gluing a frag

ok, I bought the super glue gel. I would like to just glue the plug. Do I pull it out of the water and put the glue on the bottom and just stick it on the rock? I know this should be yeah, duh? but I want to make sure it's right

 

I usually pull the plug out. Towel dry it, quickly not perfect. Put a good amount on the plug and stick it back in. The second it touches the water the glue gets a film. So when you find the spot you want to put it. Give it a little twist to break the film
Hold it until it is stuck

 

It just seems like the glue would have something "not good" in it.....

 

Works for me. If any excess gets in the water it creates a easy to remove film on the waters surface.

What I do for frags is glue them to a plug and then glue a ball of reef epoxy to the plug. I then stick the epoxy'd plug on the rock and twist. I smooth the epoxy up to the edge of the plug to give it a mountainous appearance. In time the coral will grow down the plug and onto the rock. In the mean time, the plug doesn't stand out so much and will blend in after a little coralline. It was also prevent that odd and unnatural encrusting pattern you see on plugs. It's unnecessary work, but I like the look.

 

Jasons advice is spot on. If you got cyanoacrylate glue it might mess with your skimmer for a little while but its completely and totally reef safe!

 

Using epoxy is a waste of time and money. If you cut the base off the plug and glue it to the rock it will be perfectly fine and with time you will never even know it was ever on a plug. IF you really hate plugs that much remove the frag from the plug and glue it directly to the rock which is what I do 96.72% of the time LOL

Also, most epoxies screw with skimmers for a while and if you use them directly on a frag can kill it as they heat up tremendously during their cure process.

 

Yeah, I cut the base too. It's not that I hate plugs, I just don't like the way sps encrust them. Using epoxy and sloping it towards the rock gives it a more natural look for me. Just a personal preference.

 

Frags also NEVER fall off when you get this method down.

 

I like the excessiveness... it makes me feel better about my methods which are the same!!! I cant ever get the frag to stick when i just try to glue the frag to the rock with gel after i cut from plug??

 

That's exactly how I felt. I had the right glue, read about it, just not 100% confident. I think its just me putting too many models together as a kid with that model glue ;D