What’s your preferred color for frag plugs? Natural white, Black, or purple ?

[reefadam]

Hi all, I’m going to be ordering new frag plugs and was curious to everyone’s preference on color and material. Anecdotally, the black ones are said to help reduce algal growth, so also curious to hear if anyone has experience with this.

 

[bushdoc]

I like purple Aquaforest plugs. Not only because of color, but they are quite heavy and you can temporarily place them on your rock without fear that powerheads will blow them away.

 

[flashsmith]

I don't like ceramic because the stems are incredibly hard to cut off the plug when you want to mount them and alot of times they don't come off flush.

 

[Seansea]

I buy the rock looking ones because i set them next to encrusting corals in my tank so they can grow onto them and would look stupid with frag plug sitting there.

 

[Narideth]

I use the Ocean's Wonder aragonite frags. I guess those are agrocrete? Either way they're easy to cut and manipulate and seem to give a good place for corals to grab onto/glue. I have some medium weight bone cutters and some of the ceramic plugs I can't even cut through.

I like using rubble rock for more permanent placement.

 

[reefadam]

I’ve been using oceans wonders for years and have always liked them. I did make the switch to ceramic because I was worried about cure time with the agrocrete, (tho I do believe the sandy surface may be more conducive to coral growth, and they are supposed to come pre soaked ready to use).
At least with the oceans wonders ceramics, I found it pretty easy to pop the stems off with bone cutters.
I definitely prefer natural looking mounts for displays, but the plugs are almost an inevitable part of propagation; the stems keep them in place, and the unnatural appearance makes it easier to keep track in the frag tank.. when I used natural mounts like frag rocks I found it very easy for them to be flipped or go unnoticed if something started going south.
Thanks for all the responses! I’ve always been partial to the “natural white” but was just curious others’ preferences since they’re around the same price point.

 

[Reefer Matt]

The white ones grow more algae on them than the dark ones, but reflect more light toward the underside of the frag. I use the textured Oceans Wonders ceramic plugs because algae grows on them less than aragonite. The smooth ceramic plugs don't grow frags well for me for some reason.

 

[reefadam]

The white ones grow more algae on them than the dark ones, but reflect more light toward the underside of the frag. I use the textured Oceans Wonders ceramic plugs because algae grows on them less than aragonite. The smooth ceramic plugs don't grow frags well for me for some reason.

Agreed, especially about the textured / vs smooth plugs.

 

[Danny Brusco]

I use the Ocean's Wonder aragonite frags. I guess those are agrocrete? Either way they're easy to cut and manipulate and seem to give a good place for corals to grab onto/glue. I have some medium weight bone cutters and some of the ceramic plugs I can't even cut through.

I like using rubble rock for more permanent placement.

Have you ever had corals react poorly to the Oceans Wonders Plugs . Asking becuase I just started using them rinsed and placed next to zoas in my tank. Hoping they'll grow onto the plugs . But my tree corals closed up and drooped and a birdnest coral died and i had these corals for years with no problems. I took the plugs out ,and did a small water change (10 gal in a 125 tank) And the corals are picking up now . And the only suspect is the plugs . Has anyone had this problem before ? Thx