Tough live rock - lost drill bits

[overhead]

I've basically given up. That particular rock, which I liked, is gone because there's all this metal in it now! It was a heavy piece, so not very porous. I did order Marco's frag rocks which may be good, we shall see. And I ordered a tool to crack the mounting stick off the plug, which will make drilling unnecessary.

It seems nobody really likes having their frags on plugs, but everybody sends frags on these things. Can't they find some other way to do this so we are all collectively not dealing with this?!

I'm hoping the Zoas will cover the plug, not sure yet how the other corals will do. Does coralline eventually cover them?

I just use dykes to cut frag plugs, I did not know there was a special tool to do it. I do not have a bunch of experience with this, but the zoa I bought 9 weeks ago has almost completely covered the plug and the one I bought a month ago is well on it's way to covering the plug. I have a Duncan and a Candy Cane that are still on the frag plugs, but I could remove them from the plug if I wanted to mount them on the rocks, they are currently just stuck in the sand. When I decide where to mount them I will pop them off the plug and glue them to the rocks.

 

[Reefing102]

Just to get the metal out, I would have grabbed a hammer and a chisel.

As for the frag plug, personally I like the little stem, but I typically use the sandwich method for mounting frags with epoxy and bury the stem in the epoxy.

 

[DmitryB]

I've basically given up. That particular rock, which I liked, is gone because there's all this metal in it now! It was a heavy piece, so not very porous. I did order Marco's frag rocks which may be good, we shall see. And I ordered a tool to crack the mounting stick off the plug, which will make drilling unnecessary.

It seems nobody really likes having their frags on plugs, but everybody sends frags on these things. Can't they find some other way to do this so we are all collectively not dealing with this?!

I'm hoping the Zoas will cover the plug, not sure yet how the other corals will do. Does coralline eventually cover them?

I just use dykes to cut frag plugs, I did not know there was a special tool to do it. I do not have a bunch of experience with this, but the zoa I bought 9 weeks ago has almost completely covered the plug and the one I bought a month ago is well on it's way to covering the plug. I have a Duncan and a Candy Cane that are still on the frag plugs, but I could remove them from the plug if I wanted to mount them on the rocks, they are currently just stuck in the sand. When I decide where to mount them I will pop them off the plug and glue them to the rocks.

One reason I wanted to attach everything to a rock was that the snails keep knocking the frags over on the sandbed!

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Nothing about your drilling adventures, but I have found that frag plugs are the spawn of Satan. Almost all the nasties come on the plug, not the coral. I always cut frags off of plugs, always. Just not worth it to me.

I also despise plugs with lugs. I get oceans wonders hexagon plugs (they are flat with no lug) and large discs or squares. I rinse them all off and just toss them in the sump for future use, allowing them to season over time.

Whenever I get a frag, I snip it above the plug and the plug goes in the trash. I glue the frag on to my own seasoned discs that I pull from the sump.

As far as gluing them to rocks, I get packs of single use super glue gel tubes and cotton balls. Squirt I little glue on a base, rip off a little bit of cotton ball, stick it to the base, smother the cotton in glue, and then wiggle it in place on the rock work (after using a stiff tooth brush to clean the base and rock).

 

[overhead]

One reason I wanted to attach everything to a rock was that the snails keep knocking the frags over on the sandbed!

I understand, my bulldozer....I mean turbo snail...knocks the duncan and candy cane over occasionally. I am not sure if I will keep them in the sand forever, but I doubt it. I did not plan to have these corals in the tank they are in at the moment, but the insane peppermint shrimp that thinks coral is delicious in my other tank forced me to move them so I don't really have a plan yet. Lucky I kept them on the plugs in the other tank.

 

[Paul B]

I would not worry about those high carbon bits in the tank. I have many nails, screws, paper clips, hammers and beer cans in my tank and it is over 50 years old.

Iron, to a degree, is healthy for a tank, but many will disagree.





(OK, the hammer was just in there for the picture, but the can was in there for years, covered in epoxy. But the other things I mentioned are still in there.)

 

[WildOne]

I've drilled a fair bit of rocks. Mostly agate, jade and soapstone... if you want a near perfect smooth hole in a fragile rock, there are some good diamond or carborendum coated cylindrial drill bits out there. I've got a few. If you use those, drill slow, under water and go up and down occasionnal to evacuate powder and renew the water at the contact with the stone. The bit as to eat the stone, so its not a pushing hard challenge. You need a steady hand cause you shouldn't put much lateral force on the bit. Several are sold for making holes in expensive and thick floor tiles.

Masonry bit are much cheaper and a lot less finicky to use. It may be worth using them and risking damaging a rock or two. The good diamond bits are not cheap.

 

[DmitryB]

Nothing about your drilling adventures, but I have found that frag plugs are the spawn of Satan. Almost all the nasties come on the plug, not the coral. I always cut frags off of plugs, always. Just not worth it to me.

I also despise plugs with lugs. I get oceans wonders hexagon plugs (they are flat with no lug) and large discs or squares. I rinse them all off and just toss them in the sump for future use, allowing them to season over time.

Whenever I get a frag, I snip it above the plug and the plug goes in the trash. I glue the frag on to my own seasoned discs that I pull from the sump.

As far as gluing them to rocks, I get packs of single use super glue gel tubes and cotton balls. Squirt I little glue on a base, rip off a little bit of cotton ball, stick it to the base, smother the cotton in glue, and then wiggle it in place on the rock work (after using a stiff tooth brush to clean the base and rock).

Does the cotton ball strengthen the bond?

 

[Fish Fan]

Does the cotton ball strengthen the bond?

Yes. As does baking soda, which also acts as a quickset for the glue.

 

[CoralHole]

Go to harbor freight and get a cheap hammer drill