Thought I would post how I cut frag plug posts

[Karen00]

I am not taking credit for this. I found a comment from a member in another thread that mentioned this tip I can't find it again to give that member(s) credit and because it was buried so deep in the thread I thought I would give it a thread all of its own.

Simple. Dog nail clippers. Medium to large size so the blades fit around the frag post. Now I'm fairly strong but not quite strong enough to cut it directly with the clippers so I had to make a cut with a fret saw (a hack saw will probably work as well) then used the clippers and it cut right off, nice and clean. The type I got were on sale from PetSmart, Top Paw brand size Medium/Large. Having said all this I have not yet started doing a lot of corals using this method and probably won't have to with a 5g so this method might get tiresome if you have to do a lot of frag plugs all at once.

An additional tip from me to you... Make sure you get a good grip on the frag base with pliers or whatever. I didn't do this and my poor coral went flying across the floor. Yikeys. I think he's recovering.

I couldn't find a tips and tricks section so hopefully this section is good.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Been using these for years. I get a cheap set from Harbor Freight and it does great for 5 bucks.

 

[Nachopapa]

I am not taking credit for this. I found a comment from a member in another thread that mentioned this tip I can't find it again to give that member(s) credit and because it was buried so deep in the thread I thought I would give it a thread all of its own.

Simple. Dog nail clippers. Medium to large size so the blades fit around the frag post. Now I'm fairly strong but not quite strong enough to cut it directly with the clippers so I had to make a cut with a fret saw (a hack saw will probably work as well) then used the clippers and it cut right off, nice and clean. The type I got were on sale from PetSmart, Top Paw brand size Medium/Large. Having said all this I have not yet started doing a lot of corals using this method and probably won't have to with a 5g so this method might get tiresome if you have to do a lot of frag plugs all at once.

An additional tip from me to you... Make sure you get a good grip on the frag base with pliers or whatever. I didn't do this and my poor coral went flying across the floor. Yikeys. I think he's recovering.

I couldn't find a tips and tricks section so hopefully this section is good.

Thanks was looking for something like this, most people say a band saw, which I don’t have an no interest in buying!
I hate plugs.

 

[Karen00]

Been using these for years. I get a cheap set from Harbor Freight and it does great for 5 bucks.

View attachment 2477086

Excellent! I actually tried cutters like this but couldn't get it to cut. I'm probably not quite strong enough or maybe mine were dull. I found the curved blades of the nail clippers wrapped nicely around the frag post to snip it.

 

[Karen00]

Thanks was looking for something like this, most people say a band saw, which I don’t have an no interest in buying!
I hate plugs.

Yes, I saw the band saw method as well. I wouldn't mind having one of those but have no room. Also, using something that powerful to cut something as small as a frag plug would probably result in me cutting off my fingers before I even made a dent in the frag plug. Haha. I hate frag plugs as well. LOL

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Excellent! I actually tried cutters like this but couldn't get it to cut. I'm probably not quite strong enough or maybe mine were dull. I found the curved blades of the nail clippers wrapped nicely around the frag post to snip it.

Long as they are fairly sharp they do fine for me. I keep them in my bin next to the tank so there is tons of splash of saltwater. They die after about a year, but way cheaper then the frag kit tools. When my arthritic hands are really on the fritz, I use a battery operated dremel.

 

[Karen00]

Long as they are fairly sharp they do fine for me. I keep them in my bin next to the tank so there is tons of splash of saltwater. They die after about a year, but way cheaper then the frag kit tools. When my arthritic hands are really on the fritz, I use a battery operated dremel.

A dremel was going to be my next attempt if the nail clippers didn't work.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Dremel works good frankly, but I'm impatient.

 

[Mester320]

Tile nippers work great and leave the bottom of the plug flat

 

[Karen00]

Tile nippers work great and leave the bottom of the plug flat
View attachment 2477207

Thanks for this! I forgot all about these. I will have to pick one up and try it out just to see how well it works for me. It's so nice when frag plug clipping is made easier.

 

[Richsoar]

I'm surprised that the "plier" type cutters don't just crush the ceramic post of the plug. I haven't had to do this (yet) but I believe a small coping saw with a fine blade or even a diamond blade would work just as well.

 

[Karen00]

I'm surprised that the "plier" type cutters don't just crush the ceramic post of the plug. I haven't had to do this (yet) but I believe a small coping saw with a fine blade or even a diamond blade would work just as well.

I started a cut with either a coping saw (or a maybe it's a fret saw) which allowed the dog nail clippers to bite. If I had to saw the whole thing it would've taken me forever but that could be a strength limitation. I also thought the plier type might crush the post, especially if I tried it because I would be squeezing so hard.

 

[ZoWhat]

 

[Karen00]

Another "LOL moment that nearly made me spit my coffee out"! Haha.