Corals frags vs larger size / plugs or ??

[dreamcatcherr9]

Do all frags sold online come on plugs?

Does purchasing more expensive (larger coral pieces) yield healthier or are more sustainable corals?

The point, I hate the look of plugs. I have no experience with corals and I am just starting (I am not looking to remove from plugs, though I read people going back and forth on it). LFS I have frags on plugs but occasionally I see frags mounted on small pieces of actual rock.
I see larger pieces of corals (much more expensive), but can’t visibly see what they are mounted on (or if even mounted on anything at all?).

I just wanted to hear other people’s thoughts and opinions. Please respond if anyone has any friendly advise, options, or opinions. Thank you!

 

[Gareth elliott]

Frags tend to do better than colonies, at least for sps. They grew a particular way for the they had flow. You can never recreate that.

Now about the plug.
Sps corals these are easy to remove entirely, even some branchier lps. The super glue snaps with your thumb. For corals that are meatier. A quick snip with bone cutters and the tip of the plug is gone.

tip do this over a soft surface like a pillow just in case.

 

[New&no clue]

Aqua Coral sends all corals on live rock, they never use plugs. They specialize in soft corals, but the do have LPS as well. I've been to their store and it's very clean and nice. The owner, Penny, has a ton of knowledge as well that she is willing to share with or without asking.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

purchasing larger colonies actually tends to increase mortality rate vs frags. I'ts speculated that the coral grows to fit it's environment, and large coral can't adapt as well as frags can. You will also have a hard time finding large pieces of many coral for sale, but for a price can ask vendors to make you a large frag/mini colony.

If you simply don't like the look of the plugs, they are easy to remove with a little care. If you don't want to stare at a 1" stick for 4 months, than buying large is the only option other than patients. With time, the coral will cover over plugs as well, as you may have seen at your LFS.

some companies that make plugs also sell small rocks to mount frags to, but are about 5-10x the price and take up more room in a frag tank, so they aren't a popular option. I think they're better for the customer to have on hand so if they want to transfer frags to the rocks they can.

I personally remove the plugs from my frags before mounting to my rockwork whenever possible, but will leave them on the plug if it makes sense for where I want to mount.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Frags tend to do better than colonies, at least for sps. They grew a particular way for the they had flow. You can never recreate that.

Now about the plug.
Sps corals these are easy to remove entirely, even some branchier lps. The super glue snaps with your thumb. For corals that are meatier. A quick snip with bone cutters and the tip of the plug is gone.

tip do this over a soft surface like a pillow just in case.

Thank you. Using “bone cutters”, are you saying remove frag from plug (if can’t be removed by hand) or snipping bottom of plug off?

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

purchasing larger colonies actually tends to increase mortality rate vs frags. I'ts speculated that the coral grows to fit it's environment, and large coral can't adapt as well as frags can. You will also have a hard time finding large pieces of many coral for sale, but for a price can ask vendors to make you a large frag/mini colony.

If you simply don't like the look of the plugs, they are easy to remove with a little care. If you don't want to stare at a 1" stick for 4 months, than buying large is the only option other than patients. With time, the coral will cover over plugs as well, as you may have seen at your LFS.

some companies that make plugs also sell small rocks to mount frags to, but are about 5-10x the price and take up more room in a frag tank, so they aren't a popular option. I think they're better for the customer to have on hand so if they want to transfer frags to the rocks they can.

I personally remove the plugs from my frags before mounting to my rockwork whenever possible, but will leave them on the plug if it makes sense for where I want to mount.

Appreciated. What do you use to mount to rock work? Assuming this is done after a few weeks, once the frag is established and we have thought about a permanent location?

 

[ahiggins]

For softies it depends. Most are softie, rock, glue plug. I’ll remove the whole rock and softie from the rest and glue their rock to my rock. If it’s a clean plug then I’ll just cut the base off. Some polyped things are just glued straight to the darn thing or for mushrooms, are just attached. For those I’ll just cut the base off or clean whole plug and not cut it.
there’s only one place I’ve ever trusted to thoroughly clean their own plugs and I’ll just dip them.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

TO mount to rockwork, I use superglue gel and reef epoxy putty. I mix up a 3/4" or so ball of the putty and put a dab of superglue gel on the bottom of the ball that will contact the rock, and a dab on the top where the frag will go. I then mash the ball into the rockwork so it has lots of contact surface area, then stick my frag into the top part with the superglue gel. If needed, hold in place for a minute or two while the epoxy hardens.

The epoxy putty is available in grey, white, and purple typically from companies like two little fish, or ocean wonders. You can also save a bit of money and use "water weld", but it is more noticeable in the tank, and a bit harder to work with IMO as it's a bit thicker. My preference is the ocean wonders brand.