# Holding down corals



## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

I don't know about most people but I have a problem with small corals staying put. Especially is you have a type of fish that like to re aquascape.
Yes, you can glue everything in but that makes it hard to move things later if need be. 
I like to use lead. I know if fresh water they sell lead strips to wrap around plants to keep them anchored but with reef tanks we don't like using any metals so I cut thin strips of lead and cover them with shrink tubing.
The shrink tubing can be gotten at any Radio Shack or even (I think) Home Depot. The lead I get from a plumbing supply or a scrap metal dealer. It is very cheap.
You can make it as heavy as you like and wrap it around the base of the coral.
You can even make longer strips and bend it around corals and larger rocks to secure them. The shrink tubing is black so you don't really see it.
Now my larger fish have a hard time throwing my nicely positioned corals to the substrait.
Lead is a poison, not as toxic to fish as copper or zinc but it is midly disolvable and you should keep it out of your water, thats why I now use shrink tubing. You could also double up the shrink tubing if it scares you. After the corals grow into the rock or get too large for the fish to move, I can remove this weight.
Have fun.

Lead and shrink tubing










Finished piece


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Interesting.


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## AquaOverflow (Oct 11, 2011)

Way to think outside of the box! Do you have any pictures of these in action?


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## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

The idea of them is that you don't see them so you can't see them in my reef.


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## gtb (Oct 16, 2011)

I would not drink anything that had lead in it. I wouldn't feel very safe putting it in my reef tank either. I like reef putty or plugs to stabilize them. Just my 2cents worth


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