mounting SPS frags horizontally?

[Wrasse-cal]

A few years ago, I remember seeing a bunch of anecdotal comments about the long term benefits of mounting SPS frags horizontally, rather than vertically. (Better encrusting, stronger base, more surface area exposed to light, more branches formed, etc.) GARF also seemed to be supportive of this mounting technique.

For example: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/r...en-helps-them-encrust-and-begin.100834/page-2

I've never tried it, but I don't see many, if any, people doing this now--which is odd if it really is so much more beneficial.

Is there a reason?

 

[drawman]

I think a lot of people just don't like the way it looks to start would be my guess. I think in the end both ways work you may just get better encrusting to start with the frag mounted horizontally. FWIW I do both depending on how the frag looks to start.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Many don’t have the scape to pull it off IMO. Or don’t know about it.

A $89 1/4 in frag, most want to baby and instinctively, that means flat safe and secure.

As far as benifit , dunno. It sure is cool though and adds a lot of really interesting shape to the tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The second one is a super fast grower and I love watching it donits thing sideways like that.

The bottom one is what happens when ya let it do it’s thing.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

The second one is a super fast grower and I love watching it donits thing sideways like that.

The bottom one is what happens when ya let it do it’s thing.

So do you remove the frag from the plug and mount it on your rock horizontally or put it back on a plug?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Depends on what’s easier.

For the most part I remove plugs from frags as part of the qt protocol.
Quite often I use a piece of rubble instead of plugs. Makes it easier to move and serves Both as a better visual and to reap the benifit of the chem signals sent by the rock.

Sometimes I do just shove them in a hole though. Lol.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Think if you hold a pencil vertically and lay one on its side and shine light straight down on the two. The one on its side will receive more direct light on a greater surface. In my experience acros encrust much faster glued down on their side vs gluing vertically from the cut base, but idk if it makes much of a difference in the long run. If you have a healthy system your corals should grow fine vertically or horizontally. I would say its more just personal preference.

 

[alten78]

I had a green slimmer fall over a few years ago and I kept putting it off on remounting it upright that it started to encrust so I left it. This is from mid 2016 but I assume because it was horizontal it encrusted so much more that it shot up a ton of branches. Pretty neat in a way but once they started really growing it was taking up more room in my little 75 than I wanted, I fragged a number of the branches but still have a handful growing.

 

[pickupman66]

I did this once or twice. this particular one was on a plug that fit perfetly into a hole in the rock. I glued it in.

Nov 2010


Jan 2011


april 2013


July 2013

 

[revhtree]

Honestly it makes sense to mount them in all various positions including horizontal. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Whysohigh]

I had a monti digi fall over once. I didn't get to pick it up immediately and noticed it growing and branching up so I let it do it's thing. I can't say for sure if it made a huge difference but in my opinion it helped it gain size, girth if you will. Rather than have a single stalk growing vertically it had multiple vertical stalks that were all branching. To me it just seemed to fill more space than it would had I let it stay vertical.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Honestly it makes sense to mount them in all various positions including horizontal. Thanks for the reminder.

I see what you mean, but I was thinking more along the lines of how to mount the frag on whatever surface you intend to mount it versus sticking the frag horizontally off of a vertical face.

This is what I mean. :-)

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I had a monti digi fall over once. I didn't get to pick it up immediately and noticed it growing and branching up so I let it do it's thing. I can't say for sure if it made a huge difference but in my opinion it helped it gain size, girth if you will. Rather than have a single stalk growing vertically it had multiple vertical stalks that were all branching. To me it just seemed to fill more space than it would had I let it stay vertical.

This is my point: so far, everyone has said that mounting horizontally was either just as good as mounting vertically, or they actually think it caused a better result. Given this, I really wonder why it isn't done more. Seems weird to me.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

This is my point: so far, everyone has said that mounting horizontally was either just as good as mounting vertically, or they actually think it caused a better result. Given this, I really wonder why it isn't done more. Seems weird to me.

Yea. People are weird.

 

[madcanary]

I have a few mounted horizontally. I had some nice horizontal gaps and wondered how it would look so I predrilled holes for plugs when building scape.

 

[foshizzle]

.

 

[foshizzle]

Because people don’t want to glue live coral skin to the plug and leave a visible bare spot

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Because people don’t want to glue live coral skin to the plug and leave a visible bare spot

Won't it grow over the bare spot in short time?

 

[Z3speed4me]

It should, but most don’t see or think long term and just look at how it is on day 1. Over time it should encrust regardless of how it’s mounted, even possibly upside down in theory?

 

[Reefs anonymous]

I’ve started mounting sideways. I’ve noticed that it encrust faster and more polyps start growing vertical rather than just the top growing up while the base encrust slowly when glued vertically. This makes the frag become a colony quicker in my opinion.