Attaching corals to rock?

[MarkoD]

ok so this is a noob question.

but how do i attach corals directly to my live rock? they always come on a plug thing.

do i need to remove it off the plug somehow?

[Megalodon]

Yes, remove it from the plug then use super glue gel to attach it to the rock. Take the coral out, snap it off the plug, dry the skeleton base, dab the glue gel on it, then attach it to the rock in your tank. Turn off water flow to allow the glue to set. Make sure the glue is gel and not the regular runny stuff.

[MarkoD]

cool thanks. the glue will cure underwater with no adverse effects to the fish?

[Madreefer]

Yes, remove it from the plug then use super glue gel to attach it to the rock. Take the coral out, snap it off the plug, dry the skeleton base, dab the glue gel on it, then attach it to the rock in your tank. Turn off water flow to allow the glue to set. Make sure the glue is gel and not the regular runny stuff.

Would'nt that cause alot of stress on the frag? If it is encrusted on to the plug it would probably best not to disturb it. I have received some zoa frags that were applied with the gel glue and they did not do so well. Plus if it is on a plug you can move it around until you find the frags "happy spot". Thats IMHO and i'm no expert by any means.

[Megalodon]

Would'nt that cause alot of stress on the frag? If it is encrusted on to the plug it would probably best not to disturb it. I have received some zoa frags that were applied with the gel glue and they did not do so well. Plus if it is on a plug you can move it around until you find the frags "happy spot". Thats IMHO and i'm no expert by any means.Every frag I ever got was just super glued onto it. I suppose if it's encrusted or otherwise growing directly on the plug, that would be a different story.

[toytech]

Get some underwater epoxy , the kind that comes as a stick and you knead it together . I either drill a hole in the rock or find a crevice to stick the end of the plug in and then make a ring of epoxy to stick to the underside of the plug . Push the plug into the hole until the epoxy sticks to the rock and your done . Before i started doing this all my frags ended up in the sand and it was driving me nuts.

[MarkoD]

anyway to remove the plug? it doesnt look very natural

[Dez]

anyway to remove the plug? it doesnt look very natural

It will in no time be all encrusted over and you won't see the plugs any more. Sometimes I take sidecutters to cut the knobby thing off of the plug. It takes patience :) I started my reef mostly from frags and you can't see any plugs anywhere. If it was encrusted, I'd usually leave the plugs for the sake of the corals.

[MarkoD]

cool, thanks for the tip