SPS frag response to adhesives

[madweazl]

Over the past year I've picked up quite a few frags, most of which, were attached to plugs using cyanoacrylate (CA). A couple of the frags have been loose and/or fresh cut that I affixed to the aquascape using Instant Ocean's epoxy. The pieces attached via the epoxy start to encrust within days but the pieces done with CA take considerably longer (typically two-three weeks) in my tank.

 

While it certainly isn't a large sample size, this has been the case on two acroporas, a monti undata, and a monti cap.  When I epoxy the corals, I cover the base of them in the epoxy but frags that have been attached using CA seem to be affixed to the top of the adhesive since it is a liquid. Maybe covering the living tissue promotes the growth spurt? Is there something in the epoxy that triggers a growth response or maybe more realistic, doesn't inhibit growth as opposed to CA?

 

Right now, it seems like epoxy is the way to go for rapid encrusting but again, this has been a small pool of corals I'm working with (though all corals involved have exhibited the behavior). Are my findings inline with other members?

[D805]

Not speaking from first hand knowledge, but was watching a live stream the other day where this same process was mentioned. They were having the same results as you. Seems this is the way to go to get them to encrust faster. I will be trying this out with the next frag I get.

[YHSublime]

I've always used both.

 

I'm a big fan of Ocean Wonders Epoxy, and the ol' one two punch. Dab of glue, epoxy, dab of glue, frag. I've not noticed any effects of faster encrusting vs. different methods. 

[madweazl]

Not speaking from first hand knowledge, but was watching a live stream the other day where this same process was mentioned. They were having the same results as you. Seems this is the way to go to get them to encrust faster. I will be trying this out with the next frag I get.

Was the stream recorded by chance? I'd like to check it out if so.

 

These two frags were introduced at the same time (well, few minutes apart but both on 2 Jan) and they both came from the same source (Darkseeker here on the boards). The one I epoxied was freshly cut and the other was already on the plug when I picked them up (no idea how long it was there).

 

Epoxied frag:

 

2 Jan

 

15 Jan

 

 

Frag that was glued down using CA:

 

2 Jan

 

14 Jan

Edited January 16, 2018 by madweazl

[gmerek2]

They are saying to use epoxy only? Or in combo with CA? I didn’t realize the frag would hold well with epoxy only

[D805]

Was the stream recorded by chance? I'd like to check it out if so.

 

These two frags were introduced at the same time (well, few minutes apart but both on 2 Jan) and they both came from the same source (Darkseeker here on the boards). The one I epoxied was freshly cut and the other was already on the plug when I picked them up (no idea how long it was there).

 

Epoxied frag:

 

2 Jan

 

15 Jan

 

 

Frag that was glued down using CA:

 

2 Jan

 

14 Jan

 

Unfortunately, I don't think it was. Ricos Reeftank is the youtuber that puts on several live streams a week. They usually discuss different topics. 

[madweazl]

I used epoxy only; hopefully the stream that D805 saw is still viewable somewhere.  Bummer, just saw D805s post.

Edited January 16, 2018 by madweazl

[Origami]

Aaron, encroaching algae tends to discourage encrusting. I notice that the CA-attached corals have what looks like a quick-colonization of the frag plug by green algae. I don't see that as clearly on the epoxied frags. Could that be what's behind your observation?

[madweazl]

Aaron, encroaching algae tends to discourage encrusting. I notice that the CA-attached corals have what looks like a quick-colonization of the frag plug by green algae. I don't see that as clearly on the epoxied frags. Could that be what's behind your observation?

 

Hmm, that may be a possibility. In the case of the coral above that was epoxied on, the rock had only been in the tank a couple days (replaced the void left by the cyphastrea that I sold) so it certainly didn't have anything on or around it. In the pictures of the CA attached frag, there was a pretty good sized barrier between in and the plug that had some algae growing on it; as things grow out, I'll try to frag one and create the same distance between the frag and plug on both corals but that will be a few months down the road. 

 

In the case of the monti undata, it grew onto the epoxy almost instantly and butts up to the live rock in two other areas; it has grown over the epoxy rapidly but hasn't grown onto the rocks at all that I can tell (don't have a good angle to see but nothing visible). 

 

Not sure I have pictures of the other acropora to see if that was a trend. The monti caps were both smushed into epoxy so they had quite a bit of room before contact with algae so that could reinforce what you've stated. 

 

15 Dec

 

16 Jan (no visible growth on the left touching the rocks)

Edited January 16, 2018 by madweazl

[dpassar12]

With SPS I always use a single drop of glue with insta-set. I always try and get the surface as flat as possible and no glue around the edges. I have never used epoxy on a frag so I have nothing to compare it to though. 2 months ago I fraged a single polyp just to see if it would take. It's up to 4 polys in 2 months.