Mounting Frags: What works best for you? Tips & Tricks

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Cutting frags is the easy part, mounting them is where it can get tricky!

Depending on what type of coral frag you're trying to attach/mount the process can be very easy or very hard! For example acropora for the most part can be pretty easy unless it's a green slimer you're trying to attach! Soft corals can be pretty easy, unless it's a mushroom that keep flying away or a nepthia frag that won't attach and gluing doesn't do the job! Sometimes it's easier to glue your acro frag down on it's side. For that pesky shroom or leather frag a dish with some rubble covered in wedding veil might get it done!

So let's talk about it!

1. What process for mounting frags works best for you?

2. What are some tips and tricks that you have that could help others?

I came across this fragging and mounting acro frags video from @WWC that is very helpful!

 

[sp1187]

The only thing I could possibly frag from my tank would be discoma shrooms. free floating all over the sand bed. I know how, frag box with plugs, but I prefer to let them land where they may, or call the local on a budget reefer and donate them to his tank.

 

[Waters]

I only mount SPS but just use a combination of coral putty and superglue. Holds but can still easily be removed if needed.

 

[Mhart032]

I use Gorilla superglue gel to mount them. i tried the putty, didn't work for me, i still had to use the gel, i actually like the frags that haven't yet encrusted or are frag plugless so i can mount them to the rock without the plug.

 

[sfin52]

The leathers I frag I set in low flow on the sand. They grab onto the sand. I than can glue them to plugs. The same goes for keyna trees.

 

[fishguy242]

gel type super glue on sps /lps, needle and thread on softies to rubble pass through body 2x ,happy fraggin all!!!

 

[KleineVampir]

I only mount SPS but just use a combination of coral putty and superglue. Holds but can still easily be removed if needed.

So far it seems like I can get the super glue to work, but choose wisely cuz that's where it's gonna be! I wish you could still move them. The putty isn't good enough for that? Everybody says super glue and nobody says putty ime.

 

[fishguy242]

cheap dollar store 2 pk gel imo works best

 

[AndyinAtlanta]

Gorilla Glue. Cheaper than what's sold at the LFS, same exact contents, and much easier to find in stock.

I hate epoxy. The set times can be difficult to deal with and the colors always stand out more. When removing something epoxied together you can also get fragments break off which aren't always easy to collect. Superglue adheres easier, goes into the water easier, and is easier to remove.

My biggest grip with superglue is when things go wrong. It can be difficult to get off of dry items, and when it gets on your hands you'll spend a considerable amount of time getting it off. If it gets on your nails you mine as well accept that it'll be there until you trim them.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I use Loctite Superglue Gel. The one trick I've learned (from a thread on R2R) for ones that aren't sticking well, is to put some superglue on your finger and rub it on the rock where you want to place the frag. Then add some superglue to the frag and stick it on before it drys. So you're essentially glueing super glue to super glue.

 

[andrewkw]

I took some pictures because my point really needs to be illustrated sorry the lights are not on yet. For LPS corals especially slow growing things like micromussa, blastos, and even faster encrusting ones as well they really need to be ramped so they have an easy path to grow.

Often you see people place these types of corals right on the sand, or just glued to a rock. They are going to end up growing around and never getting bigger after that. It's not super easy for them to jump onto the rock.

Many many years ago (more then 10) I had these beautiful colonies, but when a friend came over to look at the tank he made the point that they will never get any bigger. Sure enough they would grow around back and I'd be left with unhappy / brown pieces that never got light food or flow.

Picture 1 is a Homophyllia bowerbanki you can still see the epoxy at the bottom (pink) this was a white dry piece of rock when I attached the frag but has since coloured up. You can see the baby polyps growing down onto the epoxy then onto the rock. The large polyp at the bottom would have wrapped around the original skeleton otherwise.

Picture 2 is leptospirosis, a much faster grower that you could just glue onto a rock and it would jump on it's own. However it would still have some trouble and you'd see the frag plug even when it becomes softball sized. By mounting it - this time with reef welder glue/epoxy it jumped much quicker and is growing nicely. When it covers the rock in approximately 1 year it will be much more blended. - Choosing the rock shape for your encrusting coral is also important!

Picture 3 is some loose micros. They've got nowhere to go. Indeed the green one I've had for years. It was mounted before but not as well as the above examples and ended up getting knocked. The one to the left also has no where to go. Maybe they will reach the glass, but they are much much more likely to just grow around the skeleton.

For stuff like this you really gotta think long term. It may be months before the tiny frag you get leaves the plug and 1 year+ before it covers the rock but when that time comes you want it to be happy healthy and look good! These are display tanks after all. Otherwise we'd keep all our corals on flat tiles and there would be no sense of depth or height.

 

[AZMSGT]

Well, I thought this was going to be a thread for mounting frags to my aquascape.. LOL guess the principals would be similar.

 

[fishguy242]

I use Loctite Superglue Gel. The one trick I've learned (from a thread on R2R) for ones that aren't sticking well, is to put some superglue on your finger and rub it on the rock where you want to place the frag. Then add some superglue to the frag and stick it on before it drys. So you're essentially glueing super glue to super glue.

dab dry mounting surface w paper towel ,same with sps ,hold sps upside down esp slimers dab on both ,place and then turn upright

 

[Rick.45cal]

The best way I have found to mount SPS on plugs is to use a drop of gel superglue, a pea sized ball of epoxy putty, and then another drop of gel superglue on top of that, then stick the stick in it. Works everytime, and there’s no mess! Try it, you’ll become a believer!

 

[bigdrew]

Gorilla Glue. Cheaper than what's sold at the LFS, same exact contents, and much easier to find in stock.

I hate epoxy. The set times can be difficult to deal with and the colors always stand out more. When removing something epoxied together you can also get fragments break off which aren't always easy to collect. Superglue adheres easier, goes into the water easier, and is easier to remove.

My biggest grip with superglue is when things go wrong. It can be difficult to get off of dry items, and when it gets on your hands you'll spend a considerable amount of time getting it off. If it gets on your nails you mine as well accept that it'll be there until you trim them.

Have you tried gorilla glue under the water? I have a few spots of base rock that would be really tough to remove from the tank for purposes of mounting a frag...

 

[andrewkw]

Well, I thought this was going to be a thread for mounting frags to my aquascape.. LOL guess the principals would be similar.

So did I, as per my reply above. I guess there really is no reason to be multitasking when time is virtually unlimited.

For the topic at hand every single coral will glue up to and including mushrooms, leathers, xenia ect. You just have to be patient and use the right amount of glue - the kind does not matter.

Another crappy no light picture, this time from my frag tank. This is a critter keeper inside my frag tank. The flow that passes above these corals is several inches above them. Note the pom pom xenia frag plug can stand up without being knocked over. This is how low the flow needs to be. They may look droopy but in 2-3 days 80-90% will attach. You can even use big tiles and just fill the bottom with various softies and they will attach on their own. The glue does speed up the process by a day or 2 though.

Another option is to place sand on the bottom. If its course that's better but even sugar size works. Once some sand gets stuck to the bottom of the coral you can glue that to the plug.

 

[AndyinAtlanta]

Have you tried gorilla glue under the water? I have a few spots of base rock that would be really tough to remove from the tank for purposes of mounting a frag...

I wouldn't recommend it, but I know I've seen videos of people who've had success. It can get really stringy and adhere to you before you have time to stick it to anything.

My biggest lesson learned is that if you didn't glue your rock together before you added water to your tank then you mine as well rely on gravity moving forward.

 

[Waters]

So far it seems like I can get the super glue to work, but choose wisely cuz that's where it's gonna be! I wish you could still move them. The putty isn't good enough for that? Everybody says super glue and nobody says putty ime.

The putty allows the frag to be pushed down in locations where the frag plug (or frag) doesn't sit flat against the surface. The glue holds the putty to the frag as well as the putty to the rock.

 

[AltitudeReefer]

GEL super glue, small piece of epoxy, and more GEL. Did I mention GEL super glue? Use the thickest gel you can get. Locktite 60 sec. or gorilla glue brands seem to do best for me.

 

[dbl]

Since I'm not a fan of frag plugs in the display, I keep some small rubble rock in the sump. Drill a hole in the rock (whatever the appropriate size), fill the hole with super glue, and put the frag in. The hole also helps keep the coral stable while the glue dries.

Then you can eventually glue the rock to your main rock work and it blends right in. It's also easier to pop the rock off if you find you need to move the new frag.

Many ways to skin the proverbial cat!