Glueing Issue

[EricBrian]

Hello,

 

I am trying to find out how others attach their frags to their reef.

 

Currently, my hermits rearrange my corals on a daily basis. I have to go in an move corals back to where I think they should be.

 

I can't pull out the rock I place the frags on because it is too big and other rock use it for support. As far as I know, I can't glue the two to each other while they are in water.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[HowardofNOVA]

#1 Superglue (buy at HD for starters) Pull rock and coral out of tank, pat dry, put glue on rock and then on coral, hold until dry, works great for SPS or hard Corals

#2 AquaStik: Epoxy Putty. A pain to use sometimes, but when you can't bring coral out of water, the best way. Take coral out of water, put gob on end, tip or rock, then put another gob on rock in water, push together and pray. Some people swear by this stuff, I mostly swear at it! :wall:

Somebody mentioned that they push the two together, then pull apart and put a dab of superglue on one side and push together again. Said it works alot better!

#3 Soft corals - Use either a rubberband around rock, toothpick through coral into a hole in the rock or netting type materials to hold while coral attaches itself to the LR. Usually takes about 2 weeks.

Wish you luck!

Howard

[Sugar Magnolia]

Just to add to Howards recommendation, be sure to buy the GEL type of super glue. Regular super glue is too thin and you run the risk of it dripping onto the coral's flesh.

 

Loctite and Duro both make a decent gel superglue and can be found just about anywhere. You can also go to one of the larger hobby shops like Michael's or AC Moore and buy cyanoacrelate gel in much larger (and much less expensive) tubes. Those darn tiny tubes of glue gel run out so fast!!

 

FWIW, I have used the glue gel directly under water to glue frags with no problems. Just apply a small blob of glue to the base of the coral, dip it in a small bowl of tankwater (not in the tank!!) so it forms a thin skin, drop another bit of glue over the previously applied blob, dip again, then place the coral where you want to glue it and hold it in place for a minute or two until is is set enough to remove your nad without the coral toppling.

 

Glue gel won't work on mushrooms or ricordea, they slime too much.

[rsaavedra]

I use Loctite Super Glue Gel from Target $2.69

[Rondita]

Great info here.  I've got a ricordea yuma that seems to be thriving, but he is not attached, except to a few small bits of rubble. He's nuzzled into a little nook without much flow and seems happy. Is it ok to leave him unattached. If he starts floating around, I'll move onto attempting reattaching. But for now seems like if it ain't broke - don't fix.

 

Is this the best approach?

 

 

[WheresTheReef]

I hate frag plugs (plus remove corals from them to reduce chances of introducing pests), so I attach corals to small rock rubble. I then attach the coral/rock where I want to using glue-epoxy-glue. The epoxy holds it long term and the glue holds it in place until the epoxy hardens. 

 

I also hate the aquastik epoxy. I find the instant ocean epoxy hardens faster and holds quicker. I get glue gel at the dollar tree. Smaller tubes and tip doesn’t clog as easily. If they clog then less glue is wasted. Best glue I’ve used was an old group buy for https://handibond.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=8

 

Can you be more specific about the types of corals?

[WheresTheReef]

6 hours ago, Rondita said:

Great info here.  I've got a ricordea yuma that seems to be thriving, but he is not attached, except to a few small bits of rubble. He's nuzzled into a little nook without much flow and seems happy. Is it ok to leave him unattached. If he starts floating around, I'll move onto attempting reattaching. But for now seems like if it ain't broke - don't fix.

 

Is this the best approach?

 

 

If it is attached to small bits of rubble then you can glue the rubble to a rock/plug. 

[BtmDweller]

As long as little pieces of rubble any gel super glue or reef glue will work on the rubble. If you’re going to wedge it inside you may as well glue it. Preventing from getting dislodged and blown somewhere. Also, correct gluing the body of a mushroom is difficult. It will come off later. But if it’s attached to rubble easy. Also, another trick if you want them to spread faster. Take a razor and slice them in half. Sometimes they’ll grow back together, but doing a few times and you’ll have lots of them. Faster than natural splitting. Assuming ideal conditions, they should be able to take the beating.