How to take frags off plug

[CrimsonTide]

I’m straight up legit scared to frag my palythoa grandis colony. One of the confirmed species that does produce palytoxin

Also do you like the 3dlD printed torch stand you have your torch on??? I saw some this weekend and wondered if ppl liked them.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Or, a nearly undetectable poison since it’s so uncommon it’s not something that would be tested for commonly…

At least if you know about palytoxin you can tell the doctors you have them. Feel sorry for the ppl that don't know.

 

[CrimsonTide]

For the person asking about cutting things off plugs..... I would just cut the bottom nipple of the plug off and then keep things on the plug. They will grow over the plug and you won't notice it in a few months.

 

[betareef]

For the person asking about cutting things off plugs..... I would just cut the bottom nipple of the plug off and then keep things on the plug. They will grow over the plug and you won't notice it in a few months.

Me too. A biggish pair of pliers with a wire cutter and it snips right off. The flat disc is much easier to handle, and stick where you want it.

 

[The_Paradox]

I bought grandis palys this weekend. The price was too right now I've got a bomb in my tank lol

Look up how many people do insane things like boil them, scrub them out of the water, frag them off rocks with chisels, etc. then look up how many people died. Everyone’s favorite zoanthids contain palytoxin not just Palythoa.

I leave you with this thought. I hypothesize that > 90% of the tanks on this site have palytoxin in them.

 

[twentyleagues]

The palytoxin crazy has hit hard the last few years I was away. I have fragged so many zoas and palys in the past never had an issue. With any coral or piece of liverock care needs to be taken. I think more issues arise from bacterial infections than palytoxin poisoning. Wear gloves, eye protection, dont touch your face, clean up after yourself.

 

[reefer415]

How do I take my frags off the plugs safely?

I bought a dental tooth cleaning kit for removing plaque etc. and it works wonders for popping frag plugs off, and scraping or picking out pests on the frags themselves before dipping and gluing them to the rock work.

 

[Brucemull]

Acan you can just pop off the frag plug unless encrusted to the plug it self.

Gsp and xenia should peel right off.

The others not sure about always left on the plug.

Be careful with palys!!! Palytoxins no joke! Research first!

 

[reefruss]

I use a bone cutter on frags that are just glued to the plug. If you are careful, it's easy to cut them off without doing any damage. If they are actually growing on the plug, then I cut the small portion (plug) off and glue it in place.

 

[sfin52]

Be careful with palys!!! Palytoxins no joke! Research first!

Ya we listed the the ppe

 

[Aidan_823]

For the least amount of stress to you and the corals, (if you didn’t already do it) just pop off the stem of the plug especially on the shroom and zoas, (zoas just suck to frag in my opinion). For the Xenia, might be able to just peel off, if not get a nice sharp pair of scissors or a knife cut the body as close as physically possible to the plug and just superglue the coral to the spot you want it. For the gsp, should be able to peel off, if not either cut the stem of the plug off or just hide the stem of the plug in the sand. Just be aware, Xenia and GSP are some of the best and worst corals you could buy. They are the best because they survive through anything, and grow fast. The worst because the grow fast. TOO FAST, don’t be surprised if you find yourself cutting some out every couple weeks lol. Acans are either very easy to cut off or a sob. If they are encrusted over the plug, don’t even worry about it, just cut the stem. If not, if you have bone cutters, (sharp pliers) and cut close to the plug. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Doctorgori]

For freshly glued acros I use a flathead screwdriver or thick box cutters and wedge/pop off the frag
….for encrusted plugs I get two pairs of pliers, I grip the round base with one pair and snap off the plug end with the other pliers ( leaving the coral on the round base)
…for softies I might use a razor blade or leave it ( as in palys)

 

[Bruttall]

I use a Razer knife to gently get under the glue used on the frag plug, usually if you break the edge of the glue, especially if they used cyanoacrylate, the whole frag pops off. Zoa's and paly's I gently scrape with same razer but I do them underwater in a big bowl to greatly reduce chances of exposure to palytoxin.


I also use cyanoacrylate (superglue) to attack the frags directly to my rocks. Don't even have to take the rocks out of the tank because that glue forms a skin on contact with water, so it slows bonding till you press frag onto a rock.