“The Thing”

Doowayne · May 24, 2021

Is anyone familiar with The Thing offered by Top Shelf Aquatics? I got one a bit ago as a mystery sps coral. It’s been growing but only out/across and up. I’m curious, will it eventually encrust a bit, or should I remove it from the frag plug and glue it sideways?

Stephen · May 24, 2021

If you're referencing "CB The Thing" It's an anacropora. Most will encrust some however I've never seen one that does to the extent of acropora. I'd call what most in the hobby do closer to "anchoring" than anything. Cutting it and gluing it sideways would possibly give you a bit more anchoring but if you're hoping for it to cover a plug I don't think it would be worth the time or trouble.

C. Eymann · May 24, 2021

The thing wont really encrust like mentioned above, I would take it off the plug and just putty or glue it in its "forever place" keep in mind It can grow quite fast when its happy.

Doowayne · May 24, 2021

C. Eymann said:
The thing wont really encrust like mentioned above, I would take it off the plug and just putty or glue it in its "forever place" keep in mind It can grow quite fast when its happy.

Yeah, it’s been growing pretty fast, why I was wondering. If I glue it down/putty on its side, would the tissue loss be a problem or would I be better off just hiding the plug with some rubble?

C. Eymann · May 24, 2021

Doowayne said:
Yeah, it’s been growing pretty fast, why I was wondering. If I glue it down/putty on its side, would the tissue loss be a problem or would I be better off just hiding the plug with some rubble?

Gluing it on its side won't be a problem, its a very resilient coral. Either way will work fine.

BaysEndReef · May 31, 2021

I applied glue to my plug, with the stem cut off, and placed it in a concave spot on my rock work. "The Thing" grows in such a crazy way that it doesn't really matter how it is placed or glued. It will grow in swirls and whirls and knots and all kinds of weird patterns. haha. As mentioned above, once it is placed and stable, it grows really fast. I have fragged mine quite a few times in the past month. Seriously one of the most resilient corals I have ever kept.