I agree, I like reef rubble for the look, but plugs are so easy to grow out on with eggcrate. you can always glue the rubble to the plugs and let them grow out like that...
for stuff I buy for my reef I prefer rubble by far. but I know from the frag growing i've done how much better the plugs work for that side of things. I like MSU's idea of putting the rubble on the plug. you could even then snap off the rubble when selling and reuse the plugs. I think i'm going to have to try that approach in the future.
These have actually been probably our hottest new product.
It is a ceramic one hole frag station called Big Uns. They are made to hold a disk. Once the coral encrusts the Big Un the disk can be removed and traded or sold and another one can be put back to regrow more coral. It will hold a disk 1.25 inches or smaller. Once your colony is establised you have costant propagation going on.
You can see them in my tank by the oveflow.
We also make a product called the donut. It has a hole in the center. Mount a small fragment of coral in the center and let it grow. Reefs uses these a lot.
Just showing you that there are other options to rubble rock.
Midwest Saltwater
DIY Reef
The Filter Guys(not on the site yet)
Reefs has them as well.
We are limiting the availability of these right now to a few stores while we build inventory. We have them available right now but I would like to have a larger inventory before we really start selling them large scale. They take as long as a Frag Station 5 to make so we can get wiped out pretty fast.
Big Un This is a bad picture of one. They look better than this. I will get some pics up.
Donut
Sorry, I have to take pictures. The Big Uns were something I made a few years ago but stopped making. Reefs has some of the old style Big Uns that were the same size as the donuts. I redesigned them to hold a disk pretty much flush with the surface of the Big Un. That way once it grows out the disk should be almost impossible to see if you want to keep it in there. To get it out you can cut around the disk and push it out from the bottom or just leave it. The old style was untextured but the new ones are larger and roughed up to blend better in the home aquarium.
The donut is just what it sounds like. A round piece with a hole in the center. Great for mounting any coral you can think of.
One of my goals is to make propagation possible in display tanks without the ugliness of egg crate. If you like the look of cheap plastic in a tank that cost thousands of dollars to set up, great. If not we provide an option. Egg Crate is great in frag tanks but I hate seeing it in display tanks.
Thats what I was thinking I like rubble as well. I just want to make sure that if I start selling alot of corals I want them to be on something that hobbiests like myself will like. Gooch I like the ones on the last pic. If you could send me a price on them.
Actually you would need to contact Bill at Midwest Saltwater with your business information. He will then send you a price list. I do not do any selling. If you e-mail me your business info(resellers info, website) I can send it as well. [email protected] But Bill (www.midwestsaltwater.com) will still be your wholesaler.