Frag Plugs: The demise of Western civilization, or a necessary evil? "Shut up Fellman."

[Battlecorals]

Do you guys have a better method than using a dremel to remove the plug stems? That's what I've been doing and it can take awhile and you can also slice your finger. Ask me how I know. There has to be a better way ?

gooches plugs can be easily clipped with a bone cutter( rag clippers) Right at the bottom of the disc where the pin meets it. takes one second

 

[laineyg6]

I'ma call mine the "well, let's try THIS" method. Get a hammer and a large flat head screwdriver. Put the plug on a secure surface, so if gets away from you, it's easy to retrieve. I usually lay the plug on a clean towel on its side. Place the end of the screwdriver right where the plug meets the stem. One or two good whacks and it breaks right off. The bottom part of the plug usually goes flying, but the frag stays in place. It's not fancy, but it works for me!

 

[Eienna]

I'ma call mine the "well, let's try THIS" method. Get a hammer and a large flat head screwdriver. Put the plug on a secure surface, so if gets away from you, it's easy to retrieve. I usually lay the plug on a clean towel on its side. Place the end of the screwdriver right where the plug meets the stem. One or two good whacks and it breaks right off. The bottom part of the plug usually goes flying, but the frag stays in place. It's not fancy, but it works for me!

Just be somewhere that the escapee end won't hit and break something XD
Might be smart to wear eye protection, too

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Ill admit, I'm not a huge fan of the plugs, but it is a patience game and as the plugs disappear from growth it is a good feeling. But those ORA plugs are just unsightly. The pin is bigger than most frags that are mounted on it. That should change.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Don't laugh, but you're on my list to call for something like that anyways, Scott...too funny! Like I said, I can hate something but still use it every day! LOL

-Scott

Could always do the "Fellman chia plug" . A small bust with zoas for hair or gsp.

 

[SeeingGreen]

Ill admit, I'm not a huge fan of the plugs, but it is a patience game and as the plugs disappear from growth it is a good feeling. But those ORA plugs are just unsightly. The pin is bigger than most frags that are mounted on it. That should change.

I like the idea of gluing a small normal plug to an upside down Christmas tree plug for sticks to encrust down to have a more stout base.

 

[uniquecorals]

Could always do the "Fellman chia plug" . A small bust with zoas for hair or gsp.

HERE is someone with the million dollar idea! THAT's what I'm talking about. I LOVE frag plugs. They are COOL! Buy more frag plugs...:crazy:

 

[choff]

Ceremeco (vidarock) makes their plugs with a small notch so you can remove the stem easily. They also match my rock scape perfectly so when I glue them down they blend immediately. They come in 3 sizes. Huge fan. Aqua-tecture.com sells them.


Edit: man that reads like an ad. . I'm not affiliated with these guys at all. Just got a custom scape from them recently

 

[jservedio]

What happened to patience? For those of you detesting the look of a plug in your tank the solution is very simple. give the coral a little time to grow. honestly plugs are tiny compared to mature coral and disappear within months in a healthy tank! Reefkeeping is a patient mans game! the more you embrace that philosophy the the less you will be concerned about things like this

Yeah, but 2 years later you have this nicely developing colony that has encrusted way around the plug, shot up a ton of branches, and may even be starting to table nicely if it wasn't a booger frag - but look at the bottom of the main branch and you can STILL see that little stupid frag plug outlined in the skeleton! Especially if it was one of those super thick plugs that are 1.5" across and nearly just as thick. Don't even get me started on chalices and encrusting montis that are on frag plugs - it is 10x worse with them.

I personally take the smallest plugs I can find and make an irregularly shaped epoxy "dome" on top of the plug with a little divot to glue the frag into - then I texture and shape the epoxy so it looks like a piece of rock. No more stupid circles in the bases of all your acros. Still holds nicely in a rack while it grows out a bit and then I can snip off the post and glue it down and it looks just like a piece of rubble.

 

[FuzzySPS]

Why can't coral farmers simply grow frags on rubble? I had a supplier in the past that did and would rubber band styrofoam around the rubble and have the styrofoam extended up and around the frag so that it wouldn't get bumped or nicked during shipping. Everything arrived perfectly every time. Just epoxy the rubble to existing rock work. Would that really be too much to ask? I can't imagine anyone who would prefer a plug over that arrangement.

 

[FX CharityCorals]

It's about keeping frags organized and in place mainly and easier to ship. Rubble gets blown around in race way systems opposed to a plug stuck in a hole. Also when trying to maximize space having the same sized plug is easier then unique shaped rubble

 

[PedroYoung]

Why can't coral farmers simply grow frags on rubble? I had a supplier in the past that did and would rubber band styrofoam around the rubble and have the styrofoam extended up and around the frag so that it wouldn't get bumped or nicked during shipping. Everything arrived perfectly every time. Just epoxy the rubble to existing rock work. Would that really be too much to ask? I can't imagine anyone who would prefer a plug over that arrangement.

Because most reefers won't pay the grower what it would cost them to have a more attractive offering. It simply costs more to glue and raise on rubble than it does on plugs. In a competitive market these guys have to consider the cost of the product to stay in business. I usually have the folks at Unique trim the frag plug before they ship it so I can glue the underside of the plug to rockwork when I find a happy place for the frag.

 

[FuzzySPS]

Thanks, Pedro. Been out of the hobby and planning on jumping back in soon. Glad to hear there are vendors that are willing to trim plugs prior to shipping. In your experience, do they generally keep it on hand for a while before shipping to give it time to heal or do they send as is post trimming with the buyer assuming the risk (which would be understandable)? Appreciate your post...thx!

 

[PedroYoung]

Well, they are really just trimming the post off the bottom to give a flat spot (flatter) to glue to so they do it just prior to shipping. I don't see any risk since they aren't trimming any coral tissue, just the ceramic plug.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

"On the other hand, if you see a clean white plug, supporting an insanely colorful coral frag with no tissue encrusting, no algae film, and nice fresh glue, you have exactly what you suspect- a newly chopped up coral just glued to a plug. Is their anything inherently wrong with that? In some quarters, no. In my personal opinion, it’s a sign that you should at least ask some questions of the vendor who sent it to you. There’s some “splainin’ to do…And there may be a perfectly good explanation- and you should hear it before you “twitter-hack†them to death. At the very least, the little frag plug can help alert us to this not-so-cool-practice."

It's interesting. I've said basically the exact same thing here on this very forum and received personal attacks for it and labeled as a troll. What explanation is there for selling fresh cuts other than "I want/need the money now and don't want to sit on them." or "the buyers don't seem to care". But Scott, I agree. I hate frag plus too! Necessary evil I guess.

 

[mwilk19]

I don't mind the regular frag plugs but the ORA plugs are a PITA.

 

[Shep]

....never really bothered me, I can understand why they could be a pain but meh.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

I hate ORA plugs, you can't take the coral off because of the indentation and its a pain in the but to cut the plug off.

Could not agree more. I literally frag my new frag every time I buy and ORA coral. You should be able to cut the bottom of every plug off with bone cutters. They also don't fit in anything but egg crate. The good news is their coral are usually so healthy they readily encrust to the new discs I put them on.

 

[Tapio]

Just saw this old thread. I end up trying to remove the plug most of the time. What I really hate are the ceramic type plugs that are almost impossible to cut the stem off or trim. Worse are the super hard concrete discs that some maricultured corals come in on. The best for me is the old style aragonite type plugs that are so easy to trim and cut the stem off.

 

[Sangheili]

Question for those of you who are big time fraggers/farms... do you prefer the Aragonite plugs or ceramic? Why?