Best way to secure leather corals?

C

Chaney

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Hey everyone. So I have three leather corals I bought to place inside my tank from LFS. Unfortunately they all were in three different methods of being mounted to things. The first was on a piece of rubble, so I have just found him a home and he looks great. The second is on a ceramic plug. The third is not attached to anything at all.

For the one on the ceramic plug, I'd like to remove him and mount him to existing live rock. What is the best method for this? Cut him from the base and find a crevasse for him to grow into? Should a glue be used? For the one that is not attached to anything, I was told by my LFS to perhaps rubber band him in place or use glue. I've also read online where if you go to the base and take a fresh cut off of that then it will adhere to what you have it against. Another interesting (and seemingly odd to me) was a toothpick approach where you actually spear through the base to mount it to something?

What would you all recommend as the best way to mount the one on the plug and the freestanding one to live rock? I'm not really concerned with the time it takes to grab hold and such, more looking for the method that the leathers would find least distressing and possibly most natural. Main concern is getting them in place without hurting or killing them.

Thanks in advance.
-Chaney
 
If the leather is touching something, it will be able to attach to it. If you can just temporarily secure it to something for 3-4 days it will surely attach. They are bulletproof.
 
The leather that isn't on anything at the moment appears to have a rougher base and then the softer arms extending from that. Will placing the rougher base (a little different color as well) against a live rock do or would it need to be the branches?
 
I have had great success with nylon zip ties. This works well if you can just wrap around the base and then around some rock and pull enough that the coral will not slip out but not so tight that is cuts the base. I found it better than rubber bands because the rubber bands do deteriorate in the salt water and the pressure is constant and not a tight squeeze that a rubber band gives. Also if you just leave them in the tank they will get covered with coralline. If not then after the coral is attached you can just cut them off and slide them out.
 
@SALT wrote:
I have had great success with nylon zip ties. This works well if you can just wrap around the base and then around some rock and pull enough that the coral will not slip out but not so tight that is cuts the base. I found it better than rubber bands because the rubber bands do deteriorate in the salt water and the pressure is constant and not a tight squeeze that a rubber band gives. Also if you just leave them in the tank they will get covered with coralline. If not then after the coral is attached you can just cut them off and slide them out. said:
Zip ties for the WIN! Those things are almost better than duct tape and bailing wire!
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