Poll: How long do you wait to permanently place corals?

[dbl]

Curious how long folks wait to permanently place their new coral purchases on their rock work. Do you give them a change to acclimate to your system by placing them on a frag rack or at the bottom of the display before gluing them to the rock work? Or do you just dip and glue hoping they will be okay where you place them?

I personally dip them and place them on a frag rack positioned towards the bottom of the display. I then gradually move the rack up over a few weeks to see how everything does. Once acclimated, I glue them where I think they'll do best.

So what's your process for new corals?

 

[declanisadog]

IT depends on the coral really, but most of the time I do about what you do.

 

[DancingShark]

QT them and dip while in Qt. Bring them in my DT and they sit on a rack till I figure out where are they going.

 

[Gareth elliott]

So coral qt isnt running yet, but future plan is qt under the same light as my dt. Move the frag rack as needed in qt then when qt is over permanently place in dt in a location of matcing par.

Theory no practice of this yet [emoji23]

Current corals were permanently placed after several weeks of acclimating in the dt.

 

[AdamNC]

I put 4+ weeks but I usually wait until I see a fair amount of encrusting on the frag.

 

[siggy]

QT them and dip while in Qt. Bring them in my DT and they sit on a rack till I figure out where are they going.

Mine sit on a frag rack for awhile. But I have noticed that I am having better luck when placing SPS in the rock work.

 

[Adele]

After dipping I put them on my frag rack and let them chill. I like to see some growth there first, then I will try and prop them in a hole in the live rock where I want them, then if they do well in that spot I will get the glue/epoxy.

 

[recess62]

I always dip. I tried the frag rack but the corals always seemed to languish. NOw they get glued hopefully to their permanent place. I have had to move a few who were unhappy but all in all this has been successful for me

 

[DancingShark]

Mine sit on a frag rack for awhile. But I have noticed that I am having better luck when placing SPS in the rock work.

Yeah they seem to start encrusting a lot faster for some reason.

 

[cracker]

Usually the lfs will let me take a par reading then I try to match that in my tank until I slowly move them up or down even where I want them . For instance, I have a shelf rock in a lot of light. The zoas here are used to this light. I will slowly move up another color zoa till it's used to the bright & then attach

 

[Mavric]

I put all my frags on the bottom and inch them closer to home over the span of a few weeks. Most of the time it's because I'm never 100% sure on where I want them.

Speaking of which, is there anything better out there for frag placement on rock other than Seachem Reef Glue? I can't seem to never make a massive mess with that stuff and it drives me crazy getting it off my fingers.

 

[ca1ore]

It varies really ..... depending upon the source of the frag. Generally a new frag goes into a lower light area of my frag tank, gradually moved to higher light as it recovers from shipping, acclimates, gets color back, etc. I'd say nominally it's 4 weeks plus before it gets moved to the display. If I trade for something that was display-established, then it usually goes straight into the display.

 

[saltyhog]

Depends on both the source of the coral and type. Corals that are typically placed on the sand (plate corals, etc) go straight to their permanent location after moving to the DT. Acros start in a frag rack on the back wall which is not as brightly lit as the rock work. Slow acclimation to my lights over 3-4 weeks for them.

 

[scardall]

Most of my corals are on portable mounts.

Found something similar. https://fragtasticreef.com/frag-donut-with-frag-plug/

 

[ca1ore]

This is an example of a piece that I got recently from LFS. It's very pale, probably partially bleached, and putting it straight under my main lights would almost certainly spell its doom. I think it's an aussie strawberry shortcake, but time will tell.

 

[Mavric]

This is an example of a piece that I got recently from LFS. It's very pale, probably partially bleached, and putting it straight under my main lights would almost certainly spell its doom. I think it's an aussie strawberry shortcake, but time will tell.

That frag tank looks like one of the local LFS I go to here. All of the corals are bleached, closed up, or straight up dead. The ones that still have color come at a WAY huge premium. Kills me. Hope it lives to see better days!

 

[BluTang85]

I always float the bag to reach temp and then dip and drip acclimate, then add the corals at the very bottom of the aquarium, after a few days to a week I will begin moving them up with frag racks or by rock work every few days to make sure there still happy until I find the spot I want them. I’ve has great success with this and I don’t do it any other way.

 

[ca1ore]

Hope it lives to see better days!

I got it from probably the best LFS near me - was 'right off the boat' so some stress is inevitable. Have bought a handful from them that way and all have made it.

 

[Mavric]

I got it from probably the best LFS near me - was 'right off the boat' so some stress is inevitable. Have bought a handful from them that way and all have made it.

That's awesome! I don't have much experience bringing stressed out corals back to life so I try to stay away from buying frags like that.

 

[TangingOut]

Lazy reefer here. They get placed whenever I'm motivated enough to do so. Usually when I've collected too much and tank starts to look cluttered, but then again I've also glued down frags right away as well.