Reef Glue: how long can SPS be out of tank?

[EthanHawaii]

Hello,
I purchased some Reef Glue from my LFS, and the guy there told me to use it like this: Place the Glue into the freezer for a few hours (which I'm doing right now) and then take the piece of LR (that you wish to glue your coral to) out of the DT and dry a small part of it off were the coral is going to go, then apply glue to the dry spot.

Then take the coral frag out (in my case a type of unknown yellowy green acro frag) and dry the bottom off and apply Reef Glue to it as well, then glue them together and wait 10 min (both the LR and coral out of the DT and in open air) for it to cure?! 10 min!
Is this safe or is there another way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[rockworm]

I have had SPS out of the tank for 10 minutes or more. They create a mucous coat to protect themselves. I do mine a little different. I dont pull the live rock out. Way too much of a problem. (One of my rocks weighs 58 lbs dry) I use a reef glue/epoxy sandwich. I kneed the epoxy to activate it, pinch off a pea size amount and apply reef glue to one side. I smush the glue side to the frag then add reef glue to the exposed side of the epoxy and twist it into the rock. I have to hold it for a minute or so, but this secures it in place.

 

[cprice]

No need to freeze.

Grab rock. Grab frag. Dry both at contact point. Glue together with plenty of glue (don't be shy). Slightly twist frag to help glue to set up. Place back in water.

I don't keep my SPS frags out of the water for more than 20 seconds when I'm glueing them. But to answer the original question, I've had SPS frags out of the water for 20 min (on accident) and they were perfectly fine. If they are healthy enough to produce a good slime coat they will have no issue being out of water for some time.

Best of luck with the frag placement!


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[EthanHawaii]

Thank you, My rock is really light (only about 5 pounds dry) so I think I will do what I was tolled by the LFS, except I might only leave it out of the water for a few minutes.

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[swk]

Too much unnecessary work IMO.

Use the following:

coral-superglue-epoxy-superglue-rock

you will have ZERO issues mounting any coral to any rock in the tank, underwater.

 

[fcmatt]

A lot of coral is out of the water when the tide goes out in full sun. It can stay out longer then most think if healthy.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I just use Loctite Super Glue Jel Control (cyanoacrylate).

I select a spot on my liverock I want the frag to go. If necessary, I'll scrub the spot a little with a firm toilet bowl brush (fish tank use only!). I then take the frag I want to glue to my liverock and turn it so only the base is sticking slightly out of the water. I add said glue. Then I flip it back and press it lightly to the liverock I want to add it to. I then block the flow with my hand for a minute or two until it can hold itself up.

Easy peasy, no removal necessary from the tank.

 

[organism]

I've accidentally left Acro frags out for 3+ hours and they were fine, I think it depends on the species. My guess is deepwaters would be much less forgiving.

 

[Wazzel]

I regularly leave frags out for 20 minutes while gluing them to plugs. Never had an issue.

 

[rovster]

I think you are overthinking this. I use the glue and putty sandwich technique.

 

[kevin_e]

Completely unnecessary. I too use the putty-glue sandwich. Glue/smash epoxy ball to frag rubble/plug, then glue/smush to rock. You don't need to remove rock, dry or freeze glue.

Once you start glueing down frags, do you really want to risk breaking them every time you add a new frag by removing rock? Furthermore, I can foresee a rock slide happening from constantly messing with to rock.

 

[EthanHawaii]

Thanks for all the replies! So I glued two frags down and the acro is happy, and the other was bleached to begin with so I'll see if it makes a comeback, I do see color so maybe it is. I will definitely try out
all of the suggested techniques when I run out of Reef Glue.

All of my rocks are small so it really isn't an issue, but still, anything to make this hobby easier is wellcome!

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[ReeferSutherlnd]

I believe leaving the glue in the freezer for 48 hours or more will yield the best results for gluing frags

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[Mark426]

Completely unnecessary. I too use the putty-glue sandwich. Glue/smash epoxy ball to frag rubble/plug, then glue/smush to rock. You don't need to remove rock, dry or freeze glue.

Once you start glueing down frags, do you really want to risk breaking them every time you add a new frag by removing rock? Furthermore, I can foresee a rock slide happening from constantly messing with to rock.

:thumbsup: The easiest way.