High Tide Aquatics

Mini colonies?

kinetic

kinetic

Supporting Member
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I'm having a lot of problems with frags. They always get knocked over and sometimes just completely disappear (I'm guessing snails or something). I use A LOT of IC Gel to get them to stick to rocks, but everything ultimately gets lost, except my sunburst monti, which has encrusted and become huge.

I just lost a Walt Disney that I've had growing from @tankguy. It was there for so long, finally tarted growing branches, and then last week, it's totally gone. Maybe I'm just having trouble getting things to encrust, even though they're growing upwards?

I've lifted all my rocks and I just can't find it. It is probably wedged in some rock hole and I haven't been able to see it.

I've lost most of my frags this way, and maybe I just suck at gluing.

Long story short, maybe I should just get mini colonies from now on. Do you guys think I'd have better luck with mini colonies?

In the past, my successes has always been from big cuts of coral (like Liveaquaria gives big pieces) or just larger colonies I've found at a LFS, which is making me wonder if I just need to get bigger things for a dedicated display tank (and not a growout/frag tank).
 
Epoxy is a lot stronger, but harder to move once it's set. Stuff like this:

www.bulkreefsupply.com

AquaStik Underwater Epoxy Putty - Coralline Red

AquaStik is our go to epoxy for its low cost, and excellent performance. Epoxy putty is widely used around the aquarium hobby because it is reef-safe and easy to use. The Two Little Fishies epoxy putty is easy to mix, and the coralline purple is one of the closest color matches on the market...
www.bulkreefsupply.com www.bulkreefsupply.com
 
kinetic said:
I'm having a lot of problems with frags. They always get knocked over and sometimes just completely disappear (I'm guessing snails or something). I use A LOT of IC Gel to get them to stick to rocks, but everything ultimately gets lost, except my sunburst monti, which has encrusted and become huge.

I just lost a Walt Disney that I've had growing from @tankguy. It was there for so long, finally tarted growing branches, and then last week, it's totally gone. Maybe I'm just having trouble getting things to encrust, even though they're growing upwards?

I've lifted all my rocks and I just can't find it. It is probably wedged in some rock hole and I haven't been able to see it.

I've lost most of my frags this way, and maybe I just suck at gluing.

Long story short, maybe I should just get mini colonies from now on. Do you guys think I'd have better luck with mini colonies?

In the past, my successes has always been from big cuts of coral (like Liveaquaria gives big pieces) or just larger colonies I've found at a LFS, which is making me wonder if I just need to get bigger things for a dedicated display tank (and not a growout/frag tank).
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To answer your specific question- My guess is that you will have more trouble with adding mini-colonies since in general they are larger compared to their base diameter and therefore more likely to get knocked off. I agree with the recommendations about using Epoxy. Tunze Coral Gum is also a good option, and it cures with a little give so it’s less brittle. Either way, what you do is have rock-glue-putty-glue-coral.
 
Baykes said:
Any chance you have an urchin? Mine likes wearing bounce mushrooms and otherwise expensive corals. Guess he likes his bling lol

@iani mentioned using this stuff in this thread as a less expensive alternative to the epoxy sticks that might be worth a try over glue: https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/frag-putty-recommendations.27570/page-2#post-403117
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Oh no I wanted a urchin but that’s scary!

@kinetic could you explain your process with the glue? I haven’t had things come off after being glued so maybe you could make some changes to your approach and have better success. The bsi glue is pretty thick right? A thin glue can be messy in my experience, right now I’ve been really liking the seachem reef glue it’s nice and thick
 
Baykes said:
Any chance you have an urchin? Mine likes wearing bounce mushrooms and otherwise expensive corals. Guess he likes his bling lol

@iani mentioned using this stuff in this thread as a less expensive alternative to the epoxy sticks that might be worth a try over glue: https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/frag-putty-recommendations.27570/page-2#post-403117
Click to expand...
A good way to go is to mount the frag to a piece of rubble outside of your tank. That way you give the ic gel more time to set up, then mount the rubble in your tank with an epoxy stick or the apoxie sculpt.
 
This process work for me: frag - superglue gel - epoxy - superglue gel - rock in tank.

Before that process, i used super glue, no epoxy. Darn frag kept falling. After adding epoxy, haven't a lost frag.
 
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popper said:
This process work for me: frag - superglue gel - epoxy - superglue gel - rock in tank.

Before that process, i used super glue, no epoxy. Darn frag kept falling. After adding epoxy, haven't a lost frag.
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This is exactly what I do. It seems to work well but is not perfect.
If the big rock that you're gluing to inside thetank has some algea on it, it might not glue securly.
Also try to get the epoxy to wrap around the frag and the rock, or to fit into a crevice/ hole.
 
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