How do you handle you new SPS frags?

[imow]

Im having trouble fragging some SPS from my system. How do you guys handle the small frags when glueing them onto rocks?? When I g.handle the frags, I can feel myself doing damage to the corals, and have a very low success rate with the frags. Any suggestions??

 

[chris_h]

Are the parent colonies healthy?

I dont handle them carefully and they are never hurt. I just rip them off with my bare hands and glue them down. Sometimes they are out of the water for a while and get a little cold, but they always grow after they are conected.

Do you use super glue? Super glue works much better than the other alternitives.

 

[imow]

Yeah--The colonies are really healthy. Ive been using the epoxy, which requires some triwting and turning. I am going to switch to the superglue gel. Do both pieces have to be dry??

 

[reefaddict1]

Super glue works best when both things you are bonding are dry. But many brands will bond under water.

 

[chris_h]

Do not try to dry the coral frag to glue it. It needs to stay moist. You can dry the rock if you want but it is not neceassary. I think you will have better luck with super glue.

 

[Sue Truett]

When I'm taking frags from colonies I have for trading or whatever, I use wire cutters to clip branches. I used to be able to remove the colony from the tank, but they have long since encrusted to the rock structure. If I'm receiving frags I use super glue gel only, no epoxy. After acclimation I have my tube of glue gel the live rock rubble I'm going to use and I just put a spot of glue gel, dry only the end of the frag and put it in place. Using the brand Loc-Tite gel you can immediately place the frag back in the water. This stuff hardens fast. HTH...

my 180 ecosystem sps tank: http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 sps tank: www.marshreef.org/members