Superglue alternative?

[ReefsandGeeks]

I just fragged one of my coral for the first time (a birdsnest I bought years ago) because it started to grow into one of my acros. I ended up trimming off about a dozen branches from the birdsnest and superglued them all to a single rock and put back in my tank with hopes that they will all grow well together and form a large colony in time.

In doing this, I realized just how much superglue I went through, and can only imagine how much those who frag a lot would use. I was looking for other instant adhesives and found 3M has one called PR600, which is quite affordable @ 50g for only about $25. I bought a bottle and am interested to try it next time I need to frag. I may try just one branch at some point just to see if it works.

I'm curious if anyone else has experimented with superglue alternatives and what your results were. I'll report back once I try this glue. If it works well, it could save fragers a lot of money I think.

 

[lingwendil]

Epoxy putty used to be hugely popular, but I never really liked using it for anything reefing related, although it can be had in bulk if you look around.

How are you buying your superglue? I've yet to find anything that works better than hobby store bulk larger bottles of superglue, get the gel is the best by far, as it takes very little to glue down frags. I prefer to use less of it when possible, as it sets faster and stronger. You'll find you don't need anywhere near as much if you make sure to have a nice solid fit of the frag to the plug (or rubble, I prefer using rock rubble these days) so the glue has much less gap to close.

Even a small bottle will last you a couple basketball sized colonies worth of frags if you use it correctly. The average frag shouldn't need more than a tiny little dot (I rarely ever needed more than about a 1/8" blob) to stick if you dry the pieces to be glued first, and then attach carefully.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

I've used the PR600 glue for frags, and for anyone that's interested, it is working great for me. It's thinner than the gel, but not bad. Plus, if you use an accelerator or surface activator, it sets in 5 seconds or less, so you just put the frag on, and it's done, ready to go back into water instantly. There is also a version of the PR600 that is a gel, they just didn't have it where I was ordering from, so didn't get it. With it being a 50g bottle for $20, you can't go wrong. Of course, if you don't go through much glue, it probably doesn't matter. Those trying to frag for profit may benefit more though. Plus, now that I have it, I've been using it for a lot more non-reef stuff at home.

 

[homer1475]

I use loctite super glue gel. Its about 2.50$ for 4g at walmart.