marine epoxy

[weaselslucks]

So I went to home depot and grabe some marine epoxy it was glue and gray the kind you kneed. I get home use it per the instructions and it wouldn't keep small peices of coral onalthough two are still holding and wouldn't keep small pieces of rockwoork together. The package said that it drys underwater did i do something wrong? what kind does everyone else use?

 

[cstires]

I've got to be honest, I've never had good luck with any epoxy! HD brand, or any other. If your lucky it will hold, in little to no flow! Everything in my tank that I actually got to hold, I can grab ahold of and snap right off. I only use Super Glue now, for rock work, I use either zip ties or try and stack very stable...

 

[weaselslucks]

thanks luckily i only spent 4 dollars for the stuff what kind of super glue should i ise to attach my zoos?can i keep them out of the water?

 

[cloudancer]

Marine epoxy doesn't appear to bond to anything (well), but is more of a structural or filler item. Once you have a piece of epoxy molded you can superglue it to whatever you are joining. Epoxy also causes my skimmmer to go crazy.

I've never done it, but some people have reported success mixing regular super glue in with the Epoxy.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8601478#post8601478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by weaselslucks
thanks luckily i only spent 4 dollars for the stuff what kind of super glue should i ise to attach my zoos?can i keep them out of the water?

Zoos (and a lot of other soft coral) can't be glued very well because of their slime production. The best method is to never remove them completely from a rock substrate and glue that using regular super glue gel. For loose polyps, common solutions include sewing them down and holding them against the rock with wedding veil. Some people say rubberbands work, I've only cut softies in half with them
Yes, you can keep Zoos out of water for reasonable lengths of time (We do it regularly for up to 45min when propagating, not sure what the limit is).

 

[ReeferAl]

Standard underwater epoxy can work very well for holding any frag in a hole in the rock. That could be the frag itself stuck into the hole or the stem of a frag mount. It has almost no "stickiness" though.

I have also used a product called Z-spar Splash Zone. It is an underwater epoxy intended for use on boats. Unlike the stick stuff it is quite sticky. Underwater the stickiness decreases quite a bit. However, once cured (initial set takes about an hour and final cure 24 hrs) it is quite strong. It holds much better for me than superglue. Anything superglued to the rock is eventually knocked off by the urchins or turbo snails. I have yet to have them knock anything loose that was attached with the Z-spar.
There are some down-sides though. It is more difficult to work with because of its stickiness. It is hard to mix very small amounts. The smallest size it comes in is a half gallon (1 quart size container of each component). It is also not widely available, but can be bought online. I have found that it is also great for stabilizing the rock structure. Just a small amount applied around contact points can do wonders for stability.
Allen

 

[Keelay]

I use it as a wedge mostly. Hep I Agree with the previous posts that the stickiness sucks!