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Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method


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  1. #1
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Default Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    After asking for ideas of the best way to attach sinularia frags to plugs, here:
    Fragging Sinularia?

    @Coral Frenzy spurred an idea when he posted a link to these Soft Picks:

    Soft Picks zps6534d8c1 - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    I decided to cut notches into frag plugs with an Inland Reef Saw. This was the most time consuming part of this operation. Frag plugs are hard!

    notch cut frag plug zps959a0c3e - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    Then I used the soft picks to attach the sinularia frags and wedge them down into the notch so they won't fall out.
    sinularia frag plug zpsd8eff100 - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    This batch probably took about 20 minutes to setup:

    sinularia frags zps09800b6f - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    Here they are starting to get happy after only an hour or so:
    sinularia frags rack zpseda579d0 - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    sinularia frag complete zps7828b468 - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    The frags were precut a few days ago and allowed to tumble in a container I attached to the side of my tank. This was a recommendation from @Skyhigh as he said the survival seems to go up if the frags have a few days to recover after the initial cutting. I used some of the mesh I use for tank tops to keep them inside the container.

    sinularia fresh cut zps3df6a97a - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    One word of caution, if you have a small tank like I do with no filtration, be careful to minimize cutting in the tank and run a ton of carbon afterwards. Even though I tried to minimize the in tank cutting, I ended up killing nearly all of my LPS/SPS after fragging the sinularia. You can see from that last photo that they were starting to not look very happy and in retrospect I should have done a big water change and added carbon right then.

    I'll update this thread with more progress as the frags grow onto the plugs.

    These frags will be available at the Lansing swap for free! Just find the CaptiveReefs booth and spin the Frag and Swag wheel. There will be a ton of prizes depending on your spin.

    #payitforward #fragandswag
    Last edited by jimsflies; 01-26-2014 at 05:57 PM.

  2. #2
    MizTanks - Reefkeeper
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    Jamie
    Awards Photo of the Month - October 2012 Photo of the Month Post and Reply Award - Winner of the first PAR Contest. Monthly Giveaway Winner

    Default

    So does the coral just grow over the pick?
    There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com

  3. #3
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Default

    No once they attach (a week or so), I'll just pull the pick out. But I'm sure the pick could stay there as well.
    Likes Sir Patrick liked this post

  4. #4
    Coral Frenzy - Reefkeeper CR Sponsor
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    Default

    Great Job!
    Should be all healed and ready to go for the Expo.

  5. #5

    Default

    I was wondering what happened to some of my sps/lps why did it kill them?

  6. #6
    Tom@HaslettMI - Reefkeeper
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    Awards Yugo Award - For helping with the CR Booth at MCES Monthly Giveaway Winner Monthly Giveaway Winner Photo of the Month Tank of the Month

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    The notched plugs also work very well for mounting gorgonians! The 10 frags pictured here will be available to win at the CR table during the upcoming expo.

    5A34D75C 44D0 4F0B B2AD 8D0FEDC01174 zpsifsptfzx - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    B216F8B5 6489 41FB 9BE5 C0C774D33D5E zpsvcvl3cop - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method

    Tom

  7. #7
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dmmz View Post
    I was wondering what happened to some of my sps/lps why did it kill them?
    Why did what kill them?

  8. #8
    FlynnFish - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    shanny
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    Me and my husband have a similar way of fragging sinularia and toadstools. We take small bits of rock for the plugs. Take the sword style tooth picks and break them down top a good size. Stick the toothpick through the coral then superglue the toothpick to the rock. After the coral is attached to the rock just twist the toothpick and pull off.
    Be careful with those floss picks, sometimes they have mint flavoring in them. Don't know what effects it can have on a tank.
    I need to attend a Fish Breeders Anonymous class.
    mbi sigaspx?uflynnfish&ampimg2 - Soft Coral Frags - Notched Plug Method
    Thanks Sir Patrick thanked for this post

  9. #9
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Good point Shannon... I wondered why my tank smells minty fresh!

  10. #10
    Sir Patrick - Reefkeeper A2 Club Coordinator
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dmmz View Post
    I was wondering what happened to some of my sps/lps why did it kill them?
    Allelopathy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    When cut, some corals go into overdrive....like the sinularia did, to ensure its propagation when cut/broken/hurt in Jims small tank.

    Most leathers cause allelopathy naturally, which can be avoided by carbon/water changes, but some really turn up the heat when stressed, or cut/broken.

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