How good/bad do zoanthids look after covering frag plug?

[mbarber87]

I'm working on starting a garden and my tank and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle to remove the zoa frags from their plugs.

Does anyone have any before and after pictures of zoanthids covering a plug fully?

 

[danieyella]

I'm working on starting a garden and my tank and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle to remove the zoa frags from their plugs.

Does anyone have any before and after pictures of zoanthids covering a plug fully?

I didn't remove any of mine from their plugs, Here are 3 that have completely overgrown and you can't even tell where the plugs were. That bit of coral epoxy on the right is from something else entirely. The bunch of armor of gods up in the front more are growing straight over sand and on themselves, no rock.

 

[danschoenherr]

A covered plug is always a good thing!
With that being said though, the plug will stand out some, with the smaller sized zoas. What I frequently do with smaller zoas and encrusters, is glue a small piece of crushed rock or old coral skeleton to the frag plug so the coral can grow up as well as out. This gives it more definition and an easy fragging option in the future.

 

[Tonyreeffish]

If possible I like to cut the zoas of the plug before permanently glueing them to rock. Some frags are easier than others depending on when fragged and how much growth has occured since fragging. I like the all natural look and sometimes zoas will shoot off in a direction rather than completely covering a plug.