Method to attach frags?

[bheaven]

Thanks to all who made the frag workshop a great experience.

All of my frags are acclimated into my quarantine tank. Everything seems to be doing fine. But, I want to attach it to some rock pieces and get it acclimated over to my display tank.
After reading some of the Workshop related posts, I'm questioning how to attach the frags to rock, etc.

I was planning on using reef safe super glue for the zoos and gorgonians (after peeling back about 1/4" near base as gorgonians don't like the glue).

What about the leather and green Sinularia? Can I use glue? I've read about rubberband and toothpick methods, confusion...

I also have what I think is Pagoda Cup - How should I mount this?

Finally, I have a couple frags that I don't know their name. I believe they are SPS and they were at the same table as the "birdnest" coral. One is purple and the other dark green. How should these be mounted?

Thanks again.

 

[MJAnderson]

Purple and dark green can be superglued to a rock as well. No problems there.

for the other softies, what I usually do is to get them to attach to a small rock, then glue the small rock to a larger one. Superglue doesn't work directly because the tissue dissolves around the glue. I like the rubberbank method myself.

For the gorgonians, I usually drill a small hole in a loose piece of rock, fill with superglue, then stick the 1/4" exposed skeleton into the hole. It's difficult to get a good bond with the skeleton as thin as it is without the hole if you want it upright.

 

[Thinslis]

Is any Gel superglue reef safe? or how do you know if it is or not? I need to pick some up but again no place on the east side sells reef glue. I was going to head up to Wal Mart and pickup a gel based super glue if that would work.

 

[Briney Dave]

When we are fraging leathers such as the Sinularia we will often drill a small hole in a shell (oyster or clam) and peg the coral to it with a plastic tooth pick.
I have my students use a gel type Ace Hardware superglue and it works fine for the stoney corals
The rubber bands are supposed to work well on other kinds of soft corals but I have not used them.

as far as attaching the frag to the rock work marine putty can work pretty good.

 

[CleveYank]

green sinu and sps tips

green sinu and sps tips

bheaven C-link and check the rest below.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1252903



For mounting the purple and dark green SPS.
In case you missed some details at the workshop, here it is blow by blow as I do it for my tanks.

When I superglue SPS to coral plugs I have a 5 by 8 inch eggcrate rack that I place at a 45 degree over the corner of the tank I'm working at. (My tanks are not in the living room so I do not have to worry about glue/water/frag emissions so guide yourself accordingly)

I dip/soak the plugs in the tank water, cut my frags and keep them in small food container. I don't mix frags of different corals while I frag in the doubtful event that they will re-expand their polyps so soon after cutting from the main colony and sting each other.

****Have a number of paper towels out and off the roll and at the ready for hand drying.

I place the frags that I am about to glue on a paper towel to dry the end that I'm going to glue to damp. I have another coral plug or a rubble rock to set next to the frag while it's drying for 20 to 60 seconds. Place damp/wet coral plugs for the number of frags I'm doing in the eggcrate sitting on the edge of the tank corner. Add a few drops of glue in center of one, check fingers for glue BEFORE I touch the frag. (prevents you from accidently gluing your fingers or from getting glue on upper part of frag which will kill the tissue whereever the super glue touches)
Give the glue a few seconds to begin bonding to the plug. Then I add the frag and center it and prop it up with other plug or rubble keeping it out of the glue that's meant for holding the coral frag in place. Wipe my hands again and check for any glue and then move onto next one.

By the time I am at about 3 or 4 of them I then make extra sure hands are clean of glue and then check 1st frag on plug for setting. If it's holding I then grab the sides and then bottom of the plug and with plug bottom up and coral frag down I dip it in the tank in a low current area to flash cure the glue. This keeps the glue from traveling up the frag and keeps it pooled by the base to have as much glue at the base for strength and prevents any tissue damage by the glue except at the very base of the frag. This is not as much of an issue with the gel, but I have seen it try to flow up the frag if it was not dipped upside down. Place in tank rack or new spot in tank and move on to the next ones.

That's how I would mount the purple and dark green SPS that you have. Your results may vary depending upon your attention to detail and patience.


Thinslis
Didn't hear about super glue toxic issue. I use the made in China .99 stuff for 4 tubes of regular and 2 of gel from big lots. So like the toys maybe my glue has lead in it. But I don't put it in my mouth and my fish don't swim in circles yet so it's probably not going to hurt anything.


Good Luck.

 

[bheaven]

Thanks for the replies.

I think that I'm good on all but one of the learher frags. Its purpleish / gray and the bottom cut is a little wider that 1 inch.

Do I just put the bottom on a piece of rock and put a rubberband to hold the frag to the rock at a 90 degree angle?

I'm assuming that I can simply place the acan frag in my display tank on the sand and not worry about attaching it to a rock?

Thanks,

 

[Kreeger1]

super glue GEL is what you want, not regular super glue thats to runny

 

[CleveYank]

the less viscous stuff works just fine in a pinch

the less viscous stuff works just fine in a pinch

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11213537#post11213537 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kreeger1
super glue GEL is what you want, not regular super glue thats to runny

In a perfect world that absolute is quite correct.

But for lightweight small frags when the store has been out of the gel, and rather than put frag cutting on hold. Or run all over the place tracking down the gel I have had to use the "runny stuff". The flash cure is much faster and slightly more challenging but will work just as well as the gel. Once the corals encrust. They hold on their own with either just as well.

 

[Kreeger1]

true, but if you've got to run to the store, get the right stuff. The gel is what you really want and if they carry the regular stuff 9 times out of 10 they will have the gel. Just makes life easier.
Going on 15 years making frags, I've tried it all. Nothing works as well as the gel.
Erik

 

[scottfarcuz]

On sps I usually have to use epoxy, and super glue gel to keep them from flying away. Seems like they encrust a little faster for me this way also. I use any gel, and aquamend epoxy.

Last time I was at Salty critter I got some cool purple super glue gel. I don't remember what I paid, but must have thought it was pretty good compared to the little tubes of gel I normally get. Its made by boston aqua farms, and is really thick stuff.

 

[2thdeekay]

When I run out of superglue gel, I sometimes use regular (thin) superglue in combination with baking soda.

Baking soda and superglue cures instantly into a hard plastic like substance. You can add drops of thin superglue onto well placed baking soda, or sprinkle baking soda onto the thin superglue. Test this combination first, so you get a feel for it. It sets instantly, which is great, so be careful.

 

[2thdeekay]

Of course, this method doesn't work for attaching frags underwater. :rollface:

 

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11332967#post11332967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 2thdeekay
Of course, this method doesn't work for attaching frags underwater. :rollface:

i use single 3m super glue gel tubes underwater, they are single use, good for 3-4 frags at a time.

 

[Burgman]

Hi,

The super glue gel works for me and does not drive my skimmer crazy. I use the two part epoxy puddy on my SPS's but it drives my skimmer crazy. I generally use super glue gel on softies or just rubber band them to a rock with no glue. Both methods seem to work for me. But then that is the cool thing about this hobby, there are several ways to do most things. The thin super glue with baking soda sounds like a neat idea. I might give it a try next time.

Dave

 

[2thdeekay]

Another use for thin super glue & baking soda is for repairing equipment like Calcium Reactors, or even pvc pipe. Use it to patch holes, leaks, etc.

Just pack the gap with baking soda, then drip thin cyanoacrylate onto the baking soda. The super glue seeps into the baking soda and solidifies instantly. For large patches, you may need to use several layers. No need to wait for it to dry or cure, like expoxy. The plastic it forms is immediately sandable/paintable. Baking soda needs to be dry for this to work, hence you can't use this method to glue things underwater.