What to do with plastic frag plugs?

[gettergejetter]

I got an SPS set 2 - 3 weeks ago with corals mounted on some plastic frag plugs.

My concern is that I don't really want these plugs glued onto my rocks, but on the other hand the corals are already encrusted on to the plugs and I'm afraid to cut them.

These are my very first SPS and I don't have any practical experience on how to handle them.

What do you guys think? Should I:

Cut the coral at its base?
Cut the plug as much as possible without touching the encrusting coral?
Just leave (glue) the plug and don't worry about it?
Something else?

Thx in advance for your help

 

[SPR1968]

Snap/cut them off

I grip the coral at the bottom and just snap it off

 

[gettergejetter]

Snap/cut them off

I grip the coral at the bottom and just snap it off

Thx for your response

Probably a dumb question but there is no way to save the growth on the plug with this method, right?

 

[C. Eymann]

We used to use plastic poker chips as frag disks/ plugs 20 years ago, never had any issues, frag plugs didn't exist back then.

 

[SeaDweller]

Thx for your response

Probably a dumb question but there is no way to save the growth on the plug with this method, right?

if the surface is smooth enough, the encrusted parts may just come off too. Other than that, who cares? It'll just encrust over again in a week or so anyway, so long as you don't kill them.

 

[fishguy242]

could just leave coral will cover

 

[C. Eymann]

could just leave coral will cover

+1 you wont see the disk anymore in a few months anyway.

 

[SaltH20Danny]

If you do cut/snap it off, save the encrusted part on the plastic and sooner or later you'll have 2 frags. I wouldnt waste time by trying to get every little living part of the encrusted part off, you'll end up ticking it off to the point of death imo. Happy reefing.

 

[Softhammer]

As said above, you could snap them off and if a coral is left on the plug put in back in the frag rack. It will typically regrow into another frag.