gluing live rock and curing it.

[tunerX]

I read in some books that you should glue your live rock to give it stability. Should you glue it then put it in the tank to cure it? What is the best glue for live rock? I saw reef glues for propogation but no mention of bulk glue or silicon for putting rock together.

What is the best method to gain stability in your live rock formations? To me, if the rock seems stable (doesn't really move when I shake it or wiggle it), then it should work. I read that as your reef grows it can get heavy and if it isn't glued in place could fall; is there any truth to this?

 

[johnnymac]

I would like to know the answer to this too! Good question. Not that I would glue it out side the tank!
Cheers Johnny

 

[fareforce]

I personally dont like to glue it as it makes it hard to seperate later if I want to change my tank. The other problem with gluing your rock is to make the seam strong you have to let it air dry. Not underwater. This will kill everything on your rock by being out of water for so long.

I personally take a 1/4" drill bit and drill holes into my rock, and then use 2"-3" fiberglass rods to hook two rocks together. It holds like a champ, but is easy to undo if needed. Some people drill holes clear through thier rock, and use zipties. I have never done this though.

 

[Snowboarda42]

I just finished setting up mine, I used an underwater epoxy (even cures underwater) that worked pretty good. It stays semi-flexible and seems solid (knock on wood). Even better for stability and customizing would be with plastic/fiberglass rods going through the rock.

 

[tunerX]

What is the name of the underwater epoxy? I don't want to take the rock out as it is in its 2nd week of curing. I never figured how you could glue it and let it air dry without damaging any of the bacteria that I am trying to grow. Bulk underwater epoxy would be great. The garf glue is not in a big enough quantity for anything but propogating corals and such.

 

[Snowboarda42]

the stuff I used came from home depot, it was made by Superglue, although it was an epoxy. Yellow on one half and cream colored on the other.

As for glueing it, you can take the rock out and dry the spots you want to glue, then glue it and put it back in. A few minutes of set up won't hurt that much.