How to get a coral off a frag plug without harming it

[GHOSTLY]

Just picked up a palm sized Starburst monti (beautiful piece) but the issue is its on a frag plug. Normally id just rip it off but it's kind of encrusted the frag plug a bit and I'm afraid to break it. How would I go about taking the plug off while keeping the coral fairly in tact?

 

[mdb_talon]

Often you can use screwdriver or similar and pry it off at glue in that scenario as I doubt the actual monti is attached to the plug, but of course you risk ending up having several smaller montis if it goes wrong lol.

Other option if it meets your needs is bone cutters to snip the stem off the plug rather than removing the coral from plug entirely

 

[Alexopora]

1. Are you able to remove the entire coral+frag plug out of the tank?

2. if yes, it makes removing the coral alot easier. [a] Get a bone cutter if you have one and careful snap at the point where the coral makes contact with the frag plug.

3. If no, is it possible to remove the rock in which the coral is attached to? If yes, get a bone cutter and follow [a].

4. If the answer to both 2 and 3 is no, you gotta take your bone cutter scuba diving and do [a] under water.

The key here is you need a bone cutter/diagonal cutters.

 

[ptrusk]

Cut the stem and paste it to a piece of rubble.

 

[ColoredRock]

If you are worried about "pests" you could cut the stem and "encrust" it in super glue.

 

[i cant think]

My Pearlberry Acro was like this when I got it. All I did was take the bottom of the plug off and then stick it to a rock. It still grows rather fast for me and is the fastest grower out of most of my acros. If you do break some of the coral like I ended up doing, you’ll find that under the perfect conditions your monti will go from looking broken to having no signs of a broken piece in a few weeks. My coral in my SPS tank show weekly growth. Even some that are supposedly slow growing (For example, Millepora) show the fast growth.

 

[GHOSTLY]

1. Are you able to remove the entire coral+frag plug out of the tank?

2. if yes, it makes removing the coral alot easier. [a] Get a bone cutter if you have one and careful snap at the point where the coral makes contact with the frag plug.

3. If no, is it possible to remove the rock in which the coral is attached to? If yes, get a bone cutter and follow [a].

4. If the answer to both 2 and 3 is no, you gotta take your bone cutter scuba diving and do [a] under water.

The key here is you need a bone cutter/diagonal cutters.

I am able to take it out but issue is that I don't have bone cutters. Anything else I can use? I got floral equipment

 

[i cant think]

I am able to take it out but issue is that I don't have bone cutters. Anything else I can use? I got floral equipment

I use a saw to get rid of the plug.

 

[GHOSTLY]

I use a saw to get rid of the plug.

Think just any kind of wood saw would work? I got tons of those

 

[Alexopora]

I am able to take it out but issue is that I don't have bone cutters. Anything else I can use? I got floral equipment

Could you share a pic of what you have in mind? Cause something along the line of a diagonal cutter/plier may work as well (pretty sure u can get them easily from a diy/hardware store).

 

[Rmckoy]

I usually just cut the stem off the plug with bone cutters and glue the flat part of the frag plug to the rock .

 

[BaliReefBox]

pruning shears..sidecutters anything along those lines will work

 

[olonmv]

I am able to take it out but issue is that I don't have bone cutters. Anything else I can use? I got floral equipment

I use a pair of diagonal cutters.

 

[JGT]

Dremel with a diamond blade works great. Easier on the coral too. I’ve had a few situations when I used the bone cutters and the jarring snipping of the bone cutters wound up fracturing the coral.

 

[GHOSTLY]

Could you share a pic of what you have in mind? Cause something along the line of a diagonal cutter/plier may work as well (pretty sure u can get them easily from a diy/hardware store).

Its kind of like a shear except handheld

 

[Alexopora]

Its kind of like a shear except handheld

I have used a dedicated shear to frag sps and I must say, it does not do a good job. It will most likely cause your entire monti to fracture as opposed to a bone cutter or a diagonal cutter. I’d advise that the next time you go to a diy/hardware store/order online, get one of these.

 

[NaCl addict]

I use a saw to get rid of the plug.

I use a carpet cutter blade, be careful, they are sharp..works most of the time to pry them off