a lot of glue.

 

[Gtinnel]

What kind of cleanup crew do you have? Urchins and large snails

My urchin has already been banished to the sump because of him constantly moving my unsecured frags. All of my larger snails have been killed off by my larger hermit crabs already. Is there usually an issue with larger (not huge but using turbo snail shells) hermit crabs breaking frags off if not secured better?

 

[Gtinnel]

I’ve got big hermits and turbo snails and they don’t knock stuff off when I glue it down with that.

Good to know thanks.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Good to know thanks.

I always stick the stem or my plugs into holes in the rocks if I can or I cut the stems off and glue the disc down. For stony corals I glue the hard skeleton right into a hole in the rock.

 

[Gtinnel]

I always stick the stem or my plugs into hole

That's what I had been doing but I've ran out of holes where I want the frags. Most of the frags I'm moving should cover the plug (some already have) so I'm not too worried about having the disk in the tank. I do plan on cutting the stems off, actually it's the reason I bought a large pair of bone cutters hoping it'll make cutting the stems off easy. In the past I tried breaking them off but wasn't successful.