frag plug/disk molds

[Two Spot]

what molds do you use to make your own plugs with?

[dragon_slayer]

Styrofoam egg cartons, they make a nice half egg sized plug with a flat bottom and a small flat on the top for attaching the coral to.

kc

[sunkool]

baby nipples! I just found an easy way to fill them. Tile grout bag looks like a pastry bag. will try to post pic

[Kentanner11]

wow very interesting!

[sunkool]

The bag makes it much easier to fill the nipples. You have to make the mixture a little on the wet side.
For these plugs I use 1 part sand to 3 parts portland. It seems like alot but they come out hard as a rock after 8 hours.
The nipples came from a discount store I got 24 small and 12 big for any 6.00 I think its called dollar tree where everything is a dollar. They come in a 6 pack.

[sunkool]

they also fit in egg crate

[NanoReefWanabe]

that is very nice idea sun....

reusable silicone molds....with no with no outrages price tag attached to creating mold blanks..

off to the dollar store i go...

being as solid as these are how long do you leave them in the toilet for?

[sunkool]

I soak them after 24 hrs. in a 50/50 muratic acid solution for about 2 minutes to etch them because they come out fo the mold real shiny. then I soak them in frsh water for about 30 days then put them in the fuge for a couple weeks. I only make about 1 batch every 4 months. I also run them across a drun sander to make the top level.

[ctreefer]

Sunkool, nice idea.

Wish I hadn't thrown away all my kids baby stuff...

[Two Spot]

that is cool

[firebirdbandit]

What type of cement stuff are you using?

[firebirdbandit]

I see that it is portland. Where do you get the white portland. All I can find is grey.

[NanoReefWanabe]

i have heard that stucco mix (wall cement, not the stuff for ceilings) is also an acceptable cement for this...and it is white...

[friendorfoe]

neat, very neat. and like stated in another post, reusable and w/out the high price tag

[sunkool]

you could use white tile grout if you cant find white portland.

[ludnix]

I'm not familar with fragging so could someone fill me in on how you attach the coral to the plugs?

[sunkool]

depends on what you are fragging. super glue gel, wedding veil netting.

[Bebo77]

that is a great idea...

[reefrubble]

Sunkool , super idea . nipple plugs , for baby corals . Ted

[Daemonfly]

I love the baby nipples idea, but haven't been able to find any good ones locally (all the ones here are very oddly shaped - for a frag plug).

Reading up on different ways of doing frag plugs, I found one guy mention using Elmer's Glue tops pressed into wet sand for simple forms. Checked sizing of a tiny bottle I had, and it fit well into eggcrate, and would look very similar to the smaller nipple plug above.

[ReefArtist]

How about using those plastic flower arrangement things - they are called AQUATUBES. I actually saw this at someone else's house and since it's plastic and flexible you stick the frag right into the top and it holds it right in place - no GLUE - this is what it looks like:
http://www.retailpackaging.com/catal...showprevnext=1

[stevemc]

Great idea on the baby bottle nipple! If you had some homemade rock with matching holes it would be great. White cement is right next to the bags of Portland at home depot. It costs more.

[CaptiveReefer03]

what type of glue do you use on your plugs?

[Ah64av8tor]

SunKool where did you get the nipples? Im looking for a lot .....say 100 .

I use super glue gel to mount frags.

It all either gets encrusted or covered in coraline so the color doesnt really matter, save your money for more corals.

[sunkool]

I got them from dollar tree. I saw the same ones in big lotts.