How to Make a DIY Coral Frag Kit

One of the greatest recent improvements I’ve made to my reef-keeping process is building a DIY frag tool kit. The tool kit I created contains all the items I use for fragging sessions plus some additional items that I frequently use in and around my tanks. I usually have this kit sitting at arm’s length to my tank and reach for it multiple times in a typical day. Read on to see what is in my coral frag kit and how I put it together.    

Best Toolbox for a Coral Frag Kit

I’ve tested a few bags and toolboxes to use for this purpose and found a couple of primary requirements that I was looking for in a container. 

First, the container needed to be on the smaller side. I have multiple tanks and found myself carrying the container from tank to tank, including up and downstairs in my house. I initially tried to use a large plastic toolbox that rolling wheels with a suitcase-style handle. Though there was a ton of room, this became a bit too cumbersome to haul around the house constantly.

My next requirement was easy and quick access to the tools and items I needed on demand. The wheeled toolbox I initially used had two main compartments that were just open without any dividers. I found myself having to dig through the compartments to find the item I was looking for. I tried a couple of smaller normal toolboxes and encountered another problem, opening and closing the toolbox constantly. Opening and closing the next toolboxes I tried became an irritant and I would often just always leave the lids open and even considered removing the lid. 

After trying a few iterations of containers I found the ultimate solution to be an open tool bag tote with dividers on the inside and outside of the toolbox for clean storage of items. I took a trip to my local Harbor Freight store and found a nice small 12” tote bag for less than $15 that I’ve been using since. The 12” Voyager tote seems to be the perfect size for my needs. The Tote has pockets on the outside, sides, and more pockets on the inside of the tote where there is one main open compartment for larger items. The bag is small enough to easily carry around and keeps my tools well divided and at the ready. If you have more tools or larger items there are various sizes of totes available at Home Depot, Lowes, and Amazon.

Here are a couple of similar options on Amazon:

Dickies Work Gear Grey Tan 12-Inch Tote Bag

CRAFTSMAN Tool Tote, 12-Inch   

Tools for a Coral Frag Kit

If you are just starting in fragging coral here is another article I wrote outlining some of the best coral fragging tools.

Best Tools for Fragging Coral

For my frag tools, I started with a complete basic set of tools from Bulk Reef Supply and added to the collection of frag tools as needed. Here is a list of the tools in my kit and how I typically use them:

• Scalpel handle and blades – I don’t use this tool too often but it can come in hand to scrape Zoas off of rock and plugs.  
• Small curved forceps – This style of forceps work great to place coral with precision onto super glue. They also work great to manually remove hair algae from live rock.
• Large forceps – A solid pair of forceps always come in handy to grab things out of aquariums and to hold items as you are fragging.  
• Coral holding forceps – More of a specialty tool that I don’t use very often. These can be used to hold coral or to hold soft coral like a mushroom to rock while you thread a string to hold it down to the rock.  
• Stainless steel pointed scissors – A good pair of sharp scissors is another often used tool. I used these scissors to cut soft coral and to open various packages.  
• Small curved scissors – I don’t use these too often as the pointed scissors take the burnt of the work. These can come in handy if there is a risk of stabbing yourself as the blunt end would help with this.  
• Coral Hemostat – Good for making precision cuts on soft coral.
• Large coral bone cutter – These are probably my most used tool in the kit and I recommend you invest in a good set of large coral bone cutters. I use these to cut coral and to cut the post off of frag plugs when needed. The large-sized bone cutters will accommodate most items needing to be cut and the larger handles give you more cutting leverage. 
• Small curved coral bone cutter – A smaller pair of bone cutters work well for getting in tight spots. The version I have has a curved tip that can help to get under coral branches to make cuts.  
• Straight Razor blades- I find that these work great for scraping coral off of plugs with minimal damage to the coral. These also work great for cutting soft coral like mushrooms in half cleanly. Razor blades also work great for scrapping coralline algae off of tank glass near silicone edges. 

Here is a great starter frag kit available on Amazon

Frag Rack for Coral Frag Kit

Having a functional frag rack to place frag plugs in while you frag outside of the tank is essential. You’ll get much better results by having a small frag rack to hold plugs and set corals while you are fragging. I made my simple frag rack by cutting a small piece of egg crate and zip tying some plastic washers in the corners of the egg crate to form the base. Any frag rack that will stand on a flat surface will work, just be sure to choose one that your favorite frag plugs will fit into.   

Safety Items for Your Coral Frag Kit

Some corals are toxic and some that you just don’t want to get in your mouth, any cuts, or in your eyes. When fragging anything I know to be toxic like Zoas and Palys I make sure to don personal protective equipment and keep them in my kit so they are readily available. I keep a set of nitrile gloves and safety glasses in the kit.  

Frag Plugs and Adhesives to Include in Coral Frag Kit

I keep a supply of frag plugs, epoxy, super glue, and super glue accelerator in my kit.  

• Frag Plugs –  Keep a stash of your go-to frag plugs in your kit. In my kit, I currently have a 100 pack of Ocean Wonders large Aragonite frag plugs. I also have a few three-inch Ocean Wonders Tiles in the kit for larger colonies that I’m looking to grow out. I wrote a previous article about the best frag plugs that you can find here:

The Best Coral Frag Plugs

• Epoxy – Epoxy comes in handy when needing some extra strength to hold things down like live rock aquascapes. I have some large fish in my 210-gallon mixed reef tank and in the past, they constantly knocked over frags that I glued to the rock structures. I was able to resolve this by gluing a piece of epoxy to the bottom of the frag plug then gluing the bottom of the epoxy to the live rock. I recently switched to Ocean Wonders purple epoxy and have been satisfied with the product, it is sticky and holds frags well after placing and curing. 

• Super Glue Gel – A good gel super glue is needed when fragging coral. I dislike battling with the regular metal tubs and opt for larger plastic containers with glue gel. In my kit, I currently have two bottles of Two Little Fishies Coraffix Gel that has been working well for me
• Super Glue Accelerator – I keep a small spray bottle of this in my kit. This is used to nearly instantly cure super glue. One quick spray and your coral will be secured to the plug. Bob Smith Industries Insta-Set Super Glue Accelerator works well.

Other Items in the Coral Frag Kit

Salinity Refractometer – Used widely in the hobby to check salinity in your tank. I use this for regular testing and during water changes to ensure the appropriate salinity level. Keeping this my kit I’m never having to search for it.  

Airline tubing – When adding new fish, inverts, and corals to my tanks I like to use the drip acclimation process to do this. This involves using a piece of airline tubing with a not at one end to control a siphon from the tank into the fish bag so it is a steady drip. I keep three sets of tubing in my kit for this purpose. Airline tubing on Amazon.

Cotton rag – This always comes in handy to clean up any small spills that might happen.

Microfiber rag – Good for quick cleaning of any streaks on the outside of the tank.  

Wish List Items for the Coral Frag Kit

Though my kit has been immensely helpful, I would classify it as a work in progress that imagine would change and improve as need and new tools come about. Here are some items that I don’t currently have in my kit but look to be some good additions in the future.  

• Hanna Salinity Tester HI98319 by Hanna Instruments: This tester looks awesome. It works by dipping the end into the tank water to give you a quick test result of salinity and temperature. Hanna testers have always worked great for me in the past and this product seems to make this task super easy. This is definitely on my wish list and would make a great addition to the coral frag kit.

• Innovative Marine Accudrip Acclimator:  This looks to be a superior upgrade to the airline tubing with a knot one end that I’m currently using. The Accudrip Acclmator allows you to control the number of drips easily with an adjustable valve. With the knot method, you have to loosen and tighten constantly to get the right drip. 

• Innovative Marine Auqa Gadget ReefRack Expandable Frag Rack:  This looks like it could be an interesting upgrade to the egg crate that I currently use. I like that this frag rack can expand and contract.