Aqua-Mags sells the "Frag-Mag" (and similar "Rock-Mag"), a unique and useful product. It's simple and effective, and really opens up a lot of potential for smaller tanks. Essentially a Frag-Mag is just a couple of strong rare-earth magnets encased in plastic which are attracted to each other on either side of a surface of the aquarium... be it the glass sides or back, plastic false wall, overflow, what-have-you. One of the magnets, on the "aquarium side", is covered in rough gravel to which you can glue or epoxy a frag of coral. In this way the otherwise barren back wall of the aquarium can be occupied by corals... or whatever else you can imagine.
I decided to mount my Torch Coral somewhere that would open up some space in the tank as well as provide the torch ample room to expand. Using some D-D ROWA Aquascape Epoxy, I mounted the torch to one side of the Frag-Mag and left it in its usual spot on my rock to cure for 24+ hours. When it was done, I experimented with it in several positions on the back and side walls. I've tentatively chosen the right upper glass for the Torch to stay semi-permanently because it seems to really like the mix of lighting and flow in that spot. It's always fully inflated and healthy-looking. The moderate water flow gives it a constant sweeping movement that catches the eye from across the room. The only downside here is that if someone knocks or removes the outside magnet, the Torch could conceivably fall down against a rock and become damaged and/or sting other corals that it lands on. This was a great opportunity to work with both the epoxy and the Frag-Mag and learn a bit about how quickly it sets, how to shape it, the strength of the magnets, etc.
Here are a few shots when the Torch was mounted on the back wall.
I feel like having it on the glass lets you see both sides of this animal, and to be able to look at it from underneath isn't a common sight in the hobby.
That left me with two unused Frag-Mags. For a week or so I contemplated what to do with them, finally deciding to act on an idea I had thrown around since the tank was first set up. One of my rocks had always seemed out of place and awkward, and I had a lot of barren space on the back wall of the tank... Why not elevate the rock and mount it up on the wall using Frag-Mags?
First the tank had to be prepared for all of this activity to minimize on potential accidents. I migrated all of the corals to the right side of the tank as closely as possible without touching (don't want to start any wars) and effectively cleared the area I'd be working in. I moved the small rock with the purple clove polyps that was one of my first coral purchases. It had been sitting on the rock that was to be moved, and the coralline growth had stopped at its edges... moving it revealed a white "tan line" on the rock in its place. For the several weeks since introduced, these little polyps had begun to flourish and had finally spread onto the rock itself (one of my original goals).
All corals relocated away from the construction zone, and a Cerith snail clearly ready for its close-up.
The cyphastrea meteor shower was glued to the rock and could not be removed. Like the few clavularia polyps that had begun to spread to the rock, the meteor shower would have to survive a few minutes of exposure to air while I worked on the epoxy outside the aquarium. A couple quick google searches assured me that it would probably be ok. I suddenly realized something was missing from my plan.....
Iverson Merlot from gold country in Northern California set the mood.
Later on I broke out the Ardbeg 10 year for the victory lap.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to know your plan ahead of time when doing something like this. Aquascape Epoxy is very unforgiving once it cures. If you screw up, you've ruined your rock and wasted your magnets. I spent several minutes holding the rock against the wall in different positions taking mental notes, determining whether the dividing wall between chamber 2 and 3 would affect the placement of magnets, whether the pump return line would get in the way, etc. It was also important to note exactly where on the rock the magnets would be affixed. Finally and most important, both magnets could be adjusted and moved independently while being attached to the rock, but in their final position they would have to be flush with each other and as coplanar as possible to have the best grip on the flat wall. Here are a couple of pictures that I took while planning the location of the rock and its general orientation on the wall. It was pretty awkward taking these with one free hand.
The timing during this process was critical as the epoxy only minutes of pliability before it begins to set. I cut off a generous amount and stuck it in the microwave for a couple of seconds it to make it easier to hand-mix. Then I formed it into two even clumps and carefully pressed it onto the gravel face of the Frag-Mags. I started in the very center and used firm thumb pressure to ensure that the epoxy, which has a clay-like consistency before curing, formed a strong bond to the gravel. There was a lot of rushing but I managed to get it all done with a few minutes to spare- now came the more nerve-wracking part. I took the piece of rock out of the tank and gently patted dry the portion where the epoxy would bond. The two magnets were pressed onto the porous dead-coral surface and I spread the epoxy as far as possible in all directions, especially into crevices and around corners so that it would have a strong hold once cured. After both magnets were attached, I put the rock magnet-side down on the flat table surface and dropped my eye-level, adjusting the magnets' positions individually until they rested flush with each other against the tabletop. Each adjustment of the magnets meant more pressing and forming of the epoxy. At one point I re-dipped the side of the rock to keep it and the coral wet. The whole process took a few minutes and the epoxy had clearly begun to set by the time I finished.
Gathered proper supplies, set my working area up.
Guesstimated the proper amount of epoxy for this project. I usually cut this size into smaller pieces and microwave them for a few seconds, to make mixing easier.
Here's a shot before I started to even out the magnet surfaces and make them flush.
It was a harrowing experience trying to get this right while minimizing the coral and rock's exposure to air. Excuse the poor photo quality here, but I was essentially using the tabletop to get the magnet surfaces flush. After pressing them in, I would smooth out the epoxy a bit more on the coral, and then repeat the process.
In the above two photos you can see the rock returned to the tank with magnets attached. I used the drip tray to ensure that they stayed flush. Might have been unnecessary, but it certainly didn't hurt anything.
I returned the rock to the tank in a corner away from all of the corals. The unused grate from the bottom of chamber two served as a temporary spacer and a somewhat rigid, flat surface to make sure that the magnets stayed flush while the epoxy cured... which took two days. After a long wait, during which my tank appeared to be in total upheaval, it was time to see how my handiwork had turned out... success!
This method worked so well that I am already thinking about a sequel. When and if I find a suitable rock, I am going to mount it across the back wall from the far right to the middle (from under the Koralia and behind the Frogspawn). On that rock I will and grow some Green Star Polyps or a clavularia species. There are some really nice ones. I think it would provide some more depth and motion to the tank.
On a sad note, the tragedy I mentioned in the last post was the death of my Randall's Goby only a week before it was reintroduced to the aquarium. I don't know the cause of death- the hospital tank water tested fine and it was eating (ravenously) up to the day of its death. No signs of disease or injury. Could it have simply not gotten enough food? It didn't seem thin. That goby was pretty entertaining and I was planning on matching it with a pistol shrimp eventually, so I was bummed out by the loss. I despise failure, and especially failure without explanation. While it was an expensive and disheartening loss, the bright side is now I have the opportunity to choose another fish to replace him. This weekend at the the store I saw what I can only assume was a fully-grown Randall's Goby and it was HUGE! Seeing their full size has convinced me to go with a much smaller shrimp goby, something like a Stonogobiops Yasha which only reaches two inches, or maybe a bit more. That's far less bioload than the monstrous Randall's that I saw over the weekend, and it affords me more flexibility in choosing additional bioload while still providing a colorful addition and the interesting shrimp-goby relationship that I'll get into at some other time.
