Who removes their corals from the frag plugs?!?!

[Haggisman14]

So I know this has probably been discussed many times over...but who takes their frags off of the plugs before rehoming them in your tank.

Ever since I got into the hobby 20 years ago, I hated the way plugs looked in the tank with the frags growing over them. Now granted if the frag is fully encrusted over the plug, and the only way to get the frag off is to mutilate the frag...then you've got to leave it and just trim the bottom. With soft corals like zoa's or mushrooms I will take a good pair of dykes and trim the plug as close to the coral itself and then mount it.

What do you do? Do you care? Personally I want the most "natural" looking reef, and those circular disks just throws off the look for me!

 

[SPS2020]

At a minimum, I remove as much of it as possible. If I were to start over, a bandsaw would be purchased before my first frag. That would have eliminated a number of pests.

 

[BanZI29]

None of my corals are on plugs. I like them to grow on the rock as natural as possible. I think It looks better and I believe it helps them grow a bit faster instead of having to grow down the plug top on to whatever happens to be touching the rock .

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Depends. If I can pull the plug I will but sometimes the frag is just too encrusted.

 

[shcrimps]

if it’s a fast growing coral it comes off or i cut the plug as much as possible
slow growing however i cut it off
now as for when i make frags to grow out
i like using the “natural” looking plugs that blend well with the scape

 

[kevgib67]

If it isn’t growing on the plug I cut it off. If it has grown on the plug I’ll cut as much of the plug off.

 

[cilyjr]

I will take a good pair of dykes and trim the plug as close to the coral itself and then mount it.

I use a rotary tool to do this. I will grab the plug with a pair of vice grips and then saw away till my heart's content!

 

[dschuffert]

It depends for me. If I am putting the coral on an existing rock surface then I remove the frag plug. Otherwise I leave the frag plug on and place it in/on the substrate.

 

[DJF]

Always pop them off before their initial dip for pests. I usually put them on a plug of mine and keep on an observation rack until they are acclimated. Then popped off and on to rubble and in the DT