SPS and glue

[Zack]

any tricks on how to glue sps and such?

[steve1s]

The one I have liked is epoxy sticks. Its a two part mud that you mix, looks like a tube of chewing gum. The activator is rolled around the length of the puddy, all you do is break off a piece and mush them together. Once the it is mixed you place it on a pourus surface with the frag. The main reason I like it is it will blend in quite quikly as coralline covers the epoxy making it look like part of the rock and it will harden within an hour while under water.

Cheers
Steve

[reefrunner]

For SPS, I prefer super glue gel. I used some of the epoxy on some frags once and when it cured...the bond wasn't very tight. I prefer to work with the epoxy (never glued my fingers together with it), but for SPS, superglue gel has worked best for me. I remove the frag and the piece of rubble I want to glue it to, to a bowl of seawater (actually the rubble is just set on the table and dried as thoroughly as possible). I pull the frag out of the bowl and dab the spot I want to glue with a paper towel, apply a dallop of gel, allow a few seconds for the glue to skin, then press the frag to the rubble holding firmly for 30 seconds. I then put the glued frag in the bowl and hold for another couple of minutes, then it goes in the tank. I have also glued frags underwater (when I want to glue the frag to the aquascaping, the bond isn't as good as the other method, but it usually holds until the frag has encrusted over the glue.

[Pineapple House]

I agree with reefrunner. I've almost always used super glue gel for SPS frags. The tissue should die off around where the super glue is, but after time the SPS will overgrow it.

When adding SPS's to large rocks in your tank, where you cannot take the rock out of the tank, dry, and glue, epoxy sticks or something that you can use underwater works great! This is easy-to-use, and works quite well :)

PH =)

[Fiji Live Rock]

Something I have been wanting to try once I get to the point where all my LR is in place and ready to place corals is using underwater cement. It will harden in the water so much less disturbances will be made to the surroundings.

The only thing you really need to worry about is if there are any chemicals in that stuff. I know there is the Lime but that shouldn't affect the tank. The PS should extract it I would imagine.

[poisonberry]

I agree with reefrunner. I've almost always used super glue gel for SPS frags.
PH =)

I would like to secure my live rock together to prevent slides. Is Superglue ok for this? I was thinking it was a toxic I should avoid getting in the tank. Are there alternatives I should consider?

[tangwang]

You dont have to worry, superglue is completely nontoxic to your aquarium, as long as it is cyanoacrylate-based glue (most common super glue is). I would reccomend using a two part underwater epoxy for attaching rock to rock, though.

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Matt

[poisonberry]

You dont have to worry, superglue is completely nontoxic to your aquarium, as long as it is cyanoacrylate-based glue (most common super glue is). I would reccomend using a two part underwater epoxy for attaching rock to rock, though.

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Matt

Any epoxy is good, or is there a specific one I should get?

-sed

[tangwang]

I would reccomend using one that states "aquarium safe". You can get a brand specifically for the aquarium here (http://www.marinedepot.com/a_mi_tl_as.asp/). Just look in the misc section.

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Matt