Neon Sinularia Attachment Question

taulgrl · Jun 30, 2021

My LFS sliced a big branch of their neon green sinularia off for me. They suggested I attach/mount it by threading some line through the bottom part of the "trunk" of the frag and tie it to a small rock. A day later I noticed the loops of thread had come loose from the rock so I moved the rock a bit to secure the line so the coral wasn't moving too much. I also gently wedged the trunk of the coral between a larger rock and a clam shell to keep it from bouncing around in the flow.

Today is a week so I moved the clamshell to see if the coral had attached. I noticed that the base of the trunk (the cut surface) is now facing the back of the tank and isn't face down against the base rock. The bottom section of the trunk is laying long the base rock and the rest of the coral is, most of the time, upright. It doesn't seem attached but the coral looks healthy.

Will the coral eventually attach if the cut surface of the trunk isn't facing the base rock (ie: will it attach along the trunk)? If yes, now long will this take?

Lost in the Sauce · Jun 30, 2021

taulgrl said:
My LFS sliced a big branch of their neon green sinularia off for me. They suggested I attach/mount it by threading some line through the bottom part of the "trunk" of the frag and tie it to a small rock. A day later I noticed the loops of thread had come loose from the rock so I moved the rock a bit to secure the line so the coral wasn't moving too much. I also gently wedged the trunk of the coral between a larger rock and a clam shell to keep it from bouncing around in the flow.

Today is a week so I moved the clamshell to see if the coral had attached. I noticed that the base of the trunk (the cut surface) is now facing the back of the tank and isn't face down against the base rock. The bottom section of the trunk is laying long the base rock and the rest of the coral is, most of the time, upright. It doesn't seem attached but the coral looks healthy.

Will the coral eventually attach if the cut surface of the trunk isn't facing the base rock (ie: will it attach along the trunk)? If yes, now long will this take?

Yes. I attach my sinularia frags to plugs From the side flesh, not the bottom of the cut. I've seen firm attachment in 2 weeks when left undisturbed. Good luck.

One of my favorite softies, and the most dramatic.

taulgrl · Jun 30, 2021

Lost in the Sauce said:
Yes. I attach my sinularia frags to plugs From the side flesh, not the bottom of the cut. I've seen firm attachment in 2 weeks when left undisturbed. Good luck.

One of my favorite softies, and the most dramatic.

Thanks so much!

GeoSquid · Jul 2, 2021

I tried the thread method, glue and rubber band - none of them worked for me. The thread and rubber band both killed the corals. Rubber band - either not tight enough and floated out or too tight split coral in half. Thread just killed the coral right out. I've had great luck with leathers by wedging between two rocks or put some rubble in a small container at bottom of tank in low flow. Put leathers on top of rubble and cover with egg crate. They usually attach in a week, low stress easy.

taulgrl · Jul 2, 2021

GeoSquid said:
I tried the thread method, glue and rubber band - none of them worked for me. The thread and rubber band both killed the corals. Rubber band - either not tight enough and floated out or too tight split coral in half. Thread just killed the coral right out. I've had great luck with leathers by wedging between two rocks or put some rubble in a small container at bottom of tank in low flow. Put leathers on top of rubble and cover with egg crate. They usually attach in a week, low stress easy.

Thanks so much. I had it loosely wedged between 2 rocks but noticed it was bouncing around a bit in the flow. Just wedged it in tighter and hoping this does the trick!